This week, several organizations around UNC's campus are collaborating to host the first-ever Carolina Engagement Week, a collection of events and workshops that showcase the partnerships between researchers at the University and community organizations across North Carolina.
The events will highlight efforts made by community leaders, University researchers and UNC students to create positive social and economic changes throughout the state.
The Carolina Engagement Week will consist of 34 events covering a variety of subjects, including pandemic-related issues, equity and inclusion, accessible education and more.
“This really is just kind of a celebration of research and engagement that needs to be talked about and highlighted,” Alexander Saunders, content and communications specialist at the Carolina Center for Public Engagement, said.
Students and community members in North Carolina can visit the Carolina Engagement Week website to register for the events for free. Most of them will be held virtually or in a hybrid format.
Margaret Barrett, associate director of the Carolina Center for Public Service, said many of those participating in the engagement week will speak about working throughout the pandemic and how they adapted their work.
“It has been two years since we went into pandemic mode, and I can say that a lot of the faculty and others participating in Engagement Week (were) very excited to showcase their efforts," Barrett said.
Carolina Across 100 — a University initiative that aims to alleviate existing and pandemic-related community challenges in each of the state’s 100 counties — will be hosting two events during the week.
The first event, which began on Monday, is a weeklong Hackathon competition that challenges students to visualize publicly available data and survey data collected by the initiative, to show the pandemic’s impact on communities across North Carolina.
