Reflections from Ignite: collegiality and commitment against a backdrop of sector challenges

I haven’t blogged for a while, mainly because of the pace of life and the ever present distraction of cheese, but I had the pleasure of attending the Impact Ignite conference last week and it’s prompted me to get writing.

Let me first say a massive congratulations to Tamika Heiden (Research Impact Academy) and her team for convening a fantastic and international event. Setting up a conference is hard enough, but setting one up in the UK from Australia is pretty epic. It’s been in many impact folks’ diary for months, and I hope Tamika et al feel duly proud of what they created.

I’ve said many times that the impact sector is incredibly generous, and that was demonstrated many times across the two days. Colleagues shared what worked (and what didn’t), doing so openly and honestly with the goal of helping others walk (or not walk) that path. The collective willingness to ask, offer, suggest, provide, deter, connect (etc) delivered absolutely on the aim to create a space focused on “practical implementation and real-world application”. Basically if you put a bunch of impact people in a room with coffee, we get very chatty and leave with a million new ideas.

This blog is part a salute to the event, part a continued salute to the impact community, and part reflection on challenges highlighted in discussions within and outside the event. I consider it an absolute privilege to be in impact, and amongst the impact community, and am immensely lucky to have a role which allows me to be ‘in’ the academic sector in multiple ways. Any impact person knows the endorphin hit of a genuinely collaborative impact development meeting. There is joy in what we do. There are also MANY fantastic people – leaders, earlier career colleagues, professional services, collaborators etc who are driving ambitious yet fair practice. Thank you for everything you do. Let’s get cake. Or I know a good cheese cafe.

However…the opportunity to be across the research sector also brings exposure to some of the ongoing challenges for individuals. It would be disingenuous to suggest that the collegiality shown at Ignite is omnipresent, but it would be similarly unreasonable to suggest people aren’t doing their best in uncertain times. It’s impossible to condense these challenges into simple headlines or cover every aspect, but three things on my mind lately—because I’m seeing them a lot—are:

1. People are trying to drive impact amidst extensive sector unsteadiness, job survivalism and depleted/ing resources. We can’t underestimate the nauseating weight these competing pressures have on everyone involved. Let’s be kind.
2. Impact is still settling as part of sector ‘business as usual’, so systems and processes are still evolving. But there is too often an unreasonable (and downright daft) conflation of qualification with expertise. Impact needs a multitude of skills and perspectives, some borne from a research foundation, some from experience elsewhere. Qualifications are great. Experience is great. Both cultivate expertise and both are welcome. We don’t need a top table for impact, just a bunch of decent skilled humans striving to make a difference.
3. Within and beyond impact, there’s a corroding tier of good, dedicated folk who – having held the line for so long, are just ‘done’. People who’ve weathered every storm research has offered and continually manned the lifeboat for those around them. It takes a lot to make those folk despondent but turns out upturning the lifeboat enough times will do that. If this resonates with you, I’m sorry. But thank you.

I’ll wrap up by reiterating what a joy it was and indeed is to be part of the impact community. This and the wider research sector is fabulous, but it is tired. We need to safeguard the helmspeople who keep it all going, strive for the openness and collaboration we saw at Ignite, and recognise the tapestry of skills and expertise needed to make a difference.

And drink coffee. Always do that.