Public Engagement with Research

Dr Jamie Gallagher-

Public Engagement

Officer

Routes to Impact

Public Engagement

Public engagement describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of higher education and research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by definition a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit.

Public Engagement

Outreach

Widening participation

Communication

Knowledge Exchange

Participant Recruitment

Public Engagement

Public engagement is a two way process around research. There are lot of interactions with external groups which have different goals. It is important to understand the forms and goals of the interaction.

Pathways to Impact

Pathways to Impact isn’t a detailed step by step instruction manual with itemised lists taking people through the deliverables that will definitely happen. It is demonstrating that you have mapped out the landscape and know the best way to reach your destination.

Pathways to Impact

Think about your personal research-impact landscape and what you might need to traverse it. You will need the correct resources and know how to acquire these resources. It is also a useful time to think about your past experience and how you can draw on that to demonstrate you will be effective in future.

So, you’ve decided to engage:

Who?

How?Success?

Why?

Public Engagement

Four key questions to ask yourself before engaging

Why?

Public Engagement

It is important to articulate your motivations as these will help develop your aims of the interaction. What is the purpose of the engagement? How will it benefit you, the public or the research? Once you have thought about the motivations turn these into a project aims.

Why?Funders

Data

Skills

Profile Enjoyment

Impact

NewPerspectives

Inspire

Understand Landscape

Challenge Misconceptions

Public Engagement

There are many reasons why you might want to engage, articulating them is essential.

Why?Public Engagement

In the current University Strategy “Engagement” is one of the three underpinning elements of our purpose.

Why?Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research

Public Engagement

All these bodies and more have signed the “Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research” This articulates this commitment and how they think it an essential element to research.

Why?EPSRC

The Public

Who?The better able you are able to identify and target your audience the greater the likelihood of a positive and fit for purpose interaction. Consider who they are and what forms of communication are most powerful.

Who?The Public

It is essential to think clearly about the audiences you want to reach.

Who?Gender

Ethnicity

Background

Age

Interest

Patients

Education level

ExpertiseBelief

Medical Status

Experience

The Public

The better able you are able to identify and target your audience the greater the likelihood of a positive and fit for purpose interaction. Consider who they are and what forms of communication are most powerful.

Policy Makers

Industry

AcademiaEducation

Audience

General Public

Interest groups

Who?The Public

Be able to articulate who you are trying to reach and how you have tailored messaging and format to suit them. You will speak to each new audience with a different voice, one tailored to that audience.

How?

Writing

Lecture

Audio

Object

Arts

Video

Performance

Book

Online

Posters

Leaflets

Museums

Discussion

Story telling

How?

There are numerous routes to engage. Work out what suits you, the research and your audience. You may want to try multiple routes.

R. Councils Charities

Professional bodies

University

SupportFunding

Partners

Is there an internal/external partner who could help broker relations with an external group? The Glasgow based groups above all have access to large audiences, to start with could you work out a project that would be mutually beneficial to all parties?

Impact

Success?What does success look like?To know if you have been successful you need clear aims and to capture evidence.

Success?Impact

You can only measure or demonstrate success but capturing information. Try to capture information that on1) Demographics: Who came and why? 2) Feedback: Was your intervention fit for purpose? 2) Evaluation: Did your intervention foster a change in knowledge, attitude or behaviour?

Success?Capture Impact

Information can be gathered in many ways. Choose one which is suitable for the information you require as well as your audience. Make sure the evaluation is a straightforward and positive experience for all participants.

Success?Capture Impact - innovate

If evaluation can be built into the initiative itself the audience may feel happier about contributing to it without feeling that they are being interrogated. Make it interesting and intuitive.

Applications: December 2016Event: June 2016

EventsGet Involved

Events

Monthly, Monday evenings

Get Involved

EventsGet Involved

Fortnightly, Monday evenings

Applications: May 2017Event: September 2017

EventsGet Involved

Who?

How?Success?

Why?

Starting point

Engagement process

Use a stepwise approach to think logically about your engagement to ensure that it is a powerful and worthwhile experience. Each step will help inform the next try to take learning away from each interaction to make the next more useful

Pathways to Impact

Who?

How?Success?

Why?

Lord of the Rings: A Pathway to Impact

Pathways to ImpactWhy?

Why: Stop Sauron taking over Middle Earth

Pathways to ImpactWho?

Who: A alliance of skilled individuals with unique experience and skills

Pathways to ImpactHow?

How: With suitable resources and mapping

Pathways to ImpactSuccess?

Success: The fall of Sauron

What do you want? What do they want?

Find the middle ground

Maximising Engagement

Articulate 3 or 4 aims that YOU have. Articulate 3 or 4 aims the AUDIENCE/PARTICIPANTS have (why are they going to engage with you, what do they want?)Work to meet BOTH of these lists to get a mutually beneficial/rewarding experience.