How can researchers share their evidence and expertise with Parliament? One option is to work with All-Party Parliamentary Groups – cross-party groups formed by MPs and Members of the House of Lords who share a common interest in a particular policy area, region or country. While APPGs are not official parliamentary committees, they can significantly influence public policy because of their non-partisan, bicameral approach to an issue. With APPGs for everything from Albania to Zimbabwe, Blockchain to Youth Employment, researchers from every discipline should know to look out for and take up opportunities to collaborate with these policy partners.

Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson, OPEN Leader and Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Classics, will talk about her experience of working with the Oracy APPG as an expert advisor on their Speak for Change Inquiry. Dr Holmes-Henderson will be joined by Gemma Carroll, Clerk to the Oracy APPG on behalf of its Secretariat Voice21, the national oracy education charity. Together they will share how to develop and maintain fruitful collaborations between researchers and parliamentarians.

This event is one in a series of masterclasses designed with humanities researchers in mind, and is part of OPEN’s programme ‘Engaging with Public Policy: an introduction for humanities researchers’. As part of OPEN’s Showcase week, there are a limited number of additional spaces available to join this masterclass. Researchers from the Humanities Division are particularly encouraged to attend, but the event is open to anyone from across the University with an interest in engaging with Parliament.