Yes, I had been wondering if this audit was going to come to some conclusions and lead to a review of how it is to be used (and the allocation algorithm). But it all feels, to quote my barometer, changeable.
I anticipate, though, this is a step towards change, a review of how universities are using QR, and perhaps in the longer term REF itself. I hope thinking long-term thinking about impact isn't collateral damage.
So if QR funding is for curiosity driven research, what should the REF be measuring / auditing. And, wouldn't impact, for example, be the wrong evaluative measure in some cases for curiosity-driven research as that may or may not have been the driver of said curiosity. We may have gotten in a muddle
And I saw an actual woodpecker.
Popped to Fountains Abbey today with the husband. Such a gorgeous place for a walk, but also fires up the imagination with the heady mix of ruins, old industry, rustic nature, and perfected landscapes. A place of opposites, of systems and soul.
It's been a morning of emails, unexpected financial returns for procurement processes, invoices, web copy. Running your own business does keep you on your toes! But I'm not complaining. Let's call it an admin-fuelled Monday morning boost!
Any other edge-dwellers on here finding inspiration in the periphery?
My full post is at: kieranfenbyhulse.substack.com
#CivicImagination #Place #Teesside #Philosophy #OneLittleSpark #Imagination
I'm currently reading Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat alongside Gaston Bachelard. While Nigella rejects the "perfect kitchen," Bachelard rejects the "perfect palace". But both find the soul in everyday lived experience.
If we want to design better futures, we have to move beyond drab statistics of our regions and look at the "geometries of possibility" in our landscapes.
We too look to metropolitan hubs for "growth," but the edges and corners (as Bachelard noted) are where the real subversion happens. Drawing on bell hooks, I’m exploring "Loving Place" as a practice of care and growth.
Can a post-industrial town provide the perfect engine for imagination?
In my last newsletter, I wrote about how setting up my consultancy in Redcar wasn't just a choice of convenience, but a choice of place-attachment.
My latest post on why I set up my business in Redcar, and with an unexpected lesson from Nigella Lawson.
An Imaginative Place: On Systems, Soul, and Geometries of Possibility
www.linkedin.com/pulse/imagin...
I always take the slow train to Newcastle that goes via Hartlepool and along the coast. Because...
My latest post on why I set up my business in Redcar, and with an unexpected lesson from Nigella Lawson.
An Imaginative Place: On Systems, Soul, and Geometries of Possibility
www.linkedin.com/pulse/imagin...
Where did January go...
Also, enjoyed dressing fully for comfort and writing today #90scardigans
Thought I'd put on an opera DVD and now the six year old is asking me to explain both opera and Janet Baker's hair.
I can't stop returning to the words of Noel Bureau: He lay down behind the blade of grass / To enlarge the sky.
Merry, merry Christmas to one and all...
Merry Christmas from me and my vintage 1981 Royal Wedding View Master
Look at me. Rather than jumping back into the emails after eating lunch, I'm taking 15 minutes to listen to a few tunes before getting back at it. And I want you gift you those fifteen minutes. Take them. Take longer. Come back refreshed and ready.
If you are looking for a relaxed Sunday morning read. This might be it open.substack.com/pub/kieranfe...
My latest writing explores how I allow the winter season to feed into the way I live, learn and work:
Steeped: On Deep Work in the Dark months.
open.substack.com/pub/kieranfe...
My latest writing explores how I allow the winter season to feed into the way I live, learn and work:
Steeped: On Deep Work in the Dark months.
open.substack.com/pub/kieranfe...
A Christmas Story...
According to my five year old, "Nothing changes at the weekend... Only the wind".
And now we all need to reflect.
Thank you to the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) for inviting me to talk on Public speaking to Policymakers today and thank you to attendees for a wonderfully engaging session where we talked about audience, storytelling, evidence, emphasis, nerves, confidence, energy, and context.
I am toying with the idea of running an open, free (monthly? bimonthly?) virtual imagination book club, where we read and discuss a range of different writings on how we can better live and work with imagination?
Would that be of interest to anyone?
To support the development of a supportive and close-knit group, places are limited with booking open to newsletter subscribers first: substack.com/@kieranfenby...
Really hope to see you there!
hashtag#careers hashtag#imagination hashtag#planning #2026
Imagine 2026 will consist of three 75-minute online workshops for professionals who want to move beyond generic goals and resolutions to a more structured and flexible way of thinking about future possibilities.
Let’s put NY resolutions in the bin. And instead, let's play with possibility…
In January, I'll be launching Imagine 2026 (sorry, I know we are all still fully embracing the increasing chill of 2025).
