Public Engagement Challenges
The Edinburgh Beltane Beltane Public Engagement Challenges
The Beacons for Public Engagement aim to promote a culture change in universities, assisting staff and students to engage with the public. The Edinburgh Beltane recognises that this cultural shift has to come from within our partner institutions, and so instituted the Edinburgh Beltane Public Engagement Challenges. The Challenges have enabled our partners to test different public engagement methods and culture change strategies, share their learning and celebrate their successes.
Staff and students of our 16 partner institutions were invited to put forward their ideas for either a Pilot Public Engagment Project, or a Pilot Cultural Engagement Project.
- Pilot Public Engagement Projects: This was were an event or activity which would demonstrate best practice in public engagement, or which would represent an innovative means of engaging the public with research relevant to public policy.
- Pilot Cultural Change Projects: This was a project which would increase the profile of public engagement and encourage greater participation in public engagement of research within our partner Higher Education and Research Institutions.
There were three rounds of the Public Engagement Challenges, and for each round, the project which was considered to have been of the highest quality and made the most significant impact was awarded further funding with which to repeat the event or continue the project in the future.
Jump to:
Round One
The winner of Round One of the Edinburgh Beltane Public Engagement Challenge was Graham Turner, of the School of Management and Languages, at Heriot-Watt University, for the BSL Knowledge Exchange Cafe challenge.
| Name | Institution | Public Engagement Challenge |
| Max Coleman and Amy McDonald | The Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh | Growing public engagement capacity amongst staff at the RBGE |
| The aim of the project was to enhance understanding of, and expertise in public engagement amongst a group of RBGE science and horticulture division staff. This would allow staff to make the most of the opportunities the new John Hope Gateway provides, and would give visitors more insight into the work of the RBGE. | ||
| Dr Elaine Farrow | Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh | EdSign Open Lecture Series |
| For the challenge, a series of public open lectures about BSL and Deaf issues was organised. These provided a forum for knowledge transfer and information exchange between academics, educators, students and members of the local Deaf community, as well as interested members of the public. | ||
| Jim Hammond | The University of Edinburgh | Storing CO2 Underground |
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“CO2: Going Underground” was a free exhibition put on for four days in Our Dynamic Earth, which introduced the public to carbon capture, carbon storage, and energy demand and reduction of fossil fuel emissions. |
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| Dr Marc Rands | The Royal Society of Edinburgh | Facing up to Climate Change in the Highlands |
| The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), in collaboration with Highland Council and the University of the Highlands and Islands, ran a public competition for a vision for a low carbon life in the Highlands of Scotland, to stimulate public participation in a public evidence gathering event. | ||
| Margarita Kominou | The University of Edinburgh | Who is the ethical consumer? |
| The project involved organising and executing a free public event on Ethical Consumption which provided attendees the opportunity to learn about the research, share their views and experiences, hear other views and meet people and local groups. The event generated a debate this was one of the main strengths of the evening according to feedback from attendees. | ||
| Dr Daniel Ridley-Ellis | Edinburgh Napier University | Plant biology and biomechanics at the Botanic Gardens. In 3D! |
| An exhibition of 3D photos and hands‐on activities on the theme of tree biomechanics held at the John Hope Gateway, RBGE over three days. While the exhibition was primarily about plant biology, biomechanics and engineering, environmental issues were also covered. | ||
| Dr Chris Speed | Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh | Overcoming the Public Fear of Tagging Culture |
| The objective of the workshop was to provide an open platform for discussion on the public’s fears and concerns around RFID and the tagging of objects and people. The day was organised in such a way as to allow participants to take part in semi-structured discussions that were interspersed by presentations and demonstrations to further inform debate. | ||
| Graham Turner | Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh | BSL Knowledge Exchange Cafe |
| BSL:UPTAKE (Heriot-Watt University) organised a Knowledge Exchange Café in partnership with Deaf Action, Scottish Council on Deafness (SCoD) and Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh. The primary aim was to encourage the Deaf community to use online research resources in British Sign Language (BSL) and English to achieve a better understanding of public policy issues that affect them; and to apply that knowledge and information to become more active participants in public life and learn to influence public policy-making. | ||
| Jen Wood | Edinburgh International Science Festival | Delegate Passes at the Edinburgh International Science Festival 2010 |
| We offered delegate passes which would provide a ‘taster’ of all that the Edinburgh International Science Festival has to offer. The pass would entitle its holder 2 tickets from the adult programme, 1 ticket to an event at a partner organisation and an adult day pass to explore the City Art Centre. | ||
Round Two
The winner of Round Two of the Edinburgh Beltane Public Engagement Challenge was Catalina Munteanu of the Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands, for the Cairngorms National Park – Knowledge Exchange Meeting challenge.
| Name |
Institution | Public Engagement Challenge |
| Catalina Munteanu | University of the Highlands and Islands | Cairngorms National Park – Knowledge Exchange Meeting |
| The Cairngorms Knowledge Exchange Event brought together scientists, students, community groups, NGOs and members of the public working in the Park, to increase awareness about ongoing research and to discuss opportunities for concrete activities to improve the value of existing scientific knowledge for practitioners. | ||
| Iona Beange | The University of Edinburgh | Dialogue & Dance |
| ‘Express Yourself’ was a pilot workshop for the ‘Dialogue and Dance’ concept which took place at DanceBase. The participants explored the relationship between genetics and identity with researchers from The University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University, and then choreographed expressive dances based on what they had learned, with assistance from DanceBase Teachers, before performing their pieces to camera in front of an audience of friends and family. | ||
| Magda Pieczka | Queen Margaret University | Peer learning though dialogue: young people and alcohol |
| Our project applied participatory approaches to tackling policy needs identified by the Scottish Youth Commission on Alcohol who recommended, “young people should be co-designers of alcohol education.” (2010 p. 18). We aimed to produce a set of ideas and solution for how young people can be assisted and encouraged in learning, together and from one another, about dealing with alcohol. | ||
Round Three
The winner of Round Three of the Edinburgh Beltane Public Engagement Challenge was Karly Kehoe, of the University of the Highlands and Islands, for the Looking back to move forward: Slavery and the Highlands Challenge.
As the standard of the Challenges for Round 3 was so strong, a further two Challenges were awarded Highly Commended status, and will also receive further funding to continue their work. These Challenges were:
Janette Webb, from the University of Edinburgh, for the Creating a Blueprint for District Energy and Sustainable Heating in UK Cities: A Workshop on Municipal Leadership and Organisation for District Energy Challenge,
and
James Howie, Stephan Matthieson, Mark Eischeid, from University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art, for the Science communication and public engagement through collaborative art-science-exhibitions Challenge.
| Name | Institution | Public Engagement Challenge |
| Anne Bevan | Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh | CORE Interventions |
| CORE - creative research into the environment is a network of creative practitioners - artists, architects, landscape architects and writers - working through partnership across the arts and humanities, social and physical sciences. The network developed a series of creative interventions and conversations titled Environmental Dialogues, with the aim of increasing public awareness of key issues and of heightening awareness of more general environmental concerns. | ||
| Bernadette O’Rourke | Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh | Who needs languages? A dialogue |
| The aim of the project was to raise awareness of linguistic diversity in Scotland. More than 30 people attended the Who Needs Languages? event including representatives of different language communities, language practitioners, public and private sector bodies, researchers and policy makers. The workshop served as a forum to share models of good practice and to gain a better understanding of how to manage and support linguistic diversity in Scotland. | ||
| Catherine Lichten | The University of Edinburgh | Best practices for small‐scale magazines and media: A consultation and workshop |
| As a media group that promotes the clear communication of science to a general audience, we put on a set of professional development workshops for publishing. They were targeted at university students and researchers active in groups similar to our own and covered three topics: 1) design and production, 2) legal issues such as copyright, libel, and plagiarism, and 3) subediting skills such as writing headlines and selecting pull‐out quotes. | ||
| James Howie, Stephan Matthieson, Mark Eischeid | The University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh | Science communication and public engagement through collaborative art-science-exhibitions |
| ASCUS Art Science Collaborative (ASCUS) funded four art-science collaborations, which were then exhibited in a vacant shop space in St. James Centre (“ASCUS Project Space”) from 20 January – 26 February 2012. During the course of the exhibition, which was visited by 226 people, we hosted several events in the ASCUS Project Space. | ||
| Jenny Rodgers | The University of Edinburgh | Autumn Leaves - a celebration of the International Years of Chemistry and Forests 2011 |
| Both the International Years of Chemistry and Forests were celebrated at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with a joint event highlighting the chemistry of autumn leaves, involving lots of exciting hands on activities for all the family. | ||
| Janette Webb | The University of Edinburgh | Creating a Blueprint for District Energy and Sustainable Heating in UK Cities: A Workshop on Municipal Leadership and Organisation for District Energy |
| We brought 18 English and Scottish Local Authorities together with the research team and private, civil and public district energy agencies, at a two-day event in Edinburgh (hosted at the Council Chambers), to support momentum for sustainable, resilient and equitable urban energy systems. | ||
| Karly Kehoe | University of the Highlands and Islands | Looking back to move forward: Slavery and the Highlands |
| The project engaged directly with the local community to demonstrate, through the creation of a public exhibition at the Inverness Archive Centre, the process of doing history. It demonstrated how local archival resources can be used to inform current academic research and how universities can enhance the study of history in schools. | ||
| Lydia Kerr | Progress through Learning Midlothian Midlothian Council |
Midlothian Women Get SET |
| Midlothian Women Get SET was a day-long series of talks and workshops organised by a partnership of Newleaf / PTLM, Napier University, and SRC for women in SET, and delivered in Dalkeith by top players from local science-based businesses, and by a team of seven Edinburgh Napier lecturers Engage with science, find out why it is so exciting and take part in interactive workshops with scientists | ||
| Nicola Hillhouse | Vidiowiki, The University of Edinburgh | Enhancing public engagement events with a supplementary Vidiowiki |
| In March, 2011 I worked with Edinburgh Beltane and the Royal Society of Edinburgh to create a page online communicating various aspects of the Scottish Climate Change agenda. The aim is to make a lengthy report on a complex subject more easily digested by people interested in the subject. | ||
