A decade of research in public and community engagement

This report is a summary of the full evidence from a scoping literature review undertaken by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) as part of the Scaling Pan-UKRI Approaches to Public Engagement in Research project, which was commissioned by UKRI through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Creative Communities programme led from Northumbria University.

Our commission was to identify key issues, topics and evidence gaps related to public and community engagement (P&CE) in research in the UK, focusing on publications from 2014 to 2024.

We hope that this review will be of use to all of us with ambitions to ensure research leaves a lasting and positive impact on society. 

The decade from 2014-2024 saw the publication of a substantial body of literature exploring the topic of public and community engagement in research. This literature reflects the increasing institutionalisation and formal expansion of public and community engagement in research, shifts in expectations of universities’ contribution to society, including the rise of the Impact Agenda and an emphasis on research culture, all of which create a context in which public and community engagement, in all its guises, is now an expected part of how research is conducted. Throughout this decade, the potential of engagement to transform research systems has been a consistent thread, although over time, the focus has shifted from asking why to engage towards understanding how to design engagement that creates meaningful connections with society. 

The literature demonstrates the value that can be realised by fostering public and community engagement in its myriad forms and with diverse publics and communities. It articulates how engagement can enhance research quality and legitimacy and, in the process, help to ensure that research aligns with democratic values and societies’ needs.  However, the literature also reveals persistent challenges, such as inequitable access to engagement opportunities, obdurate institutional structures and cultures, gaps in evaluation and outdated ethics frameworks, to name but a few. 

The evidence suggests that – beyond individual projects or practitioners – systemic changes are still needed, because existing funding, incentive and governance structures often constrain inclusive, relational forms of engagement or encourage compliance-driven approaches. Without change at this level, public and community engagement will struggle to align with social values of inclusivity, diversity and transparency and remain flexible and meaningful in practice.