Engaged Research EDGE Tool
This Engaged Research EDGE tool has been developed as a complementary resource to the NCCPE’s main EDGE tool.
How this tool relates to the NCCPE EDGE framework
The original NCCPE EDGE tool is designed to support organisations and teams to reflect on how well public and community engagement is embedded across their work, particularly at an institutional level.
This version builds on that foundation, with a more specific focus on engaged research practice.
It has been adapted to:
- Focus on the research lifecycle and research programmes
- Support researchers and principal investigators
- Explore how engagement shapes knowledge production, partnerships, and research culture
- Provide a practical way to reflect on engagement within projects, programmes and disciplines
In this sense, it can be used alongside the main EDGE tool to provide a more granular, research-focused lens.
A developmental framework for engaged research
Like the original EDGE tool, this version is designed as a developmental framework, not an assessment tool.
It helps you to:
- Identify where engagement currently sits in your research
- Reflect on how it is supported and valued
- Consider how it could be further embedded
The tool describes a progression from:
- Embryonic – where engagement is limited or ad hoc to...
- Embedding – where engagement is a core part of how research is conceived, developed and delivered
This progression is not linear or fixed. Different aspects of your work may sit at different stages, and movement between them is shaped by context, resources, and priorities.
Complementing the institutional view
While the main NCCPE EDGE tool focuses on institutional conditions for engagement, this version brings the focus closer to research practice itself.
It encourages you to consider:
- How engagement shapes your research questions and approach
- How it is supported within your projects and teams
- How it is reflected in research culture and leadership
- How relationships with communities and partners are developed and sustained
Used together, the two tools provide a more complete picture of:
- Where engagement sits within your organisation, and
- How it is enacted within research practice
Using the tool
- Consider where your current practice sits across different domains
- Identify areas where engagement could be strengthened
- Begin to develop practical next steps
This might involve developing an action plan or using a theory of change to think through how engagement could be more fully embedded in your work.
