Public Engagement Community Event

Looking back at the event

Keynote lectures

Break out sessions

How can we strengthen the position of Public Engagement within Universities (of Applied Sciences)? (NEWS: Dagmar Heeg & Sicco de Knecht)

In our break-out session, we explored strategies to secure structural funding for Public Engagement (PE) by taking initial steps in impact backcasting. We identified key stakeholders, including university deans, funding agencies, science communication departments, politicians, policymakers, and scientists, each of whom can influence funding decisions in different ways. Focusing on funding agencies, we examined what they need to enable structural funding. As a group, we identified some key requirements that include revised financing methodologies, making PE mandatory where it enhances research, involving PE experts in evaluation committees, and showcasing best practices of projects with PE as a core activity. We hope this session brought some inspiration for concrete ideas for collective action toward structural PE funding. Additionally, we hope this session gave participants a useful experience in how to develop actionable plans to strengthen the position of PE within their own universities (of applied sciences).

Public Engagement Support Website (Eva Teuling)

Break out session presentation

Essential competencies for effective communication in citizen science (Mohammad Gharesifard)

We hope all participants enjoyed the Science Communication Competencies for Citizen Science workshop as much as we did. During the session, participants engaged with game-like cards, each representing a different science communication competency. Working in groups, they identified the competencies researchers most need training in and created a top 10 ranking. Then came an unexpected challenge—they had to narrow their list down to just three.

One key takeaway was that Sustaining impact and closing citizen science projects emerged as the most crucial competency for researchers to develop. Through their discussions, participants also highlighted additional essential skills, such as Navigating local networks and Expectation management.

As workshop facilitators, we were pleased to see such lively and insightful discussions. We hope participants not only reflected on their own communication skills but also gained valuable insights from each other’s perspectives.

Reaching the ‘hard to reach’ (Maaike Muller and Gabriela Matouskova)

Brainstorm session outcome

We are excited that we had the opportunity again to organise a gathering of the public engagement community of the University of Groningen, UMCG, this time extended to Hanze and NHL Stenden.

Who joined?

This event was for everyone involved in (facilitating) public engagement, science communication, and citizen science across the named institutions. As we would like to strengthen collaborations and exchange knowledge in the area of public engagement with the universities of applied sciences in the North, we encouraged colleagues from Hanze and NHL Stenden to also join us on the 12th of February.

What did?

• Network: Meet new colleagues within from all the invited organisations and refresh existing ties
• Stay Connected: Share updates on developments in public engagement and citizen science across our institutions.
• Collaborate: Explore opportunities to work together in innovative ways, especially as we navigate challenging times with budget constraints.

Programme

hosted by Yorick Karseboom

In the event programme you can look forward to a kyenote presentation by Sicco de Knecht, from the Nationaal Expertisecentrum Wetenschap & Samenleving (NEWS). De Knecht will share what they can mean for PE professionals and researchers and how we can benefit from their expertise and knowledge. Rhoda Schuling, senior researcher at the HANZE, will be another keynote spekear of the day. During her presentation, Schuling will give an overview of citizen science developments at the Hanze in the last 7 years, current strategy, and mission of its flagship CS consortium Bridge2Health.

Furthermore, Sander van Lanen, co-chair of the Young Academy Groningen Public Engagement group, who will share a map of public engagement activities at the UG. He would like to invite your feedback and input to identify any missing gaps and to extend this map with activities of the universities of applied sciences.

Four diverse break-out sessions will give you the opportunity to explore several facets of PE: the position of PE in our institutions, the target audiences we strive to reach, and our competencies.

Recipients of the Open Science Seed Fund will present their inspiring public engagement projects, sharing both their successes and the challenges they faced along the way.

This informal and interactive meet-up is a chance to connect, exchange ideas, and co-create solutions to advance our shared mission of meaningful public engagement.

Timetable

To join us register below!

Team Public Engagement
supported by the Open Science programme

Break-out sessions

1. How can we strengthen the position of Public Engagement within Universities (of Applied Sciences)?

   by Dagmar Heeg and Sicco de Knecht
   In this interactive break-out session, we will collaboratively work on a strategy to enhance the position of Public Engagement. Together, we will start by envisioning an ideal future for PE and then work backwards to identify the concrete steps needed to bring this vision to life. By the end of the session, we aim to have a start of a clear, actionable plan and, in the process, have learned from each other's knowledge and experiences.

2. Essential competencies for effective communication in citizen science

   by Mohammad Gharesifard
   This workshop explores the question: What competencies do researchers need to effectively communicate in a citizen science project? This interactive session invites participants to reflect on the essential skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to engage the public as active co-researchers. The workshop is suitable for both researchers and public engagement professionals.

3. Public Engagement Support website: train yourself in PE!

   by Eva Teuling
   Do you want to share your science with the public? Do you want to develop Public Engagement activities but don’t know where to start? Do you wonder how you can reach more impact with your activities? Science LinX has developed a support webpage for Public Engagement where answers to these questions can be found. The webpage consists of a toolkit with links to webinars and manuals where researchers can train themselves, find tools for measuring impact and more. In this workshop, the webpage will be presented and together we will do a short training that can be found on this webpage.

4. Reaching the ‘Hard to Reach’ – What Does It Take to Welcome Everyone to Your Science Festival or Activity?

   by Maaike Muller and Gabriela Matouskova
   Inclusive public engagement starts with creating a welcoming environment for a diverse audience at your science festival or activity. However, some groups can be particularly difficult to reach. In this interactive session, we will explore who these ‘hard-to-reach’ audiences are and why engaging them matters. By sharing experiences, we will identify strategies that truly work (or clearly don’t!) when reaching out to these groups.