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Sparking connections - a child involved in an engagement activity

Quality Practice

updated on 07 Mar 2024
6 minutes
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Engaging effectively with the public requires significant expertise. Having a model of what excellent engagement looks like can help all of us develop our skills and leadership. 

on this page
  1. Why high quality engagement matters
  2. Ten principles of high quality engagement
  3. Purposeful engagement practice
  4. Learning from others
  5. Being a high-quality practitioner
  6. Getting help
  7. Final takeaway
  8. Where next?

We believe that universities have a vital role to play in engaging more people in knowledge production and use. To do so we need to cultivate a step change in our collective expertise in engagement.

Sophie Duncan
NCCPE Co-Director

Why high quality engagement matters

Done well engagement can have huge value. It can inspire and inform publics; it can bring in critical insights into research practice; it can equip people with new skills and connections; inspire new ways of working and living; inform attitudes; encourage empathy; build societal value; and inform research agendas. Public engagement done well has huge potential to change how people think, what people do and how the world works.  

However, done poorly public engagement realises none of this, and can even lead to harm for those involved. So taking time to consider an appropriate approach, learning from others, and ensuring that the same quality of planning and thought that is brought into research is brought into the engagement is time well spent.  

Adele Jones standing in an atrium looking directly at the camera

In researching a sensitive and difficult topic like domestic violence, it has been extremely heartening to have overwhelming support from the public, local agencies and government departments. Public engagement is so integral to this project that it has grown on me like a second skin – I simply cannot imagine doing the research without it.

Professor Adele Jones OBE
University of Huddersfield
Read about Adele's NCCPE Engage Competition winning project None in Three

Ten principles of high quality engagement

Here are some of our favourite principles for high quality practice that apply to all forms of engagement: 

  1. Understand your purpose and your context 
  2. Consider carefully the people you hope to involve in your engagement work, and the role of equality, diversity and inclusion in your approach 
  3. Design your approach with your purpose and people in mind, and where possible involve others in the design phase 
  4. Use evaluation strategically, and make sure you use it to reflect on your work, and with your team 
  5. Anticipate, explore and manage ethical implications of your work, and ensure that you do no harm 
  6. Plan and resource your work appropriately, getting help where needed. Be sure you have expert administrative support.  
  7. If you work in partnership with others, take good practice partnership principles into your work 
  8. Reflect on the power dynamics in your work, and address these appropriately 
  9. Consider if and how you will sustain your work, and manage expectations of those involved 
  10. Work with others with relevant knowledge, networks and expertise – this could be public engagement professionals within your institution, or partnering organisation

Purposeful engagement practice

Illustration of a lightbulb

Inspiring

Collaborating

Consulting

Learning from others

Public engagement activity takes many forms, and it really helps to take time to learn from other people’s practice and to find inspiration there.  There are three broad approaches to engagement that you might want to explore: inspiring, consulting and collaborating, each with very different purposes.  

Inspiring and informing 

Lots of public engagement is focused on inspiring learning and curiosity. Typical approaches include lectures and workshops; media; interactive shows and festivals.  

Consulting

Another focus for engagement can be to actively listen to the public’ views, concerns and interests, ensuring your research and teaching is sensitive to its social and ethical context. Consulting with publics about research, whether it be determining the research question, or exploring potential implications of the methodology or outcomes, is a key way to engage the public.

Collaborating

Collaboration involved working in partnership to solve problems and pool expertise. Approaches include co-production, citizen science and community engagement. Publics and communities may be involved in all aspects of the research cycle or at certain stages.

Nurse giving advice to elderly woman

Inspiring and informing

The Heart and Lung Repair shop was a science pop-up shop. Scientists and clinicians from Imperial College collaborated with artists to develop interactive experiences that stimulated discussion about cardiovascular and respiratory research topics, and their social, ethical and cultural implications.

A 3D animated bear looking at the camera

Consulting

A key part of the Sphere project was a patient advisory group. Sphere was aimed at exploring the use of technology to monitor people’s health conditions at home. The advisory group provided perspectives on issues arising from the programme plan, and how these might be addressed.

Group Photo of the Turtle Project

Collaborating

The Turtle project based in Cape Verde was a collaborative programme with charities, researchers and local people, who worked together to monitor and protect local turtle populations. The project improved the research, and increased turtle numbers.

Reflection

Communication

Empathy

Being a high-quality practitioner

Following a tick list will not automatically ensure that your engagement is high quality – so it is important to cultivate attributes that can help you develop as an engagement practitioner. If you have never engaged the public before we encourage you to join in someone else’s activity, where there is support available for you to develop your approach. This lays the foundations for skills development, and to find out the forms of engagement that suit you and your work.  

The NCCPE have developed a competency framework that describes some of the attributes of engaged researchers. This includes: 

  • Reflection: an ability to reflect on the context, the potential participants, and ethical considerations. A commitment to learning and growing as part of the engagement work you do.  
  • Communication: active listening, and an ability to tune into others. Being able to tailor your communication content and style to different participant groups.  
  • Empathy: sensitivity to others, and a respect and care of other world views and opinions.  

We have also worked with Vitae to create a public engagement lens to the Researcher Development Framework – illustrating the ways engagement can contribute to your skills as a researcher.

Attributes Framework for Public Engagement
Public engagement lens on the Vitae Researcher Development Framework
Bella smiling at the camera

We need to talk about health and science differently. We can’t keep it within health care and academic institutions. We need to be inclusive of different voices and socially innovative to address inequalities.

Bella Starling
Director of the Vocal project
Find out more about how Vocal brings people and health research together

Getting help

Many universities have engagement staff within the institution who have expertise in all forms of public engagement and community engagement. If your university has signed up to our manifesto, you will find contacts on the manifesto page for that university, but hopefully you can find them by searching on your intranet.  

Engagement staff are a huge asset to any university and have specific skills and experience that will enable others to develop their engagement work. They may offer training or have access to training; they will know what other opportunities for engagement exist across the university and out-with; and they will help steer you in the right direction.   

The NCCPE have a range of resources to support people developing their engagement work, including guides to different types of audiences, approaches, ethics and evaluation.  

Explore our resources
Three women laughing together while taking part in a knitting activity

My career has evolved from working in theatre and taking artistic inspiration from science, shifting into creative research engagement. I am interested in embedding science in cultural contexts, placing engagement experiences in unexpected and surprising places – places like music festivals, shopping centres, beaches and playgrounds.

Ellen Dowell
Engagement professional

Final takeaway

Public engagement is a professional skill set, which done well can lead to significant impacts for all involved. This skill set can be learnt and refined, particularly in practice. Learn from and with others, to enhance your skills and develop the types of engagement you can be proud of.   

Where next?

Explore more resources exploring high quality engagement practice
Guides

A quick guide to developing high quality public engagement

How to get started in developing high quality practice.
31 July 2023
Tutorials

High Quality Engagement 101

This page offers an in-depth practical tutorial on how to apply the key principles of quality engagement to your work. There are several stages to work through so we suggest[...]
31 July 2023
Collections

High Quality Engagement Resources

A collection of tools and resources to help you develop your approach to high quality public engagement.
27 June 2023
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Attributes Framework for Public Engagement

A guide for staff and students in UK universities with regards to the personal attributes and skills required for different engagement activities. Last updated December 2010
13 May 2014
Practical tools

High quality engagement template

Use this template to think through your own engagement project.
28 February 2022
Practical tools

Accessible and Inclusive Practice Guidelines

These guidelines are adapted with permission from the STFC Interact 2019 Code of Conduct. We value the participation of everyone in the NCCPE network and want our work to be[...]
12 February 2022
Guides

Online Engagement: A guide to creating and running virtual events

This guide was created as a response to the COVID-19 crisis, which saw many people move to online working from March 2020. This guide is a crowd-sourced resource, gathering knowledge[...]
06 April 2020
Guides

Community-based participatory research: A guide to ethical principles and practice

Community-based participatory research: A guide to ethical principles and practice
13 May 2014
Guides

What Works guide: Engaging the public through social media

Guide to engaging the public through social media (2018)
04 December 2015
Guides

What Works guide: Artist and Researcher Collaborations

A guide from the NCCPE and contributors from across the sector on artist-researcher collaborations
19 July 2022

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