Collaborative Partnerships

Partnership is one of the two approaches the International Centre uses alongside academic rigour and research excellence. These posts record the networks, joint projects and evaluations that put that commitment into practice.

November 2019

Children Challenging Sexual Violence

A new university network called Children Challenging Sexual Violence was highlighted on the blog. The network brings together higher education institutions working with children and young people to address sexual violence, sharing approaches across campuses.

Read the news archive for further announcements from the Centre.

Collaborative evaluation

The Alexi Project evaluation

The Centre has showcased collaborative work including the evaluation of the Alexi Project, a programme developed with partner organisations. Evaluation activity of this kind supports organisations to understand what worked, for whom, and in what context.

Community and professional engagement

Engaging with communities and professionals

Partnership activity also includes working with community organisations and professionals in practice. In summer 2014, the ‘Our Voices’ team partnered with projects across Albania, Bulgaria and the UK to consult with Youth Advisors aged 11 to 25 on preventing sexual violence — a collaboration spanning three countries.

Read about the European consultations in young people addressing sexual violence in Europe.

Ongoing work

Applied research, evaluation, consultancy and training

Across the partnership portfolio, staff work collaboratively on applied research, evaluation, consultancy and training. The About the International Centre page sets out how this partnership-based approach fits with the Centre’s commitment to improving responses in local, national and international contexts.

Related sections

Get in touch

For enquiries about partnership work:

helen.beckett@uniofbedscse.com

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Partnership is one of two approaches the International Centre uses alongside academic rigour and research excellence. It reflects a simple belief: that research into child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking has greater impact when it is shaped with the people it concerns. Universities, schools, practitioners and community organisations bring lived experience, local knowledge and access to networks that a research team alone could not easily reach.

Collaborative work also changes how evidence is produced. Projects built with partners tend to answer questions that practitioners actually face, and findings are more likely to be read, cited and acted upon when those who will use them were involved from the outset. The Centre's participatory research agenda, including advisory panels and networks that involve children and young people, keeps this commitment visible in day-to-day activity.

These partnership posts document the practical side of that commitment. They record new university networks bringing institutions together to address sexual violence, share approaches across campuses and develop supportive environments for students and staff. They also capture joint projects, evaluations and comparative studies conducted with partner organisations in different countries and contexts, showing how contextual differences shape what interventions can work.

Working in partnership also means sharing resources and building capacity. Colleagues and partner organisations are supported through curriculum development, training and dissemination activities, so that the Centre's methods and materials can be applied by others. Follow the blog for news on collaborations, network announcements and publications, and read the news archive for further updates from the International Centre.

Children Challenging Sexual Violence

The Alexi Project evaluation

Engaging with communities and professionals

Applied research, evaluation, consultancy and training

Researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking