Supporting informal professional development in public engagement
There are many ways to support informal development in public engagement in an institution. This case study describes some of the event formats that have worked well at the Edinburgh Beacon.
The Crescent Network - Fostering PE through networks
Set up in early 2010 the Crescent Network is an informal forum for early career researchers to develop their public engagement skills
Qualitative baseline research at UEA
CUE East Beacon carried out a qualitative baseline survey of a cross-section of academic staff at UEA. It not only provided a baseline against which improvements can be assessed, but also recognised the activity already taking place and identified motivations and barriers for getting involved.
Embedding recognition for public engagement into promotions criteria at UEA
A set of promotions criteria on Enterprise and Engagement has been developed to reward those who get involved in engagement at UEA – to try to tackle the perception amongst staff that time spent on public engagement isn’t formally recognised by the university.
Early Career Researcher Awards
Vitae North West Hub and the Manchester Beacon collaborated to support researcher development through PE and mentoring to five projects in the North West region
Manchester Community Science Awards
Four awards of up to £2000 each were available to develop PE activities during the Manchester Science Festival 2010.
How can Beacons help foster change within institutional culture? This was the starting point for the Manchester Beacon Steering Group, who recognised that this change could be encouraged within certain contexts.
Step Up- Community Leadership Programme
Step Up was a bespoke leadership development programme led by the Manchester Beacon and Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations, designed to support and mentor leaders from the BAME communities.
PE at the University of Bristol
Public engagement in most of its guises has been a feature of life at the University of Bristol for many years.
Cross-Institutional Collaboration
The aim of this initiative was to help establish effective support for public engagement activities across the Edinburgh Beltane partnership.
Beacon for Wales funding rounds
The Beacon for Wales has been focussing on raising the profile of engagement as a valid activity for university academics, and has managed to award £208k to 16 projects across four different Welsh universities in two funding rounds.
The Beacon Bursaries scheme is one of the funding schemes facilitated by the UCL Public Engagement Unit. The Beacon Bursaries funding scheme provides small grants of up to £1,500 to support projects or activities that will help staff and/or students to connect their research or teaching with groups...
Rising Stars: Cambridge University
Many senior academics are great communicators and ambassadors for their subjects. We wanted to help those who are just starting out in their careers to develop these essential skills.
The UCL Public Engagement Unit works to embed public engagement into University life and trains up academics to take part in FameLab, the international science communication competition
The Evaluation of the UCL Beacon
This case study outlines the lines of inquiry used to evaluate UCL’s programme as part of the Beacons for Public Engagement (BPE) initiative.
Quality Streets - Participatory research in Stoke’s UniQ
Quality Streets is a participatory consultation in the neighbourhood of the University. The project involved local residents and workers, and students as a community research team to find out what people think about the area.
Places to start: opportunities for Public Engagement
It is important that staff and students have access to training, but is vital that they also have opportunities to ‘do’ public engagement. This presents a number of challenges. This case study focuses on some of the routes staff and students at the University of Edinburgh have followed to gain...
UCL Provost's Award for Public Engagement
The reward and recognition of PE activity is a core goal of the Beacon for Public Engagement (BPE) programme. The UCL-led Beacon have approached this is a number of ways, including the organisation and delivery of an internal awards programme for public engagement called the Provost’s Awards for...
Co-ordination and networks to support Public Engagement
It is challenging to coordinate information about PE, particularly across large institutions. It is also difficult to establish and maintain networks of people who work in this area. This case study explores how the University of Edinburgh is attempting to do this and shares the lessons learned so...
Developing infrastructure to support learning
Networks, events programmes, training opportunities and formal CPD in public engagement all support learning but delivering these initiatives requires experienced staff and other resources. Find out the Edinburgh Beltane tackled this.
Building formal support for public engagement into CPD Programmes
Our objective when we set out on this project was to provide a clear overview of the range of public engagement activities, the training and development opportunities available, and a way to support a strategic approach to professional development.
Manchester Leadership Programme
An academically accredited programme to produce leaders of the future, and help the integration of the university within its community.
