Engaging with Impact: Informing, Engaging, Collaborating

What is the purpose of public engagement in science? It was this question with which Clare Matterson launched her presentation at the Wellcome Fourth International Public Engagement Workshop, October 3 2012, Cape Town, South Africa. As she explains, Wellcome Trust sees public engagement as a tool for: making science a part of the international conversation; inspiring and educating; embedding trust and understanding; and opening up information. Those who engage the public in science might:

• Mitigate risks of backlash;
• Create positive climate for research;
• Emphasise science as part of the national conversation;
• Show how public funds are spent;
• Encourage others to be scientists;
• Improve research and skills of scientists;
• Enhance uptake of new developments and technologies; and
• Foster public involvement in informed democratic choice.

To this end, Wellcome funds initiatives that: inform - through media, talks, lectures, publications, exhibitions; engage - through consultations, panels, and discussion events that focus on conversations and provide an opportunity for views/questions/values to be explored; and collaborate - by jointly working on a research topic and/or involving the public in research. Amongst the examples Matterson cites is the Art in Global Health project.

As Matterson notes, there are challenges associated with this strategy, including: public distrust, lack of understanding of science and methods, lack of cultural capital with media/politicians for contentious issues, and the fact that engaging the public in science could be unattractive as future career option.

The concluding slides of the presentation outline the review methods that Wellcome is using to find out how effective public engagement is as a strategy - for example, asking what the impact of the project was on knowledge, behaviour, and attitudes.