public engagement with research masterclass 11: organising .../file/organising... · evaluation and...

Public Engagement with Research Masterclass 11: Organising your public

engagement event

19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield 1

Professor Richard Jones

& Professor Vanessa Toulmin

19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield

Outline of session

2pm Presentation

3-3.45pm Interactive sessions

3.45-4.00pm Round up and questions

Introduction to the project and Public Engagement with Research team

• Introduction to the Public Engagement

with Research Team

• The Masterclass series

• What we can do to help?


Masterclass series

Masterclass title Date & time

11. What to think about when organising your public

engagement event

20th February 2014

12: Undertaking public engagement with non-specialist

audiences

Wednesday 26th March 2014

13: How to identify, approach and work with stakeholders Wednesday 30th April 2014

14: Public Engagement or Widening Participation/

Outreach?

Organising events for children and young people

Wednesday 28th May 2014

15: Filming, iTunes U & podcasting Wednesday 25th June 2014

16: Writing a risk assessment for your event Wednesday 30th July 2014

17: Engaging the public as researchers and different types

of engagement

Wednesday 24th September

2014 or Wednesday 1st

October 2014

18: Getting started with social media and using social

media for public engagement

Wednesday 29th October 2014

19: Some ideas about how to evaluate your public

engagement event

Wednesday 26th

or Wednesday 19th November

2014

20: Media Training for Public Engagement and ‘The

Conversation’

Wednesday 17th December

2014


Evaluation questions


• Who is here?

• What do you know?

Which faculty are you in?

A. Arts & Humanities

B. Engineering

C. Medicine Dentistry & Health

D. Science

E. Social Science

F. Other


Arts &

Hum

anities

Engineerin

g

Medici

ne Dentis

try &

Health

Science

Social S

cience

Other

17%

2%

7%

26%

33%

14%

Are you…?

A. Academic staff

B. Non-academic

staff

C. Post-graduate

student

D. Other


Academ

ic st

aff

Non-aca

demic

staff

Post-g

raduate

student

Other

27%

2%

49%

22%

How many public engagement events have you organised?

A. None

B. 1-2

C. 3-5

D. More than 5


None1-2 3-5

More

than 5

60%

18%

3%

20%

How much do you know about organising public engagement events?

A. A lot

B. Quite a lot

C. A little

D. Nothing


A lot

Quite a

lot

A little

Nothin

g

5%

26%

33%36%

• The University’s Good Research and

Innovation Practices policy

www.sheffield.ac.uk/ris/grip

• Minimum accepted practices in public

engagement

• Higher practices to aspire to


What is 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 ”

National Coordinating Centre for Public

Engagement

Professor Richard Jones Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation


• University of Sheffield catalyst funding: Remaking the Civic University: Creating New Cultural Standards for Public Engagement

• Why public engagement is important

• Some examples of public engagement


How not to do public engagement/ common mistakes

• Rabbit in the headlights

• Think about the University’s reputation

• You are the expert … to an extent. BUT be

prepared to listen

• Start with a small scale event


Professor Vanessa Toulmin

Head of Engagement



• Why do you want to hold a

public engagement event

and what do you want to

get out of it?

• What audience do you

want to attract and how will

you engage with them?

Getting started


• Who will be in the audience?

General public or specialist

group?

• Specialist groups may be

approached through a

network or forum and may

need a targeted approach

• What are you telling them

about your research? Why

will they want to know?

Sensitivity around audiences

• Child protection issues/ Disclosure and Barring Service

(DBS) checks (previously CRB checks)

• You will need to seek permission before photographing

and recording the event

• You will need to consider the cultural sensitivities of your

audience to ensure widest possible appeal

• Consider barriers to attendance e.g. transport, childcare,

time of the event

• Ethics


What kind of event?


Types of event

• lecture

• ‘in conversation with…’ format

• panel debate

• participatory dialogue event (e.g. focus group, workshop)

• demonstration

• ‘hands-on’ event (e.g. museum workshop)

• film screening

• theatre performance

• exhibition etc

Need to consider the pros and cons of each to promote

your message in the best way


What will a successful event look like?

• Success – how will you measure it?

• Impact – what message do you want the audience to

take home? In some cases, just taking part can be a

success, in other cases you may want to stimulate

thinking or a debate

• Communication – you will probably need to adapt the

language of your research to appeal to the audience.

Public engagement is about a interactive process of

information and knowledge exchange


• Consider involving an external organisation to

generate interest in your event or to promote your

message in a different way

• Tell your story in a way that is likely to appeal to a

wide audience – consider using artists, street

theatre, interactive events etc

Event promotion

• How are you going to get people to come to your event?

• Where is the venue?

• Internal support: events can be promoted using

announce emails are available via MUSE and supported

from CiCS, Open Campus, What’s On etc

• Media, Marketing and Digital Engagement Team

• The Public Engagement with Research Team can help

you with advice about producing leaflets, social media

(twitter and facebook etc) and general promotion

• Filming facilities are available in most teaching rooms in

the University and support is available from CiCS


Location of the event

• Is the university the best location or should you

take your research out to the public?

• What is the room like? Does it work for your

event?

• Think creatively about location and format –

local parks, neighbourhoods, community

centres, supermarkets

• Venue accessibility – Consider the availability of

public transport, disabled access, cost to get

there, etc. Do you want to attract people passing

by?


Timing of the event

• Make sure the event does not clash with another

event your target audience are likely to attend

• Can you piggy back your event onto something

else?

• Activities may have to be run at unsociable times

to attract the audience – e.g. weekends or

evenings


Practicalities

• Staff/ student volunteers

• Contingency planning for bad weather or last minute cancellations

• Risk Assessment and Health and Safety

• Non-university outside spaces will need permission

• You may also want to think about audience reaction – what if you are heckled?

• Appoint volunteers to manage audience numbers, deal with queries etc

Budgets and costings

• Venue: External venue might charge but it could

make the difference between getting the right

audience and not

• Non-university outside spaces will need permission

– contact the Public Engagement with Research

Team for further guidance

• Pre-booked events or charged? Even a small fee

means that people who have bought tickets are

more likely to attend. Free events make it accessible

to all

• Refreshments

• External advertising and promotion – posters/leaflets

etc

Evaluation and Feedback

• Evaluation methods: Response comment cards,

interviews, focus groups, graffiti walls, observation, drawings, video, photos, images, filming etc

• Think creatively about engaging the audience to tell you what they thought

• Some methods: before and after evaluation, video clips on exit, voting using tokens

• Short films, pod casts and video clips are becoming very common. We can also help you with Vimeo, TEDx and filming.

• What did you want to achieve from the event and can you measure it?

• What difference did the event have on the audience?

• How was the event received?

• Could you do it better next time?

Interactive activity 1: • Examples of good/ bad public engagement

• In round table groups share your

experience about what has gone well and

what has not gone so well (15 minutes)

Interactive activity 2: • In your tables discuss how you would approach organising the following

event from the brief below. What are the key tasks to putting on a

successful event from start to finish?

• Your group is organising a public engagement in science event as part of

Science & Engineering Week in March 2015. This particular event will

involve scientific demonstrations by leading academics and early career

researchers from the University. Your venue is the Winter Garden and your

audience is mainly made up of school children who have been brought in by

the schools. Your group will need to ensure that the children, and any

members of the public who are also present, are educated and entertained

in a safe, enjoyable space. You will need to programme 3 main activities.

Your group are responsible for the event from start to finish and the event

itself will last around 3 hours.

• Q - What are your key tasks/areas of responsibility? (20 minutes)


Some answers

• Assign team leader, set SMART outcomes

• Showcase research with fun activities

• Seek funding/in-kind support

• Book venue with Council city centre manager in

plenty of time

• Book demonstrators & stewards

• Undertake full risk assessment and health and

safety plans – ensure everyone is briefed

• Ensure all activities are safe for children

• Full briefing on day of event for all involved

• Promote via University and local media

• Create a social media communications plan

• Develop learning materials to take home

• Evaluation techniques – be creative!

• Share your success story

Opportunities for engagement – what is coming up?

Platforms:

• 24 Hour Inspire (March 2014)

• Doc/Fest (March 2014)

• May Fest (May 2014)

• Festival of Medicine Dentistry & Health (May 2014)

• Doc/Fest (June)

• Sheffield Fayre (August 2014)

• Wilderness – to be confirmed (August 2014)

• Off the Shelf (October 2014)

• Festival of Social Science (November 2014)

• Festival of the Mind (September 2014)

For further information contact [email protected]

Evaluation questions – What have you learnt?


How much have you learnt about organising public engagement events?

A. Greatly improved

B. Slightly improved

C. Stayed the same

D. Don’t know


Greatly

impro

ved

Slightly

impro

ved

Stayed th

e sam

e

Don’t kn

ow

20%

0%8%

72%My knowledge has…

How much have you learnt about audiences and planning?

A. Greatly improved


C. Stayed the same

D. Don’t know


Greatly

impro

ved

Slightly

impro

ved

Stayed th

e sam

e

Don’t kn

ow

12%

4%

20%


How much have you learnt about different methods of public engagement

A. Greatly improved


C. Stayed the same

D. Don’t know


Greatly

impro

ved

Slightly

impro

ved

Stayed th

e sam

e

Don’t kn

ow

28%

4%

20%


Questions


To Discover And Understand.

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