OPD_Introduction into Public Engagement 22 May

Jon Urch - Crime cafe, Bright Club (stand up comedy final outcome of presentation training)

Notes and follow up information taken from the NCCPE (National Co-Ordinating Centre for Public Engagement). Highlighted red for the relevant and applicable to this research.

• Blind engagement throughout project - not just as an output.
• Ideas - Draw in the Dark? Paint in the dark? Blind versus Sighted draw-off. Stickers. Interactive Augmented reality projected questionnaire or data findings. Dine in the Dark. Tiltbrush in the dark with sighted/blindfolded/blind participants.

Draw and then describe to a partner (who cannot see the drawing) - so that
they can replicate it. My drawing - too complicated to describe!

My drawing partner's drawing and my interpretation of it - described
with measurements and simple shapes.

• 
  Public Engagement by definition is a two way process, with the goal of generating mutual benefit, structured in such as way to benefit the researcher.
• Quantity of public - 1 to 1 million
• Why engage? Inequalities. Health. Wellbeing. Education. Employment. Enhancing Dundee's reputation as an international centre for science and cultural collaborations. To inspire new generations and creatives. 
• Don't reinvent the wheel with Public Engagement events. Check Involve https://www.invo.org.uk/communities/invodirect-org/voicenorth/
• Contact support staff at DJCAD for Public Engagement support. Heather Doran and Janice Aitken. Public Engagement Forum (search on UoD site) for staff researchers. School newsleter to promote public engagement events. 
• Comms team - external relations. Marketing Roddy Isles, Grant Hill, Ramini Perez (Tower Building room G12)
• Check planning calendar on UoD site. Plan and advise 6 -12 months prior. Check with Jon Urch by email if there is a potential clash. 
• Who am I telling and why? Press, radio and TV, Roddy Isles call to action - calling for responses.
• Events planned 4 - 6 weeks in advance
• Re GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) consent prior to participation.
• Public Engagement - Health & Safety accessiblity
• Stakeholders - (audiences/partners) 

• Who are the public? Anyone not in Higher Education
• Work with partner organisations who will tell us the motivations of that group and why they'd want to engage. Some of the best projects are when the public lead the project 

NCCPE https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/

Public Engagement

Four principles of high quality engagement

In summary:

Purpose: Why are you doing the engagement?

People: Who is involved in the project as participants, partners, or deliverers of the project? How have you considered their needs and interests in developing your approach?

Process: Is the process appropriate to the purpose and people you are engaging with?

Evaluation: Have you considered how to use evaluation to both inform your approach, and to assess its value?

• What?

Think about the type of activity you want to do, is it the most suitable for the message you want to get across? Is it suited to the kind of audience you want to target? Having clear goals from the start about what you want to achieve and what audience you want to target is essential. Feedback from previous similar events can be invaluable in finding out what has and hasn't worked in the past.

• Where?

What is the best location for your event to reach your intended audience? How many people can be in the space? Do the facilities meet all your requirements for the event?

Facilities such as parking, disabled access, audio and visual equipment, and facility and entrance fees all need to be considered.

• When?

Timing is everything, and many factors can affect your turnout and success on the day. Things to think about include whether there is an ideal time of day or year for your event, will it be taking place outdoors for example? Is your target audience only available at certain times of the day? Will everyone you need to be there to speak or volunteer be available at that time?

Avoid conflicting with another public engagement event by checking the Upcoming Events page at the University. To make sure you plan around school holidays or other local events visit the Dundee City Council What's On website to check what else is on on your preferred day.

Venues

Here is a list of local venues that you could use to host your event

• University of Dundee - The lecture theatres, museums, foyer areas and galleries across the University make great spaces for holding events or showcasing exhibits.
• Dundee Science Centre - Dundee Science Centre has several spaces for holding public events including the auditorium, cafe, meeting room and atrium.
• Dundee Libraries - Dundee Central Library has great facilities including a 250 seat cinema, meeting and conference rooms, as well as the main reading areas and atrium.
• Community Centres - Local community centres are great places to reach out to members of the public you may not necessarily encounter at the University or Science Centre.
• Outdoors - Dundee has a wealth of beautiful scenery which can act as a great backdrop to your event whether its one of the parks including Baxter, Camperdown or Balgay Park, Broughty Ferry or St-Andrews beach, or in the city Centre itself.

National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement

http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/do-engagement/choose-method/how-choose-method

Purpose

There are many possible reasons for engaging the public with your research, these can include:

• Responding (to societal needs / requests)  -this may come from discussions with RNIB, Vocaleyes or the blind artists themselves

Much of the public engagement work done by universities is driven by the university, yet we know that there are many organisations and individuals keen to work with universities, who have their own ideas about the things they would like to participate in and the issues or topics that they would like to address.  Identifying and responding to such requests can be an important motivator for engagement.

• Sharing what we do to inspire learning and sense-making 

Sharing what we do (inspiring, informing)

This is one of the most common purposes, where the goal is to inspire or inform people about your work. Building understanding and stimulating curiosity is a vital part of the engagement landscape.  

• Creating knowledge together or doing research together 
• Applying knowledge together to innovate or collaborate 

• Learning from others (consulting)

A vital purpose engagement can serve is to inform and educate you – to help you put yourself in other’s shoes, to see the world through their eyes, and to explore how they make sense of the world and the values that guide them.  Consultation and dialogue are key ways to realise this.

• Changing attitudes or behaviour 

People

Who you are planning to engage with should be a key determining factor when choosing your method, and it can help to be specific about who could or should be involved. People often talk about engaging with the general public, but who are the ‘general public’ and how can you ensure you engage with them effectively?

It can be helpful to break the public down into different types based on categories such as age, gender, ethnicity, location or interests. Examples of types of audience include:

Adults

Black and minority ethnic groups

Community groups

Family groups

Older people

Service users

Students

Underserved audiences

Young people

TARGET AUDIENCE: DEEPENING YOUR UNDERSTANDING Once you have identified your audience groups, it’s useful to take the time to understand them. If it is a particular group of individuals then consider their interests and lifestyles. If you want to work with specific professional groups, consider the nature of the organisations they work for, the priorities of those organisations and how they work. It’s always worth asking yourself some challenging questions like why might they be interested in taking part in your public engagement activity? Whomever you choose to work with, here are some useful tips to consider: · Build a profile of your target group.

Make a list of what they do, what they read, what they listen to, where they go, how they like to find out about events.

You may have to make some assumptions but be wary of stereotyping · If you are just getting started, work with an audience you feel you already know something about. Build on your own knowledge and further develop the profile of the group by asking relevant questions · Identify an audience champion. A partner from an organisation or venue associated with your target audience who could help develop the event and provide valuable insights, knowledge and contacts. Remember this relationship needs to be a mutually beneficial opportunity to learn together and develop an effective activity · Seek advice from the equality and diversity staff or various network groups within your institution, e.g. disability group or Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) group. Ideally, involve members of your targeted audience in your planning, as they will bring new perspectives and help ensure you develop an effective project · Ask yourself challenging questions upfront. For example, why might your audience want to engage with you? What are their motivations and needs? How could you work with them to ensure that the activity you plan is useful and engaging for them? · Think about the audiences’ different learning styles. Make sure you include different types of activity to suit different preferences. · Consider any barriers and what you can do to ensure that they don’t stop your target audience coming to your event. These can include: o Transport (availability and costs) o Disposable income o Timing of the activity o Interest o Lack of trust in you and your organisation o Perceived relevance of your research o Accessibility and mobility (physical and cultural) o Language (do you need to involve an interpreter?) o Awareness of the event o Childcare o Diet and food (ensure that you provide refreshments that are appropriate for your audience)

Process

Think about what you are trying to achieve. Different types of media will help you to reach different audiences.

Top tips

• Do your research. Whichever media outlet you decide to approach, make sure that you fully understand the medium, the tone, style and the needs of the target audience. 
• Take advice. If you have a press office, or colleagues who are experienced in dealing with the media, seek their assistance. Working with the media requires an understanding of how the media works and how to write for non-specialist audiences.
• Think ahead. Whether you are sending a press release, writing for a magazine or pitching a television programme, give yourself plenty of time. Media outlets have varying (and often lengthy) lead times. 
• Time it right. Timing is crucial when working with the media. Success with the news media often depends on how current a story is, and whether it can be supported by other major news and events. It is also in danger of being overshadowed if there are a lot of other things happening. Working in TV is very dependent on the scheduling and the ‘fit’ with strands of programming being aired. 
• Look for the bigger picture. Any media organisation is primarily concerned with appealing to its broadest audience. Don’t get bogged down with the nitty gritty of your research. Think about the implications of your research that are relevant to the target audience. 
• Mind your language. Whatever the medium, your audience is likely to consist of people who know nothing of your research. Think carefully about the language you use, avoid jargon and make use of anecdotes and narrative to add interest. See our guide to narrative and storytelling for guidance.  (saved in public engagement in phd literature references). Follow other links for story
• Think local. Local print, radio and TV media are often overlooked but can be a great way to reach a specific audience, and are often looking for new content. 
• Think about the needs of the medium. Each media organisation will be driven by its own agenda. Think about what they look for when commissioning content. What aspects of your research, or activity, lends itself to visual or audio elements, or opportunities for audience participation: 
• Television requires video footage and strong visual imagery 
• The print media require striking imagery, such as photographs 
• Radio and podcasting require audio elements, such as sound effects 
• Digital technology often requires opportunity for audience interaction 

Presentation/Talks

Make your talk engaging

In planning a talk or presentation the first thing to consider is how to make it engaging. Involve the audience as much as possible bycreating space for questions and answers and allowin them to share their opinions.

Audience voting mechanisms, getting the audience to move around and allowing volunteers to assist in demonstrations will maintain interest and keep the audience’s energy levels up. Try a mix of approaches to cater for different members of the audience. Common approaches include:

• Discussion and debate: A direct verbal lecture and the opportunity for discussion between the speakers and audience.
• Visual aides: PowerPoint slides, video, striking images, demonstrations, charts and graphs. Avoid slides with too much text which can be distracting.
• Objects and interaction: Passing around tangible objects and creating opportunities for audience members to draw or build something can make them feel involved.
• Anecdotes and storytelling: Sharing inspiring stories, interesting examples and engaging anecdotes will help non specialist audiences to understand complicated issues and will maintain their interest more effectively than a series of facts.
• Audience self reflection: Opportunities that allow audience members to learn something about themselves (and to reflect upon their own views) can be useful.

Process

Lecture / Presentation	Broadcast	Event
Writing	Encounter	Websites
Performance	Exhibition	Exhibit
Workshop	Network	Social media
Collaboration	Consultation	Formal learning
Citizen research	Collaborative research	Enquiry service

Media

There are many purposes that can be served by engaging with the media, including:

• To inform/educate different groups about a complicated or contentious issue 
• To empower the audience to contribute to ongoing public debates 
• To highlight and explain important yet little known, or poorly understood issues 
• To inspire people with new discoveries and ideas 
• To encourage new conversations with new audiences 
• To gain public support for research, developments, discoveries and ideas 
• To attract interest from potential funders or partners 
• To increase the number of people entering careers in the field 

Festivals

Check out and list animations

Research Innovation

• Research innovation services at UoD - UoD communities links. Shabnam Wassim

Links

National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement- https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/

Research & Innovation (Research Council)  https://www.ukri.org/

Welcome Centre UoD https://www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk/impact/public-engagement

Living Knowledge Network https://www.bl.uk/living-knowledge-network

ScotPEN Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScotPEN/

UoD led - Cafe Science, Arts Cafe, Bright Club

Festival of the Future - Festivals - get in touch with Jon Urch

Funding

• Seed funds
• Health and Wellbeing related up to £5k
• Go to School of Life Sciences
• Drop in sessions at School of Life Sciences
• Application support and help
• Application sent to Senga Robertson
• Charities also have funding streams
• j.urch@dundee.ac.uk