Engagers Digest 26/11/09

Hello Engagers, and welcome to another Digest:

STEMNET Ambassadors are recruiting, and are particularly looking for postgrads or postdocs in the life sciences to help support STEM education in schools. Becoming a STEM Ambassador is easy and involves a free training session and CRB check through the organisers, and a minimum commitment of only one school visit per year. Our local STEMPOINT is run by Graphic Science - check their website or contact Claire Dimond for more information.

Discover 2010 (previously Science Alive!), our hands-on festival showcasing research at Bristol - sciences, arts and humanities, social sciences - will take place in The Mall Galleries from 11-13 March 2010, with other associated events. Contact Dane Comerford: dane.comerford@bristol.ac.uk to talk about ideas or possible contributions.

BBSRC Public Engagement Awards Deadline 15 January 2010
£5k awards for BBSRC-funded researchers to undertake public engagement activity.

The Royal Society - Partnership Grants (UK)
The Royal Society's Partnership Grants Scheme will re-open for applications in spring 2010. Under its Partnership Grants Scheme, the Royal Society provides grants of up to £3,000 to support teachers, scientists and engineers help develop science projects that make the teaching of science more interesting within primary and secondary schools. Any UK primary or secondary school teacher or practising scientist/engineer can apply as long as the students involved in the project are between 5 and 18.

The Art of Science is a competition where research images become pieces of art. The competition winners will be on display in the At-Bristol Cafe from 7 December 2009 to 18 January 2010. The Cafe is open from 10am each day. For further information about the competition contact Becky Jones, or see the website.

Synthetic Biology: Hope and Hype

Synthetic biology is an emerging area of scientific research at the interface between biology, chemistry and engineering. The research promises cheaper, faster routes to drugs, biofuels and new materials for medical applications.

However, synthetic biology also provokes controversy because it aims to 'engineer biology'. Join ethicists and biologists from the University of Bristol for a lively evening discussion

7 pm, 26 November, At-Bristol, Anchor Road, Harbourside BS1 5DB.

Free event, but booking required.

Contact At-Bristol booking line; tel: 0845 345 1235 or +44 (0)117 915 5000.

Engagers Digest 12 November

Welcome to another Engagers Digest - apologies for the disruption in our normal routine while Barry Parsons and I completed our handover. There's plenty to tell you about, so I'll keep it brief, but please do contact me if I can help at all!

If you're an Engagers Rep (please contact me if you're not sure), we'll be having one of our twice yearly meetings on Monday 23 November, 3:30-5pm in the Wills Building Reception Room. RSVP to Philippa: philippa.bayley@bristol.ac.uk

That same day we'll also have a community engagement workshop with Bill Peterman (visiting Professor from the USA) and Tom Sperlinger (Dept of English). Open to all those who are interested in developing links with community groups, the training will run from 1-3pm on Monday 23 November in the Wills Building Reception Room. RSVP to Philippa.

Discover 2010 (previously Science Alive!), our hands-on festival showcasing research at Bristol, will take place in The Mall Galleries from 11-13 March 2010. Contact Dane Comerford: dane.comerford@bristol.ac.uk to talk about ideas or possible contributions.

New round for STEM Directories now open. Deadline 15 November 2009
If you haven't already done so, you can register online for the STEM Directories, an online guide to enrichment activities for schools.

Engaging Science grants workshop: Wednesday 18 November 2009
Wellcome Trust, Gibbs Building, 215 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE
Free workshop of the Wellcome Trust's Engaging Science grants programme.

ESRC Knowledge Exchange Small Grants Scheme. Deadline 3 December 2009
A £2-£10k pilot scheme that provides funding for social science PhD students, researchers and knowledge transfer professionals to undertake a wide range of knowledge exchange and impact generating activity.

BBSRC Public Engagement Awards. Deadline 15 January 2010
£5k awards for BBSRC-funded researchers to undertake public engagement activity.

And last but by no means least - ChemlabS are celebrating National Chemistry Week with events on the Chemistry of Food - more information here.

Kind regards,

Philippa

Vicious into Virtuous Circles: Social Engineering for a Sustainable City

Vicious into Virtuous Circles: Social Engineering for a Sustainable City

Roger Levett, Co-Founder of Levett-Therivel Sustainability Consultants

Thursday 12th November Pugsley Lecture Theatre, Queen's Building, 6:00-7:00pm

Cities like Bristol could dramatically reduce their carbon footprint and improve their quality of life if we intervened systemically to turn behavioural vicious circles into virtuous ones. This talk will explain how, and why. Roger Levett is a leading thinker and adviser on sustainable communities, and policies and services for low carbon living. He has advised the European Commission, Whitehall departments, the Environment Agency, regional development agencies, CABE, WWF, CPRE and numerous local authorities. He is currently leading sustainability appraisals of several of London Mayor Boris Johnson's strategies and preparing a guide on footprint reduction for the South East of England. His publications include A Better Choice of Choice (Fabian society), Towards the Ecopolis (Demos/Comedia) and Deconstructing Barker (CPRE). His most cherished vocational qualification is his Bristol BSc in politics and philosophy.

Engaging stakeholders

At the Communicate 09 conference - Valuing the Invaluable (21-22 October) - how to engage stakeholders was explored in one of the many workshops of the conference.

The workshop was facilitated by Paul Thomas from Trimedia, international PR company specialising in Corporate Social Responsibility. It opened with a reminder of the importance of engaging stakeholders in a meaningful way, particularly key in this age of media scrutiny and web 2.0 which encourages information to flow faster, reach more people and supports interaction.

The workshop looked at how to engage stakeholders effectively and provided a circular step-by-step programme

Step 1. Set your objectives
Step 2. Identify issues (find focus)
Step 3. Identify the stakeholders (map/rank them, identifying the priority groups)
Step 4. Find out what they think about the issue in question (benchmark/audit)
Step 5. Create your engagement strategy based on this information, (e.g. round table, workshop etc.) ensuring that it's appropriate to their understanding of the issue.

There was, however, no mention of evaluation nor of how it feeds into the stakeholder engagement process. But the workshop did provide some general tips for a successful engagement programme, which are:

• Make sure that you are clear about your objectives and desired outcomes
• Have a clear agenda in place
• Tailor your strategy to each type of organisation you engage with
• Know your allies - look for further opportunities to work together (establish issue of common interest, establish joint position - there is strength in numbers)
• Engage critics - be honest; recognise that your organisation can do better; promote a better understanding between you and them; build a common agenda around issues of common concern.

The workshop concluded with a few take-home messages for a strong stakeholder programme.

1. Understand the reputation landscape in which your organisation operates.
2. Be proactive; anticipate issues/respond before a crisis.
3. Try to avoid conflicts that can harm the organisation.
4. Equip the business to respond to future problems today.

But also you need to factor in the time it takes not only to manage such a programme but also to manage the longer term relationships with stakeholders that, it is hoped, would emerge from a successful stakeholder engagement process.

[Notes on the sessions at the Communicate 09 conference should be available on the website shortly).