Community Engagement Working Group seeks new Co-Chairs

The Community Engagement WG is seeking new and enthusiastic researchers to replace the outgoing co-chairs Eliza Papaki and Vicky Garnett. 

The Working Group was established in 2014 to promote and communicate the work conducted within VCC2 (Research and Education) in DARIAH.  In 2017, we (Vicky and Eliza) replaced the outgoing chairs of this WG, and set about re-positioning its remit to one that dealt with the practicalities of outreach and engagement: the barriers and the challenges.  

We are proud of what we have achieved in the 3 years since taking up the roles of co-chairs, offering internships and travel bursaries, conducting research through our “Engaging Communities Beyond DARIAH” project, funded through the WG Funding Scheme, which has led to a forthcoming publication, and produced a report that can be used throughout the DARIAH community to enhance community outreach practices.

However, the current state is that both co-chairs are employed directly by DARIAH-EU since 2019 and 2018 respectively, and are members of the DARIAH Coordination Office. It is thus no longer suitable for us to retain our positions as co-chairs of this working group.

For that reason, we are now seeking researchers at any career level who may be interested in continuing our work, and making their own mark on the development and direction of the Community Engagement WG.  We were both afforded this opportunity as early career researchers, and we would love to see this opportunity passed on to other ECRs if possible. If you, think you could make the most of the role of co-chair and take the Community Engagement Working Group even further, we would love to hear from you.

We will hold the call for nominations/applications open for 4 weeks.  Nominated candidates should be made aware, and all applications or nominations should include a CV, or a brief description of experience and suitability to the role, which should be sent to either vicky.garnett@dariah.eu or eliza.papaki@dariah.eu by May 5th 2020.  After this time, all candidates will be considered by a committee, which includes us as current co-chairs.  The successful co-chairs will be invited to take up their role from 1st June 2020.  

In the event that no co-chairs are appointed, the current co-chairs will recommend to the CIO that this working group be moved to ‘dormant’ status.  We of course do not wish to see this happen. 

Eliza and Vicky

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