Café Connect
Café Connect is a unique and welcoming research café that brings together researchers and members of the public to explore, discuss, and shape research at every stage of the process.
Through a wide range of interactive activities, including our state-of-the-art, multi-sensory Weston Immersive Room, virtual reality, games, and hands-on experiments, Café Connect sparks curiosity, fuels imagination, and encourages meaningful conversations among people of all ages and backgrounds.
Built on the idea that great ideas start over a cup of coffee, our aim is to involve the public throughout the entire research journey by creating opportunities for genuine collaboration. Café Connect helps generate new ideas, inform study design, enrich data collection and analysis, support knowledge exchange, and share research findings in accessible and engaging ways.
By connecting communities and researchers, Café Connect ensures that research is relevant, inclusive, and shaped by the people it seeks to benefit.
We have created a how to guide (pdf) to support people who wish to engage in Café Connect pop-up events.
The Weston Immersive Room was made possible through generous funding from the . Developed to support innovative public engagement and research co-creation, it enables participants to experience fully immersive environments using projection, sound, scent, temperature and other sensory stimuli.
We're also using innovative technologies to enhance engagement, support co-design and enable new approaches to research across Connect Nottingham. These technologies include virtual reality, emotion and behavioural analytics, digital data capture and tablet-based engagement tools, environmental simulation, interactive exhibitions and advanced visualisation techniques.
Café Connect case studies
Older adult drinking
Drinking problems in the over 65s are an increasing concern. Alcohol carries more risks for older people due in part to potential existing health problems and interactions with medications.
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Emotions in food choice
We invited the public to take part in a study about the interactions between food portion sizes and people鈥檚 perceptions of them, as research has demonstrated that controlling portion sizes is a key contributor to obesity.
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Supporting young people鈥檚 wellbeing
Working with Harmless, a user-led support service, we invited young people with lived experience of self harm to explore how the Card Sort Task for Self-Harm could be adapted for other issues and delivered in different formats.
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Get involved
Whether you're interested in health and wellbeing, curious about the future of food, keen to learn something new, or simply looking to connect with others, Café Connect is a place to explore ideas, share perspectives and be part of conversations that matter.
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