Public Engagement Ambassadors Scheme
Are you passionate about HEI public engagement? Are you keen to develop your own experience and skills in this area? Would you like to inspire your institution to develop their public engagement work?
Public Engagement Ambassadors will be supported to develop their own understanding and experience of public engagement, act as change agents within their own organisation, share their expertise and enthusiasm for public engagement nationally and to contribute to the work of the NCCPE.
Ambassadors will be able to access:- Ambassadors Fund: Public Engagement Ambassadors can apply for funding to attend relevant conferences and events – to develop their own learning and understanding about public engagement. To apply applicants fill in a simple application form, and a small panel assesses the application and make the awards. Successful applicants would demonstrate how they can benefit the network eg by creating a case study, doing a presentation at an event, interviewing a keynote speaker etc, and will be asked to contribute to the development of the Ambassadors project.
- Ambassadors Toolkit: We will work with the Ambassadors to create relevant resources to support them to be ambassadors for public engagement in their own university eg powerpoint presentations that could be tailored for use, research, case studies etc. We would ask participants to let us know what they were using the resources for – and would offer support where possible.
- Ambassador Events which will bring people together for training, to develop resources and to consult on work that the NCCPE is doing.
Who is it for?
Anyone passionate about HEI public engagement. This includes people working in HEIs (support staff, senior managers, academics, students, researchers, etc.) and people working with HEIs. You might be an experienced public engagement practitioner, or might be just starting out with an interest in getting involved in public engagement activity.
Why get involved?
There are key benefits to participants including:
- Support for your own work
- Opportunity to meet others, and develop skills and understanding
- Support to act as a change agent within your own organisation
- Funding to develop your own skills, as well as opportunities to contribute to the network
- Keep up to date with current thinking on public engagement, and how it relates to HEIs (eg. REF, Science for All)
How do I join?
Please fill in the application form (221kB) and email it to Lisa Adlington. We also ask that you provide us with an endorsement from a UK Higher Education Institution. This is to demonstrate that you have a genuine connection with an HEI which is willing to support your role as an ambassador. Please download the reference form (65kB) to give to your referee.
Applications are assessed by a small group of people, after which we will let you know whether you have been successful. This process can take up to 8 weeks. We will inform you of the reason for our decision.
Successful applicants will be sent information about how they can apply for funding.
Why is the NCCPE facilitating this?
The NCCPE sits at the heart of the Beacons for Public Engagement Initiative which is seeking to stimulate a culture change in how universities engage the public. To this end we believe that it is important to recruit and support ambassadors to support PE within their own institution. This scheme is a first step to developing a way of supporting publicly engaged university staff and students to make a difference.
