The University Belongs to Us: A Forum re-imagining Higher Education

This three-hour workshop will bring together the public, prospective university students, representatives of community organisations, and staff based at the University of Liverpool. This event aims to create a space for dialogue concerning issues of equitable education access in Merseyside. This workshop is for discussing community-led expectations of Liverpool universities in the context of solidarity against local injustices, including urban displacement, resource inequality, and an inequitable knowledge economy.

The first hour will be a breakout session discussing community organisation attendees’ different experiences with higher education in Merseyside and how this has affected their perspectives on the role of the university in fostering positive societal relations, democratising education, and demonstrating public responsibility.

The second hour will consist of a presentation by Dr Malik Al Nasir and Rhiannon Llystyn Jones, editor and author of the ‘Lifting The Barriers To Black Academia Through Decolonisation and Positive Action — Policy Roundtable Report’.

The third hour will be dedicated to a collective discussion on how education and institutional practices at the University of Liverpool can be more reciprocally informed by community engagement, considering what anticolonial commitments the university should prioritise to show its commitment to addressing barriers to community representation and acknowledgement.

This event will be catered by The Coffee Lodge (57 Lodge Ln, Liverpool L8 0QE).

For any questions, please contact Anticolonial Education Working Group Lead: Amal Abu-Bakare A.Abu-Bakare@liverpool.ac.uk.