A Day Conference co-organised by the Social Policy Association (SPA), the International Centre for Public and Social Policy (IcPSP), and Social Policy and Society (SPS)
This hybrid day conference is inspired by the findings of a recently completed SPA-commissioned study on Social Policy education and the discussion related to the 2026 QAA Subject Benchmark Statement on Social Policy. It aims to invite feedback on the research findings, promote knowledge exchange on international experiences of Social Policy education and stimulate discussion on contemporary themes.
Date: Thursday, 16 April 2026
Time: 10 am – 4 pm (on-site), 10:20 am to 1 pm (online on MS Teams)
Venue: Jubilee Conference Centre, University of Nottingham
Hybrid: An MS Teams link will be sent to online participants three days before the event.
Registration deadline: 5 pm Thursday, 9 April 2026 (UK time)
THE EVENT IS FREE. Registration is required via this link.
Programme (provisional):
| Time | Activities | Format |
| 10:00-10:20 | Tea/coffee and networking | In-person |
| 10:20-10:30 | Welcome and opening | Hybrid |
| 10:30-11:30 | A report on the key findings and launch of the Research Report on Co-defining Social Policy and Social Policy Education (30-minute presentation followed by 30-minute Q&A)
· Ruby Chau and Sam Yu |
Hybrid |
| 11:30-13:00 | Social policy education in diverse forms: country-based experiences from (15-minute presentation for each case plus 10-minute Q&A and 10-minute open floor at the end)
· Hong Kong: Grace Ho (online) · Australia: Laura Simpson Reeves (in person) · Canada: Filipe Duarte (in person) · Germany: Anna Hokema (in person) |
Hybrid |
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch and networking | In-person |
| 14:00-14:20 | Welcome back and Lightning Reflections on good practice or lessons to learn on contemporary themes (5 mins each)
· EDI and accessibility of disabled students: Dianne Theakstone and Lisa Davison · Generative AI: Emily Ball · Sustainability: Maria Franco Gavonel |
In-person |
| 14:20-15:20 | Hot-desk SWOT analyses: participants can join the hot-desk discussion of up to two themes (30 mins each) facilitated by:
· EDI and accessibility of disabled students: Dianne Theakstone and Lisa Davison · Generative AI: Emily Ball · Sustainability: Maria Franco Gavonel |
In-person |
| 15:20- 16:00 | Report back from hot-desk analyses, reflection on the day, planning for the next step and closing | In-person |
Facilitators and speakers (by alphabetical order)
- Dr Emily Ball, University of Birmingham, UK
- Dr Ruby Chau, University of Nottingham, UK
- Lisa Davison, University of Stirling, UK
- Dr Filipe Duarte, Catholic University of Portugal, Portugal
- Dr Maria Franco Gavonel, University of York, UK
- Professor Ann-Marie Gray, Ulster University, UK
- Dr Grace Ho, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
- Dr Anna Hokema, University of Bremen, Germany
- Dr Laura Simpson Reeves, University of Queensland, Australia
- Dr Enrico Reuter, University of York, UK
- Dr Dianne Theakstone, University of Stirling, UK
- Dr Sam Yu, University of Nottingham, UK.
Event volunteers
- Claudia García
- Clementine Law
- Lisa Li
- Clement Yu