Short Abstract

This poster highlights a case study from public engagement with research at festivals to demonstrate how evaluation findings can be shared to increase understanding and drive practical action.

Description

This poster highlights a case study from public engagement with research at festivals to demonstrate how evaluation findings can be shared to increase understanding and drive practical action in the university sector and beyond.

Delivering interactive festival activities is a popular way for researchers to engage with a wide range of people. Many researchers and engagement professionals believe there is great value in such engagement, not just for festival-goers, but for researchers too. However, there is little published data backing this up. This case study highlights the benefits, challenges, and learning gained from 8 years of the FUTURES Festival. Our extensive evaluation evidence identifies the ingredients and support which ensures researchers can deliver high-quality public engagement; demonstrates the skills they gain from taking research to festivals; and suggests how to articulate, enable and reward researchers’ development.

High-quality public engagement helps researchers to understand, increase, and demonstrate the impact of their research outside of universities. It encourages academics to involve the public in their work, and consequently creates a more accessible research culture, generating meaningful, impactful research. Festivals in particular help researchers engage with communities of place and interest, inclusively sharing and situating their research with relevance, democratising knowledge and including diverse voices. Our soon-to-be-published journal article shows how researchers and engagement professionals can use this evidence themselves when organising festival-style events or advocating for them in their own institutions, to ensure maximum value for all concerned.

The FUTURES Festival of Discovery has been bringing research to life across the South West of England since 2018. The extensive free programme of public events exploring the worlds of science, culture and research has been funded by UKRI and the European Commission and delivered by a consortium of the Universities of Bath, Bath Spa, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth. For more details see: https://futuresnight.co.uk/about/