Why we need public engagement for effective RRI reform — and how a new Platform could help to put RRI into practice
Social Engagement Vs Social Distancing
For the past year or so, it feels a bit like we have all been hunkering down in our little silos. Waiting for the “new normal” to finally arrive, and the hope of some semblance of the life we left behind. Some of us have been lucky enough to be able to have continued working remotely; although I think we can all agree that for a long time, progress has seemed very slow.
For those of us trying to produce lasting changes in science, research, and society; using the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) model, we have mostly taken to using the same “reliable” platforms as everyone else, online video conferencing; with some of us being able to coordinate webinars and e-workshops, even online conferences. We should all stop for a moment and appreciate the steep learning curve we have all endured. It has not always been a smooth transition, but we are lucky to be living in a world that allows for such communication and outreach in these times of global crisis. That being said, with some exception, it is fair to say that most of our online interactions have been very insular. With the potential reach from our little silos, limited even more than before.
Unfortunately, this sort of isolation is not conducive to making the widespread institutional changes we all hope to achieve. External collaboration and insight are crucial throughout the entirety of these RRI projects. Communication and engagement with policy-makers, stakeholders, and wider society are essential to bridging the gap and reaching those beyond research and technological institutes, providing an essential perspective to the research from those outside of the academic bubble.
Many of the issues we are trying to solve with RRI were created because of this lack of external communication and external oversight, engraining practices that we are now trying to undo. Discussions behind closed doors can only get us so far, even with the best intentions, but for us to succeed we need input from external moderators, stakeholders and society as a whole. An opportunity for us to co-create the future we want, through the research and technological developments happening now.
The people and RRI
That is why engagement and outreach events are so important, however, even at the best of times, many practitioners are daunted by the idea of organising and running outreach events. Those who lack the experience of public speaking and event planning may fall into the trap of organising a “safe” event, which may not be the best way to engage with your audience or to achieve the required result. But knowing how to run different events and how to use these formats to obtain the required data is a mammoth task, and in an environment where you may have only limited opportunities to collect this data, trial and error is probably not a viable option. This is a problem that has only been made worse by the COVID-19 situation, moving forward extra considerations will have to be made to accommodate social distancing regulations or additional contingencies may be required so events can be migrated onto an online format. Event planning in the time of Corona is a very difficult task.
A little unsure about your next engagement event?
If only there was an online resource where experienced event organisers could pool their knowledge and share their experiences on the best ways to run different types of outreach events? Events that are novel and engaging but also allowed you to get the information you need from participants?
Well, it turns out that a partner of the ResBios project, EUSEA, has been doing this very thing. The development of the European Science Engagement Platform was first conceived as a collaboration of two previous EU projects; NUCLEUS, a four-year project that encouraged the uptake of RRI principles in universities across Europe, and SUSTAIN, which aimed to engage with children and their guardians with citizen science, monitoring wetland environments and bird populations. In part the aim of both of these projects was to encourage organisations to reach out to citizens and society as a whole, to build networks and to provide opportunities for those interested to learn and to proactively engage with research and science.
After these projects ended, EUSEA saw the potential benefit of such a resource and decided to expand upon it, becoming a co-created database. EUSEA members are able to submit the details of their successful event formats, with some background and an explanation of how best to approach the activity. It is a place to get inspiration and guidance to try and enhance your stakeholder engagement, as well as methods of collecting the data needed throughout a project’s lifespan. Although you may not find exactly what you are looking for, it is a great place to start. Even if this aspect of your project does not seem so important in the short term, an audience that feels you are engaging with them is more likely to give your project more credence in the long-term and will result in a better relationship, who will supply you with more reliable and honest information, as well as building the foundation for future networking and collaboration. The EUSEA engagement platform is available to members and non-members, so if you are planning a science communication event, please click here for more information.
The benefits of combining disciplines
A multidisciplinary approach to science communication and engagement is a pillar of the EUSEA approach. The colleagues who developed the platform share a belief that by combining concepts and disciplines, information can be recontextualised, resulting in a greater level of association and can activate different regions of the brain, allowing an alternative perspective for potential problems solving and questioning. Therefore, some of the events may appear unorthodox and inappropriate out of context, but we do encourage you to try and think outside of the box. When it comes to public engagement events, we all crave a little novelty, now more than ever, and adding a little more creativity to an outreach event could potentially yield much greater results, in the short and long term.
When done effectively, public engagement can provide valuable insight throughout the life of your project. Ideally, you should reach-out and obtain the views of as diverse a population as possible, and engage with those who would not normally interact on matters of STEM and research in general. This is in part to increase the reach and understanding of the work you are doing, but these practices also improve the transparency and inclusivity of your institute and give a unique opportunity to explore any potential ethical concerns and provide a platform for a shared approach to problem-solving and co-creation.
EUSEA are continuing to try and improve the content and user experience of their platform, so if you have any suggestions, or would like to submit an event format that has been successful for you, please email info@eusea.info
Chris Styles, Project Officer, EUSEA
