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Public Engagement andResearch

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Public EngagementWhat is public engagement?

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Public Engagement“Public engagement is a term that is widely used in a variety of sectors - from arts and heritage to science policy and local government.  The Higher Education Funding Councils and the UK Research Councils use it to express their ambition for a different, more inclusive relationship between the academic and non-academic worlds.”

National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement

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Public Engagement“Public engagement brings research and higher education institutions together with the public. It generates mutual benefit - with all parties learning from each other through sharing knowledge, expertise and skills. Done well, it builds trust, understanding and collaboration, and increases the institution's relevance to, and impact on, civil society.”

www.publicengagement.ac.uk/what-public-engagement/definitions

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Public Engagement“The involvement of specialists listening to,

developing their understanding of, and interacting with, non-specialists.”

HEFCE, 2006

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Public Engagement

Why should the research sector engage with the public?

What are the drivers?

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Public Engagement“As the Research Councils, we seek to create a culture where the research sector and researchers themselves value public engagement as an important activity, and where an awareness of social and ethical issues informs research decisions.”

www.rcuk.ac.uk/per/default.htm

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Public Engagement“We expect the researchers we fund to engage with wider audiences including the general public.”

Alexandra Saxon, EPSRC

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Examples of Public Engagement• Consultations• Outreach• Public talks• Writing for non-academic

media• Exhibitions and festivals• Workshops• Dialogue

• Debates, forums and focus groups

• Participatory action research

• Co-inquiry• Working in schools

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Motivations?

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Public EngagementWhat is the good news about public engagement?

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Planning Your StrategySuspend judgment

Your funders have put out a call for researchers to create an innovative public engagement strategy. Please choose a variety of approaches to reach more than one target audience.

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Public Engagement“I am passionately dedicated to giving as many people as possible access to the exciting and beautiful world of mathematics and science that I inhabit. I want to reveal why it is such a powerful way to understand the world.”

Marcus de Sautoy, Chair in the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford

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Planning Your Strategy• AHRC – helps fund Beacons for Public Engagement• BBSRC spends £1 million on public engagement activities

each year – small grant scheme• Wellcome Trust – International Engagement Awards

support projects with grants of up to £30k• EPSRC – partnerships for Public Engagement (up to £20k)• Science & Technology Facilities Council – small awards

scheme