BU Research Blog

In order to achieve impact you are likely to need to use a combination of pathways, of which public engagement can be a powerful option.  For example if you were looking to embed policy change based on your research, getting public opinion on side through public engagement to both disseminate facts and also inform your research to begin with, may make it a lot easier to get policy makers to listen – especially if you’re dealing with a topic that may be considered controversial.

The public can be influential lobbyists – so giving the right information to the right people can be a powerful tool.  Engaging with grassroots lobbyists who have a passion for the issue and the connections to lobby for change can make it easier to make a difference with your research.

What is public engagement?

The most widely accepted definition of public engagement is that given by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE):

“Public engagement describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of higher education and research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by definition a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit.”

This could take place at any part of the research lifecycle and should go beyond outreach, instead focusing on creating a two-way dialogue between researchers and the “public”.  This could be as simple as incorporating an open discussion into a public lecture or could be as detailed as doing a piece of research in partnership with the public.

How can you find out more?

For further information about public engagement, take a look at RKEO’s new impact toolkit or contact RKEO’s Public Engagement Officer, Naomi Kay.

Working with policy-makers is a really useful way of getting research recognised and used by professionals in the relevant field, resulting in an impact on society.

Not only can attempting to influence policy raise the profile of the research and have profound implications for society, it can also considerably raise the profile of the academic behind the research, creating room for possible new partnerships and future collaboration.

What is policy-influencing?

Policy-makers bring together evidence and politics to come up with policies and solutions for issues that affect everyone on a daily basis. They can incorporate a range of individuals; including those who are elected into political positions and civil servants who work in government departments, meaning there are a variety of ways in which research can lead to influencing policy.

Research can be particularly influential in policy influencing as it could provide the basis for an evidence-based change or amendment to legislation.  This can be a very powerful way of developing research impact, but it can also be a very complex process.

How can you find out more?

BU’s Policy team, Jane Forster and Emma Bambury-Whitton are running two sessions as part of BU’s week-long series of research impact events which will explain how to use research to influence public policy on Wednesday and Thursday.

For further information about influencing policy, take a look at RKEO’s new impact toolkit.

Research communication is the process of communicating your research in an accessible way to audiences who can benefit from or put it into practice.  How you communicate very much depends on who your audience is and how they prefer to receive information.  It may be that you need to use a number of different methods of communication in order to reach the right people.

In age when digital technology surrounds us, there are many possible channels to choose from: a newspaper or magazine article, a TV or radio interview, a blog, social media, a website, a film, or more traditional means of communication through a briefing paper based on your research findings or a toolkit to be used by professionals in the relevant sector or press and public relations.  Any combination of these could be appropriate, but your choice will depend on the message you want to convey and who you want to connect with.

BU has a number of ways to help you communicate your research including:

• Our research blog
• Our research website
• The news section of Bournemouth University’s main website
• Social media, including @BU_research Twitter account and main Twitter BU account
• Support to work with the media
• Our annual research magazine, the Bournemouth Research Chronicle
• New research briefings, designed to be available online or taken to events, meetings or conferences

If you’d like to find out more about how to use the media to generate research impact, do sign up for one of two engaging the media events run by the PR team this week on Tuesday and Thursday.

For more information about any of our communication channels, including the research blog, research website, briefings or Bournemouth Research Chronicle, please contact Rachel Bowen in RKEO.

For further information about communicating your research, take a look at RKEO’s new impact toolkit.

At the heart of impact is the process of knowledge exchange, which is very much a two-way process between you as the creator of a new piece of knowledge and your audience, who could use or benefit from what you know.

How you communicate that knowledge and to whom, will vary according to what your research is and the outcome you hope to achieve.  One route you could consider is working with businesses to develop you research impact.

What is business engagement?

Working with businesses and industry can be a very effective way of developing research impact.  By working in partnership, researchers can help to generate innovation, develop ideas for commercialisation and achieve economic and societal impact.  But, remember that knowledge exchange and sharing your ideas with businesses alone isn’t impact – it’s what happens as a consequence of those interactions that matters.

HEFCE defines this type of knowledge exchange as “the transferring or exchanging of knowledge with the aim of delivering external impact, such as improving products, services and profitability. This is linked with research and teaching, and includes consultancy and advisory work, the creation of intellectual property, the development of academic and student entrepreneurship, and a variety of other activities.”

How can you find out more about business engagement?

As part of BU’s week-long series of research impact events, RKEO are running two sessions around engaging with businesses, which you might like to sign up to.

On Monday afternoon, RKEO’s Knowledge Exchange Advisors, Rachel Clarke and Jayne Codling will be facilitating a session between BU’s researchers and local businesses on the topic of virtual and augmented reality.

On Tuesday, RKEO’s Research Facilitators will be hosting a ‘Smart Cities Sandpit’, where attendees will be working on the issue of how we link technology and services in key urban sectors in a smart way which will improve quality of life and the sustainability of our cities.