beacons for public engagement – funded by the uk funding councils, research councils uk and the...
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Beacons for Public Engagement – funded by the UK funding councils,
Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust
Embedding a culture of public engagement in Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s).
Edinburgh Beltane
Beacon North-East
Manchester
Wales BeaconCUE East
UCL
The National Coordinating Centre
Edinburgh Beltane Partners
Edinburgh Beltane Theme
Encouraging citizen participation and understanding of areas of research relevant to public policy such as health and life sciences, energy and the environment.
What is Public Engagement?
We want to explore what PE means to you.
Axes of Public Engagement
Audience
Specific Interest Group
60+
Families
Open to Anyone
Other
Secondary School
Young People
Adults
Primary School
Pre School
Lecture / Talk Writing Exhibition
Workshop OtherPublic
input in research
Policy Event
Debate or Discussion
Collection of Research data
Type of engagementKT /advice
4 23
16
10012
2221
15
5 25
7
30
27
620
26
32
1
142
17
24
19
70
8
10
93
18
11
13
What do we mean by Public Engagement ?
The Spectrum of Public EngagementInformationprovision
Consultation Involvement Delegation
telling people what you do
asking people what they think
of what you do
asking people about their
priorities
giving peopledirect control
Interactive Activities
Writing Books
Public Debates
Citizens Juries
Policy Forums
Public Lectures
• Informing• Teaching• Enabling• Learning• Participating
• Listening• Discussing• Networking• Advising• Promoting
Communicating with public audiences
What is Public Engagement?
What is Public Engagement?
Our funders say
it is not focused on:
PR, Recruitment,
or Widening Participation
Why do Public Engagement?
• It’s a good thing to do
• The public pay for research and have the right to know/be involved
• To inspire future generations of researchers
• To make research relevant to society
• Learn from GM & MMR
• To ensure future funding …
Why do Public Engagement?
Research Councils expect those who receive funding to:
• demonstrate an awareness of the social and ethical implications of their research, beyond usual research conduct considerations, and take account of public attitudes towards those issues
• engage actively with the public at both the local and national levels about their research and its broader implications
Personal Benefits
Personal satisfaction
Recognition
Transferable skill development
Crossing boundaries
Social interaction
Is Public Engagement the Key to Better Academic Performance?
• “scientists active in wider dissemination are also more active
academically.”
• “popularization-active scientists from engineering sciences have an
average publication rate over their professional life of 2.12 papers per
year, instead of 1.93 for the inactive ones, p-value = 0.07).”
• “However, their dissemination activities have almost no impact
(positive or negative) on their careers.”
Scientists who engage with society perform better academically, Jensen, Pablo; Rouquier, Jean-Baptiste; Kreimer, Pablo; Croissant, Yves in Science and Public Policy, Volume 35, Number 7, August 2008 , pp. 527-541(15)
How can the Edinburgh Beltane help you?