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Public Engagement with Research Masterclass 11: Organising your public
engagement event
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield 1
Professor Richard Jones
& Professor Vanessa Toulmin
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Outline of session
2pm Presentation
3-3.45pm Interactive sessions
3.45-4.00pm Round up and questions
Introduction to the project and Public Engagement with Research team
• Introduction to the Public Engagement
with Research Team
• The Masterclass series
• What we can do to help?
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Masterclass series
Masterclass title Date & time
11. What to think about when organising your public
engagement event
20th February 2014
12: Undertaking public engagement with non-specialist
audiences
Wednesday 26th March 2014
13: How to identify, approach and work with stakeholders Wednesday 30th April 2014
14: Public Engagement or Widening Participation/
Outreach?
Organising events for children and young people
Wednesday 28th May 2014
15: Filming, iTunes U & podcasting Wednesday 25th June 2014
16: Writing a risk assessment for your event Wednesday 30th July 2014
17: Engaging the public as researchers and different types
of engagement
Wednesday 24th September
2014 or Wednesday 1st
October 2014
18: Getting started with social media and using social
media for public engagement
Wednesday 29th October 2014
19: Some ideas about how to evaluate your public
engagement event
Wednesday 26th
or Wednesday 19th November
2014
20: Media Training for Public Engagement and ‘The
Conversation’
Wednesday 17th December
2014
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Evaluation questions
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
• Who is here?
• What do you know?
Which faculty are you in?
A. Arts & Humanities
B. Engineering
C. Medicine Dentistry & Health
D. Science
E. Social Science
F. Other
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Arts &
Hum
anities
Engineerin
g
Medici
ne Dentis
try &
Health
Science
Social S
cience
Other
17%
2%
7%
26%
33%
14%
Are you…?
A. Academic staff
B. Non-academic
staff
C. Post-graduate
student
D. Other
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Academ
ic st
aff
Non-aca
demic
staff
Post-g
raduate
student
Other
27%
2%
49%
22%
How many public engagement events have you organised?
A. None
B. 1-2
C. 3-5
D. More than 5
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None1-2 3-5
More
than 5
60%
18%
3%
20%
How much do you know about organising public engagement events?
A. A lot
B. Quite a lot
C. A little
D. Nothing
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
A lot
Quite a
lot
A little
Nothin
g
5%
26%
33%36%
• The University’s Good Research and
Innovation Practices policy
www.sheffield.ac.uk/ris/grip
• Minimum accepted practices in public
engagement
• Higher practices to aspire to
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
What is Public Engagement?
• “Public engagement describes the myriad of
ways in which the activity and benefits of higher
education and research can be shared with the
public. Engagement is by definition a two-way
process, involving interaction and listening, with
the goal of generating mutual benefit ”
National Coordinating Centre for Public
Engagement
Professor Richard Jones Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
• University of Sheffield catalyst funding: Remaking the Civic University: Creating New Cultural Standards for Public Engagement
• Why public engagement is important
• Some examples of public engagement
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How not to do public engagement/ common mistakes
• Rabbit in the headlights
• Think about the University’s reputation
• You are the expert … to an extent. BUT be
prepared to listen
• Start with a small scale event
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Professor Vanessa Toulmin
Head of Engagement
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• Why do you want to hold a
public engagement event
and what do you want to
get out of it?
• What audience do you
want to attract and how will
you engage with them?
Getting started
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• Who will be in the audience?
General public or specialist
group?
• Specialist groups may be
approached through a
network or forum and may
need a targeted approach
• What are you telling them
about your research? Why
will they want to know?
Sensitivity around audiences
• Child protection issues/ Disclosure and Barring Service
(DBS) checks (previously CRB checks)
• You will need to seek permission before photographing
and recording the event
• You will need to consider the cultural sensitivities of your
audience to ensure widest possible appeal
• Consider barriers to attendance e.g. transport, childcare,
time of the event
• Ethics
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What kind of event?
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Types of event
• lecture
• ‘in conversation with…’ format
• panel debate
• participatory dialogue event (e.g. focus group, workshop)
• demonstration
• ‘hands-on’ event (e.g. museum workshop)
• film screening
• theatre performance
• exhibition etc
Need to consider the pros and cons of each to promote
your message in the best way
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What will a successful event look like?
• Success – how will you measure it?
• Impact – what message do you want the audience to
take home? In some cases, just taking part can be a
success, in other cases you may want to stimulate
thinking or a debate
• Communication – you will probably need to adapt the
language of your research to appeal to the audience.
Public engagement is about a interactive process of
information and knowledge exchange
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
• Consider involving an external organisation to
generate interest in your event or to promote your
message in a different way
• Tell your story in a way that is likely to appeal to a
wide audience – consider using artists, street
theatre, interactive events etc
Event promotion
• How are you going to get people to come to your event?
• Where is the venue?
• Internal support: events can be promoted using
announce emails are available via MUSE and supported
from CiCS, Open Campus, What’s On etc
• Media, Marketing and Digital Engagement Team
• The Public Engagement with Research Team can help
you with advice about producing leaflets, social media
(twitter and facebook etc) and general promotion
• Filming facilities are available in most teaching rooms in
the University and support is available from CiCS
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Location of the event
• Is the university the best location or should you
take your research out to the public?
• What is the room like? Does it work for your
event?
• Think creatively about location and format –
local parks, neighbourhoods, community
centres, supermarkets
• Venue accessibility – Consider the availability of
public transport, disabled access, cost to get
there, etc. Do you want to attract people passing
by?
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Timing of the event
• Make sure the event does not clash with another
event your target audience are likely to attend
• Can you piggy back your event onto something
else?
• Activities may have to be run at unsociable times
to attract the audience – e.g. weekends or
evenings
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Practicalities
• Staff/ student volunteers
• Contingency planning for bad weather or last minute cancellations
• Risk Assessment and Health and Safety
• Non-university outside spaces will need permission
• You may also want to think about audience reaction – what if you are heckled?
• Appoint volunteers to manage audience numbers, deal with queries etc
Budgets and costings
• Venue: External venue might charge but it could
make the difference between getting the right
audience and not
• Non-university outside spaces will need permission
– contact the Public Engagement with Research
Team for further guidance
• Pre-booked events or charged? Even a small fee
means that people who have bought tickets are
more likely to attend. Free events make it accessible
to all
• Refreshments
• External advertising and promotion – posters/leaflets
etc
Evaluation and Feedback
• Evaluation methods: Response comment cards,
interviews, focus groups, graffiti walls, observation, drawings, video, photos, images, filming etc
• Think creatively about engaging the audience to tell you what they thought
• Some methods: before and after evaluation, video clips on exit, voting using tokens
• Short films, pod casts and video clips are becoming very common. We can also help you with Vimeo, TEDx and filming.
• What did you want to achieve from the event and can you measure it?
• What difference did the event have on the audience?
• How was the event received?
• Could you do it better next time?
Interactive activity 1: • Examples of good/ bad public engagement
• In round table groups share your
experience about what has gone well and
what has not gone so well (15 minutes)
Interactive activity 2: • In your tables discuss how you would approach organising the following
event from the brief below. What are the key tasks to putting on a
successful event from start to finish?
• Your group is organising a public engagement in science event as part of
Science & Engineering Week in March 2015. This particular event will
involve scientific demonstrations by leading academics and early career
researchers from the University. Your venue is the Winter Garden and your
audience is mainly made up of school children who have been brought in by
the schools. Your group will need to ensure that the children, and any
members of the public who are also present, are educated and entertained
in a safe, enjoyable space. You will need to programme 3 main activities.
Your group are responsible for the event from start to finish and the event
itself will last around 3 hours.
• Q - What are your key tasks/areas of responsibility? (20 minutes)
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Some answers
• Assign team leader, set SMART outcomes
• Showcase research with fun activities
• Seek funding/in-kind support
• Book venue with Council city centre manager in
plenty of time
• Book demonstrators & stewards
• Undertake full risk assessment and health and
safety plans – ensure everyone is briefed
• Ensure all activities are safe for children
• Full briefing on day of event for all involved
• Promote via University and local media
• Create a social media communications plan
• Develop learning materials to take home
• Evaluation techniques – be creative!
• Share your success story
Opportunities for engagement – what is coming up?
Platforms:
• 24 Hour Inspire (March 2014)
• Doc/Fest (March 2014)
• May Fest (May 2014)
• Festival of Medicine Dentistry & Health (May 2014)
• Doc/Fest (June)
• Sheffield Fayre (August 2014)
• Wilderness – to be confirmed (August 2014)
• Off the Shelf (October 2014)
• Festival of Social Science (November 2014)
• Festival of the Mind (September 2014)
For further information contact [email protected]
Evaluation questions – What have you learnt?
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
How much have you learnt about organising public engagement events?
A. Greatly improved
B. Slightly improved
C. Stayed the same
D. Don’t know
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Greatly
impro
ved
Slightly
impro
ved
Stayed th
e sam
e
Don’t kn
ow
20%
0%8%
72%My knowledge has…
How much have you learnt about audiences and planning?
A. Greatly improved
B. Slightly improved
C. Stayed the same
D. Don’t know
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Greatly
impro
ved
Slightly
impro
ved
Stayed th
e sam
e
Don’t kn
ow
12%
4%
20%
64%My knowledge has…
How much have you learnt about different methods of public engagement
A. Greatly improved
B. Slightly improved
C. Stayed the same
D. Don’t know
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Greatly
impro
ved
Slightly
impro
ved
Stayed th
e sam
e
Don’t kn
ow
28%
4%
20%
48%My knowledge has…
Questions
19/03/2014 © The University of Sheffield
To Discover And Understand.