Code of Conduct

The Public Engagement with Research unit (PERu)/Public and Community Engagement Team at the University of Southampton is committed to creating and providing welcoming, open, inclusive and safe environments and experiences, where everyone feels they belong and able to participate to their fullest. 

All visitors, students, staff, external collaborators and suppliers deserve to feel valued and respected within our venues, on our programmes, during events and on social media. 

Our Code of Conduct sets out expectations for festival contributors and visitors at all our in-person events and online, including at Science and Engineering Day (March) and at Hands-on Humanities Day (November). 

Being part of the Festival means: 

• Being fair and treating everyone (students, staff, exhibitors and visitors) equally with respect, kindness and dignity;  

• Listening to, tolerating and respecting each other’s views; 

• Communicating in an open and respectful way; 

• Using welcoming and inclusive language; 

• Respecting each other’s personal identity, including choice of pronoun (if in doubt, please just ask); 

• Being considerate of event visitors, event contributors and organisers; 

• Following event signage, including special instruction and warning signs; 

• Being considerate of University’s buildings, facilities, infrastructures and landscape (this applies also to external hosting venues);  

• Being considerate of other’s personal belongings. 

We will NOT tolerate or accept (in speech, actions, text and imagery): 

• Abusive, intimidatory, threatening, hateful, bullying, insulting, degrading, or otherwise behaviour deemed inappropriate, including at the Welcome desk and Check-in desks;  

• Harassment and discrimination of any kind i.e. offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, physical appearance, race, and religion; 

• Vandalism, trespassing, littering, rowdy or otherwise behaviour deemed inappropriate towards properties and others; 

• Impersonation of official persons i.e. staff or members of event management team, especially when there is malicious intent; 

• Sustained disruption of activities or events; 

• Disinformation and misinformation; 

• Unauthorised active campaigning/evangelism and campaign recruitment; 

• Display, distribution or sharing of illegal or inappropriate material; 

• Unauthorised sale of goods and services; 

• Unauthorised recording or photographing for commercial purposes; 

• Advocating for and encouraging any of the above behaviour. 

Parents and carers 

It is the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure the safety of their accompanying children and vulnerable adults at risk of harm in their care. This includes: 

• making sure that the events and activities accessed by the person(s) in their care are age-appropriate and accessible; 

• monitoring their behaviour during their visit;  

• staying with them during zone visits, workshops, shows, talks and laboratory tours.  

Exhibitors and visitors participating in activities and events involving children and young people should ensure that their content, contributions, language and behaviour are age appropriate. 

Failure to comply 

Failing to comply with the Code of Conduct could result in your immediate exclusion from the activity or event you are taking part in, with request to leave the festival site and banning from any other Festival events you have planned to attend. 

Noticed something that wasn’t quite right? 

If you think the Code of Conduct is not being followed at an event, please contact an event manager or officer on-site or get in touch with the UoS Festival team at festival@soton.ac.uk, so that we can take appropriate action. 

These guidelines represent an ongoing commitment which will be reviewed and regularly updated to reflect your feedback. If you have any thoughts on how we can improve, please contact us at festival@soton.ac.uk.