Bright Club: public engagement variety night
Bright Club provides an enjoyable first-step into public engagement for students and staff. It is run by the UCL Public Engagement Unit and happens every month in a comedy club in London.
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.
BA (hons) students of various disciplines are annually empowered to re-interpret the Royal Cornwall Museum’s collections in creative ways that will appeal to young people aged 16-24, creating surprising interventions to both engage this age group and represent them to other sectors of Cornwall’s...
Future animals: Friend or Food?
‘Future animals’ was an integrated arts and science project that brought together teenagers, Cardiff University staff and students, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, and an artist to discuss how human manipulation of past animals produced animals of the present day, and to design animals for...
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.
Manchester Community Science Awards
Four awards of up to £2000 each were available to develop PE activities during the Manchester Science Festival 2010.
Manchester Beacon Science Festival Community Awards 2010
Fostering new partnerships between research networks and community groups. This case study explores the role of the Museum as a bridge to build links between universities and community groups.
Dundee Science Centre developed ‘Create and Inspire’ training for researchers and scientists to help them learn about the style and ethos of science communication in a science centre context.
Accessing our National Heritage
The Adult Education Centre at University College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland commenced collaboration in 2008 to harness and leverage the resources and exhibitions of the National Library for the benefit of adult learners.
Beacon North East Co-inquiry Action Research (CAR) Project
Members from BE North East, community group, Thrive, Durham University and Newcastle University formed co-enquiry action research group to research co-enquiry
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.
The Community University Partnership Programme's (Cupp) Helpdesk helps to build trust, commitment and understanding between the University of Brighton and its communities.
Cross-Institutional Collaboration
The aim of this initiative was to help establish effective support for public engagement activities across the Edinburgh Beltane partnership.
Intergenerational Reminiscence Project
The Intergenerational Reminiscence Project aims to break down barriers between the elderly and local school children through student volunteer facilitated workshops, which focus on two-way communication of knowledge and life experience.
UCL Step Out and other adventures
A collaboration between UCL's public engagement unit and their volunteering services unit to encourage postgraduate students to develop public engagement projects.
I'm a Scientist, Get me out of Here!
I’m a Scientist is a science dialogue event where school students talk to real scientists online for two weeks. It’s in the form of an X Factor style competition between scientists, who compete for a prize of £500.
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...
The focal point for charitable activity at Oxford University - a network that helps coordinate the work of partners in the public engagement process.
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.
Practical Piracy is a series of workshops led by post-graduate researchers from the University of Warwick to engage children with their research in a fun and engaging manner.
A series of public & school engagement activities took place in Manchester to highlight important issues surrounding food security & urban agriculture, which culminated in a 'Finale Day' on 3rd July 2010 at the Manchester Museum
A National Trust Student Ambassador hosted a Mad Hatter's Tea Party at the University of Plymouth to raise awareness of the National Trust among the student body.
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.
The Whitworth’s student engagement programme is pioneering a model where the students are active learners, and co-producers. This way of working impacts upon both the students and gallery staff as co-learners and provides provide an empowering platform for student talent, creativity, vision and...
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...
Discovery is a student-led registered charity based at Swansea University that links student volunteers with a comprehensive range of community activities. These include running a charity shop, fund raising and publicity, volunteering with children and vulnerable adults, and environmental projects.
Two to the Left, Two to the Right
A fun event to raise awareness of the positive impact of students in the community.
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...
Understanding Environmental Knowledge Controversies
The Ryedale Flood Research Group and the 'Understanding Environmental Knowledge Controversies' Project is an excellent example of developing effective ways of engaging citizens in interdisciplinary scientific work.
Developing an interactive installation for a tour of the UK, with the aim of raising awareness of AI researchers and the Sodarace audience.
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...
Bursting the Bubble: Peer-led Research
Bursting the Bubble, research into students, volunteering and the community adopted a peer led participatory methodology, involving student researchers in all stages of the process
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.
The Museum of English Rural Life seeks to capitalise on the expertise of the wider research community to give its temporary exhibitions increased relevance and depth.
London Student Volunteers Fortnight
In 2009 nine London universities came together with multiple community organisations and schools to coordinate a broad range of volunteering events and programmes across London, a pilot which has developed into an annual event.
Manchester Leadership Programme
An academically accredited programme to produce leaders of the future, and help the integration of the university within its community.
