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Why engage?
For society
Engagement can create research that is not only fit for purpose but also relevant, acceptable and appropriate for societies' needs.
For the people who engage, it can be empowering, allow them to practice advocacy, open access to resources and develop opportunities to share power.
In 2022, Co-Production Collective worked with partners and co-producers to investigate the value of co-production. They found that the value of co-production lies in:
- Delivering outcomes that actually matter to people.
- Efficiency, in the long run.
- Working towards social justice.
- Empowering people and building capacity.
- Connecting us as humans, working towards shared goals.
For your research
Involvement and Engagement has been shown to improve research’s quality and impact. (Source: NHS/UKRI shared commitment to improve public involvement in research.)
Public Engagement is a pathway to impact. The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement identifies conceptual impact, instrumental impact and capacity building as three areas where it shines. Read more in: How public engagement helps create a more inclusive knowledge society.
Public engagement is a key component of the research landscape, as seen in REF2029's “Engagement & Impact” element, UKRI’s public engagement strategy, and assessment of public and community engagement as part of the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF).
Public engagement is prioritised in UKRI's five year strategy, which acknowledges that "engagement is needed to build effective collaboration and genuine partnerships between the research and innovation system and its many stakeholders, including those who may not see themselves as part of the system."
For your career
We work to ensure that public engagement is recognized within promotions criteria at UCL. At UCL, work in public engagement is a significant part of the formal academic careers framework as part of the enterprise and external engagement strand.
We can provide support for talking about engagement work in appraisals – please contact us via our support and advice sessions to discuss.
For UCL
Public Engagement is a key component of Open Science. As part of the Research Culture Roadmap, UCL is directly committed to putting the principles of Open Science at the heart of research practice
Public Engagement also aligns with wider UCL priorities as identified in the UCL Strategic Plan 2022-2027, Supporting UCL’s ambitions to engage in an open and inclusive dialogue with the public and partners and to contribute to UCL’s culture of openness and inclusion by providing all staff and students with the skills to include diverse voices and to be prepared for difficult conversations.
