What began as a simple response to student feedback has evolved into one of the most quietly transformative experiences at Newcastle University this year.
Over six NETWALKs, and with three more still to come, students on the MA Media and Public Relations programme have stepped beyond the lecture theatre and into the city, discovering that learning can feel as much like belonging as it does like study.
The idea was straightforward: take students into Newcastle’s galleries, libraries, parks and cultural spaces, and connect theory to the real world. But what has emerged is something far more personal. For many students, NETWALKs have reshaped how they see both their course and themselves within it.
For Ananya Rajesh Sonawane, the impact was immediate. She describes the walks as her “favourite part of Term 1,” adding that they created a “sense of community from the very first day.” That early connection, often difficult to build in postgraduate settings, has become a recurring theme in student reflections.
Ishita Sakpal echoes that sentiment, but from the perspective of classroom dynamics. NETWALKs, she says, offered “an informal setting to freely express ideas outside of the classroom,” breaking down traditional academic barriers and allowing conversations to flow more naturally between students and staff.
For international students, the experience has been even more significant. Abdulaziz Saad describes arriving in a new country and finding, through these walks, a sense of grounding: “these NETWALKS enriched my study experience and made me much more settled in Newcastle.” In a programme where students come from across the world, that sense of settlement is not incidental; it is transformative.
Specific moments throughout the year have left lasting impressions. At the Laing Art Gallery in September, Damia Tyagi found that the experience went beyond analysing art. It became a space to connect; with classmates, with lecturers, and with the city itself. A later visit to the Lit & Phil Library in October deepened that engagement, prompting her to reflect on how storytelling shapes institutional identity and whose voices are remembered.
By March, the tone shifted again. Back outdoors in Leazes Park, Sonawane experienced a different kind of learning during a Tai Chi session; one rooted in wellbeing and reflection as much as theory. Around the same time, a visit to Beamish Museum left a strong impression on Fabiana Mariscal, who saw first-hand how heritage organisations bring history into the digital age, proving that communication can keep the past alive in entirely new ways.
The impact of the programme has not gone unnoticed beyond the School and the University. Dr Giuliana Borea, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies and curator of Newcastle Contemporary Art’s Listening to the Voices of the Rivers exhibition, who hosted one of the visits, described the students as “engaging,” adding: “I loved their attention and interest.” That reciprocal energy, students learning from institutions, and institutions responding to students’ curiosity, has become central to the NETWALK model.
Inspiring new ways of teaching beyond the classroom
With six walks completed and three more on the horizon, NETWALKs are no longer just an initiative; they are becoming part of the identity of the programme itself. They demonstrate that education does not have to be confined to lecture slides or seminar rooms. It can happen while walking through a gallery, standing by the sea, or moving quietly through a park.
And perhaps most importantly, they show that when students feel connected, to each other, to their environment, and to their learning, the impact goes far beyond the academic and is the foundation of real community.