Public Engagement Training

Developing the knowledge, skills and confidence of researchers and public engagement practitioners to discuss our research with the public

 

About our public engagement training

Training is a core part of our public engagement programme because our research can be difficult to talk about for a number of reasons, including:

  • the sensitive tissues we work with might provoke strong emotional reactions,

  • the fundamental nature of our research might seem distant from most people’s daily lives, and

  • in order to have informed and meaningful conversations, we have to put substantial effort into developing shared language and understanding.

Our training programme aims to prepare and support researchers and public engagement professionals to discuss human developmental biology with the public by:

  • increasing skills and comfort in discussing our research transparently,

  • bolstering awareness of Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of our research, and

  • developing a better understanding of questions that may come up about our research, the most appropriate language to use when speaking about our research, and how to effectively listen to and learn from public responses to our research.

Training and workshop resources

Working with the media (June 2023)

Consortium members discussed and explored differences between media values and scientific values, rewrote a scientific journal article as a mainstream news story, and practiced giving interviews about their work in small groups.

‘Difficult conversations’ workshop (January 2023)

This workshop built on learnings from the previous session and focussed on discussing our research with members of the public who may be sceptical or opposed to our work. The training included tips about how to engage as well as how to close a conversation politely if the conversation becomes especially difficult. A ‘top tips’ digest can be downloaded here.

Plain English and Frequently Asked Questions Workshop (June, 2022)

In partnership with Progress Educational Trust, we delivered a workshop which focussed on putting research into ‘plain English’ and answering Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about HDBI research. Researchers worked in small groups to draft responses to FAQs which were provided by our Insights Group (panel of public stakeholders). The FAQs can be found online here

Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Introduction (February, 2022 - online)

Progress Educational Trust produced three videos, each with an expert speaking about ELSI related to HDBI research. The videos give an overview of some of the main themes within each area and served as a starting point for conversation amongst HDBI researchers. The videos are available to view on YouTube:

If you have any questions about the HDBI public engagement workshops, training or resources, please get in touch: hdbi-pe@bio.cam.ac.uk