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: a number of academic departments across the disciplines have amassed extensive experience of engagement with schoolchildren, adult learners and the general public, both directly and via the media, whilst students also have a distinguished track record of engagement with local communities of interest.

Despite this, a feeling has persisted in some quarters that while public engagement may be a pleasant enough activity, it is peripheral and, worse, a potential distraction from the serious business of teaching, research and, until lately, the Research Assessment Exercise.

Over the past five years, though, sustained efforts have been made to counter this by establishing public engagement as part and parcel of the academic endeavour at Bristol - an essential thread that runs through the fabric of the University.

'Engagement activities work best when integrated into research and teaching.It makes more sense of staff time because it's feeding into a bigger picture and you're learning at the same time.'
Dr Shelley Hales, Senior Lecturer, Department of Classics and Ancient History

Lessons learned

We have tried to avoid haranguing people about public engagement - central directives and earnest homilies tend to be counter-productive. Instead we have relied on:

- effective academic champions of public engagement. We are fortunate that Kathy Sykes, Professor of Sciences and Society, is on the staff at Bristol, together with others who are expert at making the subject come alive and who are encouraging more people to follow suit

- mechanisms for sharing experiences of and ideas about public engagement, including forums which bring together people from within and outside the institution to develop fresh thinking and work collaboratively on issues that matter to the city

- senior leadership of such forums and of the public engagement agenda in general. This means having a Pro Vice-Chancellor at the helm and a Vice-Chancellor who is vocal on the subject of the purpose and value of public engagement

- a small, highly professional central team to work on public engagement, focused particularly on giving practical support to academic departments in doing what they want to do and on sharing good practice

- building public engagement into the institutional mind-set. Thus the University's Vision and Strategy describes an institution that is 'engaged with society's interests, concerns, priorities and aspirations' and includes a chapter on public engagement. The subject is also highlighted through presentations and discussions at meetings of the governing body and other key committees and celebrated in University publications and prizes (e.g. the University Engagement Award)

- a high-level, cross-University steering group that takes responsibility for championing the 'Engaged University' concept and values

- abandoning the jargon of public engagement in favour of telling stories that bring the topic to life

- ensuring that centrally-organised public engagement projects are relevant to the priorities and interests of both the University and external partners and communities. The objective is to build up a body of work that has shape, overall purpose and impact

Resources

• Find out more about the ways in which staff and students from the university interact with the public in many different ways by downloading the publication, Public Engagement at the University of Bristol (PDF, 2.08 MB)
• Find out more at the University of Bristol's 'Public Engagement Stories'
• See how the engaged university steering group helps to coordinate thinking across the university  
• Read about their strategy

Specific enquiries

If you have any questions about public engagement in Bristol, get in touch with either Barry Taylor (barry.taylor@bristol.ac.uk), Dr Maggie Leggett or Dr Philippa Bayley

Key partners

External partners include the BBC, Bristol Zoo, Wildscreen, Bristol Cultural Development Partnership, Arnolfini, Watershed, At-Bristol, Sustrans, Bristol City Council, GWE Business West, University of the West of England, National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement.