As the University announces that it is taking the first steps towards opening a second micro-campus in Hartcliffe, Tara Miran, Civic Engagement Manager for the University’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus (TQEC), traces her path to this point, reflects on her drive to connect people, and looks to the future as she takes on the management of the University’s Barton Hill micro-campus.
In a way, what has fuelled my desire to work in community engagement is my heritage. I’m Kurdish but I grew up in London, so I also identify as a Londoner and as a Bristolian.
Kurdistan’s history over the last 100 years has seen war, displacement, genocide, civil unrest and colonisation. It’s now divided into four areas of land between different countries, and South Kurdistan, where I’m from, is the only one with an established Kurdish regional government (KRG), following elections in 1992. The Kurdish people’s ongoing struggle for fairness and justice drives me in a lot of what I do.
I worked in the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, then I went into Community Development at Bristol City Council. I worked with great grassroots initiatives that communities of the global majority and equalities groups are driving across our city, and I was able to serve as a bridge between these groups and the Council. I’d conducted some research for Bristol Women’s Voice and the Women’s Commission, interviewing women from the global majority who live around Temple Quarter about the barriers they faced to their career aspirations. In the process, I met Vanessa Kisuule, a city poet who was commissioning some poems for the Temple Quarter project, and she invited me to write one – which I did. So when this civic engagement post came up at the University, it had my name all over it.
Community, family – and dentistry
Lots of communities around the world can’t speak up for justice or fairness. I think that if I have the privilege and the ability to effect positive change, then I should be doing it. When it feels like the right thing to do, it doesn’t always feel like ‘hard work’, but there are the days and the nights where you’re physically tired and frustrated. That’s why it’s important to remain persistent and hopeful.
Everyone should have access to basic services, like a dentist. When we were campaigning to save the St Paul’s Dental Practice, sometimes it was just me and my children handing out flyers or having conversations with local people. I would tell myself “Carry on, there’s going to be a light at the end”. Eventually, I’d get phone calls from media outlets, asking for an interview, and The Bristol Cable supported us all along. Gradually, like-minded people joined the campaign; when people also start giving back good energy and contributions, it fuels you to carry on. Community action is powerful and magical.
I always have a group of people around me with similar passions and energy. And I have to give credit to my family: my children are always up for a good cause, and my husband is like my backbone. But people like me who are sometimes called ‘activists’ don’t want to always be campaigning for basic provision and services for our communities; we want to enjoy life. That’s why it’s important that we work effectively together to bring about positive change.
Bristol bridges
Coming into this job supporting civic engagement around Temple Quarter, I wanted to be a bridge between diverse local communities and the University, and a catalyst for meaningful conversations. Some communities are referred to as those of multiple deprivation, but they are also full of diverse, rich assets and possibilities! I’d like to think that people know me as someone who gets things done, who’s authentic, who is of these communities. I’m visibly a Muslim woman, and I’m in a minority in many places, including at the University, so representation and inclusion are very important to me.
Now that I also manage Barton Hill micro-campus, working with the Civic Engagement team, we can continue the great things that have been going on there. I’ve got quite a wide network because of my previous work within Bristol – it’s like a directory in my head – so I’m keen to see how I can further enrich and contribute to the micro-campus’s journey.
We’re also using everything we’ve done at Barton Hill and engaging with our civic partners and networks to think about how we’re creating the civic spaces at TQEC. How do we make them inclusive, so that there’s equity of use for city partners, equalities groups, staff and students when the campus opens in September 2026?
One of the things I’m looking forward to seeing come to fruition on the Temple Quarter campus is the Story Exchange. This is a place for curating conversations between people with very different perspectives and experiences. It’s designed as a circle, so all perspectives are equal. We do this in different cultures across the world and throughout history– sitting in circles, sharing challenges, working on things together.
This is the focus of one of our current participatory art commissions, Charting Change. I’m very excited to see how that all develops and how civic engagement will look and feel in TQEC.