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What motivated you to engage the public in your work?

The research discussed below was action orientated, where the researcher is considered to be an agent of change within the research situation. For this research, it was essential to involve those on whom the research was based. Participants completed questionnaires and then commented on the research findings. This was used to validate the findings and to ensure that the researcher had not mis-interpreted or mis-represented the views of those involved in the research. Although stakeholder engagement events are designed to give a voice to those considered to be stakeholders, in practice this is not always the case. The research explored the role of dominant voices, why some voices were not heard, and the role of informal dialogue taking place outside of the formal meeting situation.

Describe the public engagement activity you have done.

The action orientated research asked members of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority National Stakeholder Group to complete questionnaires regarding their perceptions on the nature of the dialogue and their perceived influence on the decision making process. Although the group is made up of industry specialists it also comprises nuclear Site Stakeholder Groups. These groups are made up of members of the public who represent their communities' interests at the forum. Following the interpretation of the results from 2 questionnaires, I presented the findings back to a meeting of site stakeholder group representatives. I did this as the main aim of the research was emancipatory, that is to raise the awareness of participants regarding their perceived role in the engagement process, the nature of the dialogue being used to engage them and their influence on the decisions made by the convening organisation. The group then commented on my findings and confirmed that much of what I had discussed captured their individual perceptions of their role. This was written into the research findings.

What are your top three tips for other researchers?

1. Do your homework on those that you will be engaging with. Who are they? What are their points of view regarding the issues under discussion? How are they likely to respond to your proposals? Brief them well beforehand.

2. Recruit critical friends before going out to the public who can cast a critical but friendly eye over what you are proposing and comment accordingly.

3. If verbally assaulted in public take this as a compliment, your work is having an impact! Offer to sit down with individuals and hear their point of view and demonstrate that you have listened and considered.

What are your top three resources to support your engagement work?

1. If discussing technical and complex subjects have experts at hand who can answer any difficult questions outside of your area of expertise. 2. Time is the most precious resource of all. Much of my research is done outside of the day job and with

2. young children this can be difficult.

3. Humility. People who attend engagement events often do so in their own time - have this in mind at all times. They owe you nothing, but often give you much.

What would you say to encourage another researcher to support your engagement work?

It is easy to feel threatened by the public, particularly if you are generally based within a community of scientists. However, public engagement requires researchers to reframe their research in terms that are accessible to the public. This is a challenge but ultimately rewarding: your research will be out there in the true public realm, being considered by those whom it can best inform. Also, feedback on research is invaluable, particularly if the goal of the research is for it to be used in the public realm.