Edinburgh Napier University

  Enhancing belonging and community is an area of strategic priority in research, within institutions and across the HE sector (Campbell, 2019; Robertson et al., 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into sharp focus the need to galvanise student communities and enhance belonging to support student attainment and engagement, and as a buffer to mental health challenges (Blignaut et al., 2021; Gopalan et al., 2021). Yet as a concept, belonging remains contested and complex, and insights into its practical enhancement to support the development of communities as we move forward, are limited. In Criminology, a very small body of research has explored belonging or the various communities our students may feel part of (Dabney, Green and Volkan, 2006; Maunder, 2018; van Herpen et al. 2020). In seeking to address this gap, we propose the concept of ‘authentic belonging’, which emerged through the qualitative evaluation of a suite of belonging focused mini-projects conducted at Edinburgh Napier University. This presentation will explore and unpack the meaning of community and belonging in Criminology and provide practical recommendations for their enhancement within the discipline. In doing so, the paper provides a blueprint for criminologists seeking to strengthen the bonds of community for their learner cohorts