Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Public engagement activities including the Cambridge Festival aim to be inclusive and safe spaces for people of all backgrounds, races and ethnicities, ages, genders, and abilities to engage with our research. 

We know there are persistent structural barriers to equality in many areas of society and there is a lot of work to be done in breaking those down. We hope to help make a step in the right direction by striving for diversity in our speakers, the topics explored, the event and activity formats used and by encouraging and enabling discussion about systemic inequalities such as racism, sexism, and ableism from multiple perspectives. 

We are committed to making our activities productive, supportive and inclusive and have prepared a Code of Conduct to this end. This is to ensure that our activities are a positive experience for every one of all gender identities and expressions, sexual orientations, with any disability and of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, religions/beliefs and other protected identities based on the UK’s 2010 Equality Act. By being part of and attending our events, you are confirming that you will abide by this Code of Conduct in all interactions throughout our activities.

We are committed to making our online content as accessible as possible. If you are unable to access content online, we will provide it in an alternative format. 

While we aim to run our events in fully accessible venues some of our buildings are old with areas are only partially accessible. In these cases we will ensure accessible routes are signposted with volunteers to direct people. 
Please check accessibility information at: https://www.accessable.co.uk/university-of-cambridge and contact the Public Engagement team on 01223 766766 or by email to publicengagement@admin.cam.ac.uk if you have specific requirements 

Public Engagement events, our code of conduct

We are committed to creating an open, inclusive and safe environment where all attendees, event organisers and contributors feel welcome and able to participate at our events.

Everyone involved in activities and events (attendees, volunteers, staff members, organisers and so forth) is subject to the Code of Conduct.

Being part of a public engagement event or activity means:

  • Tolerating and listening to each other’s views
  • Using welcoming and inclusive language
  • Treating everyone with respect
  • Being considerate of event attendees, event staff, organisers and volunteers

We will NOT accept:

  • Abusive, insulting or degrading, threatening, bullying, intimidatory, hateful or otherwise inappropriate behaviour (including speech and/or text and/or imagery)
  • Harassment
  • Discrimination of any kind i.e. offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, and religion
  • Display of inappropriate content
  • Sustained disruption of talks or events
  • Unauthorised recording or photographing

It is the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure the online safety of the children in their care. This includes making sure that the events and activities accessed by children in their care are age-appropriate and monitoring the child’s communication through online Festival platforms.

Failing to comply with the Code of Conduct could result in the immediate exclusion from any public engagement events or activities (without a refund).

If you think the Code of Conduct is not being followed at an event, please get in touch with the Public Engagement Team at: publicengagement@admin.cam.ac.uk

The Cambridge Festival Complaints Policy

The Cambridge Festival is delivered by the University of Cambridge’s Public Engagement Team. The Public Engagement team is part of the Research Office.

The Public Engagement team has a commitment to delivering an excellent service to all our participants and audiences. To ensure our services remain high, we have a procedure through which you can let us know of any reason you are not satisfied with your dealings with our organisation.

Stage one

If you are a participant in one of our programmes or have attended one of our festival events and you are not happy with the service you have received, please contact:

David Cain, Public Engagement & Festivals Manager
The Old Schools, Trinity Lane, Cambridge CB2 1TN

Email: cambridgefestival@admin.cam.ac.uk

We hope that we can settle complaints at this stage as quickly as possible.

Stage two

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can take this further by contacting Dr Lucinda Spokes, Head of Public Engagement at the address and email above.

Please tell us

  • what happened
  • when it happened
  • who dealt with your feedback or complaint at the time
  • what you would like us to do to put things right.

You must do this within three weeks (21 days) of receiving our response to Stage one.

When will I hear from you? Within five working days of receiving your complaint, we will write to you to say that your complaint has been received. We will also tell you how you can contact the person dealing with your complaint and when you can expect a reply. You will receive a reply to your complaint within ten working days. If we cannot give a full reply in this time, we will tell you why and when you are likely to receive it.

Stage three

If after we have responded you are not satisfied, please write to Dr Lucinda Spokes, who will report and discuss the matter with the Research Offices Leadership Team. They will decide on any further steps to resolve the situation. We will contact you with the outcome within one week of the meeting. This decision is final.