About the NCCPE

The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement [NCCPE] was established in 2008 as part of the £9.2m Beacons for Public Engagement initiative.

Beacons for Public Engagement

The Beacons for Public Engagement initiative is a four-year project designed to create a culture change across the higher education sector. It consists of a network of

• Six beacons which are university-based collaborative centres that help support, recognise, reward and build capacity for public engagement work. The six Beacons are based in Newcastle and Durham, Manchester, Norwich (UEA), UCL, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
• The NCCPE - we co-ordinate, capture and share learning between the Beacons and across UK higher education institutions [HEIs] and research institutes.

Find out more about the Beacons.

The NCCPE team

The NCCPE is a small core team of eight, headed by Director Paul Manners and based in Bristol at the Watershed Media Centre in Bristol’s Harbourside.

Our partners

The Centre is hosted between the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England. Our partners include the BBC, Museums Libraries and Archives (MLA), v - the young people's volunteering charity - and many others.

Our role

Our role is to inspire a culture change in how universities engage with the public. We work with all the beacons to promote best practice in public engagement and provide a single point of contact for the whole higher education sector. We also work strategically with our key national partners to help develop work across the sector. You can read more about our vision for public engagement here.

Our funding

The Centre and the six beacons are funded by the UK Higher Education Funding Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust. More about the funders.

Our projects

The NCCPE is committed to developing projects that will contribute to our work. We are currently supported by the youth volunteering charity ‘v’, to deliver a strategic project, "vinspired Students", linked to student volunteering.