Public Engagement Community Event

Programme

Break out sessions Round 1 (14:05 - 15:15)

1. Impact Measurement workshop (Utrecht University)

If you spend a lot of energy and time engaging a general audience with a public engagement activity, you want to know whether it was worth it. What did you achieve? What was the effect of your activity on the participants? In this workshop you will learn the basics of impact measurement and practice making a measurement plan for your own activity.

2. Talks Around Town: Engaging the Public in Public Spaces workshop (Utrecht University)

In this session we introduce Talks Around Town and share the Utrecht approach (e.g., libraries, markets, city halls). You’ll explore how to adapt the model to your own context and leave with a ready-to-run plan: goal, audience, format, partners, first step, etc.

3. Public Engagement and strategy - Q&A session with Utrecht University

As a follow-up of the plenary session, we organise an in-depth discussion with Utrecht University, focusing on what steps to take to fully embed PE at the University of Groningen.

Break out sessions Round 2 (15:35 - 16:20)

4. Citizen Science NL

This session is hosted by the CSNL Working Group “Embedding Citizen Science in Dutch Research Institutions”. They will bring together members of the citizen science community in Groningen for dialogue on how citizen science is being embedded in the region, creating space to share experiences and reflect on practical challenges. The session will offer an opportunity to exchange approaches, lessons learned, and tools that support meaningful engagement and sustainable implementation across regional contexts.

5. Citizens participation (NHL Stenden)

"No, I Don't Know Either - New Rituals for Collective Learning: The Design Process as a Temporary Boundary World” session is organised by Derek Kuipers, Lector Design Driven Innovation at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. Perspectives and challenges regarding public participation in complex social issues will be address in with the audience in a design approach.

One of the core tasks of the university is to address societal challenges together. Public engagement plays a vital and connecting role in this mission. By actively linking research and education with society, knowledge institutions can create sustainable and meaningful societal impact. This is what brings our Public Engagement Community together and what drives our event.

During this Community Event, we will bring together colleagues for inspiration, exchange, and shared learning. Participants are invited to contribute ideas, reflect together, and help shape future plans for public engagement.

Programme highlights

We are delighted to welcome Femke den Boer, Director for Science and Culture at Utrecht University, and Miranda Thoen, Program Manager Public Engagement (Utrecht University), as our invited speakers. In the plenary session and breakout sessions, they will share experiences, practical examples, and recommendations based on their work. Together, we will explore what these insights mean for the further embedding of public engagement in practice and for the strategic vision at the University of Groningen.

Citizen science will be highlighted as one of the themes, with contributions from Maya van den Berg, knowledge coordinator of the Citizen Science NL Network. One of the breakout sessions will focus on how citizen science can be embedded more structurally within universities in the Netherlands.

We will also focus on working with local communities: highlighting existing initiatives in the Northern Netherlands, exploring closer collaboration with universities of applied sciences, and discussing how to build and sustain meaningful connections with citizens.

In addition to the programme, the afternoon will offer ample opportunities for networking and informal exchange.

Who can join?

Everyone whose work contributes - or who would like to contribute - to public engagement, science communication, and citizen science is very welcome. This includes colleagues from UG, UMCG, Hanze, NHL Stenden, and beyond. Whether you are PE staff, a policy officer, academic, early career researcher, lecturer, or student, we warmly invite you to take part, think along, and help shape what comes next.