9th Feb 2020: Annual General Questions and a Walk and Talk
Come along at 1pm to The Terrace Cafe in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR) for a cup of tea before walking around the gardens where Alex Dunedin will answer any questions about the Ragged University project
Annual General Questions
Ragged University has been running for over ten years now and has been an informal education project where everyone is welcome to share what they are interested in through talks and activities. In 2019 Alex Dunedin did not coordinate any events in Edinburgh but Susan, Craig and Emma in Manchester continued coordinating theirs.
Charitable status was kindly applied for with the promise of getting support and funding, however, the third sector and the way it is structured (i.e. the paperwork, the stipulations which come with funding, the competitive nature of funding, the imposition of metrics, etc) did not fit with the social activity which is at the core of the project.
With this in mind, Ragged is being wound up as a charity so it can continue as a social practice – as it has always been. The project has informally involved all sorts of individuals from various backgrounds, especially (unsurprisingly) people who are involved in academia and formal learning. This year, a number of academics have invited Ragged Uni to be a part of the Working Class Academics Conference in Blackburn (https://workingclass-academics.co.uk/).
With a lot of research, writing and individual conversations happening in the background, this event is a casual opportunity to have a chat with Alex Dunedin, the Edinburgh coordinator, and have him answer any questions about what has been happening, the thinking behind decisions which have been made, the upcomming plans for the year plus an opportunity to have a bit of a social chat and enjoy the surrounds of the Botanics.
We will be meeting at The Terrace Cafe in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, which you can get to via bus to Inverleith Row. The Terrace Cafe is the cafe right in the middle of the Botanics on the hill (see the map below). The plan is to have a blether and then go for a walk around the gardens and enjoy taking in some of the scenery.
Come along dressed in warm clothes and bring an umbrella, as the weather might not be the best for light clothes. After a cuppa or two the plan is to go for a wander around the gardens to pick up one fact from the flora which you find interesting. Food and drink will not be provided in this event so please bring enough to get yourself what you would like.