Help shape the CPE website

We are rethinking the Centre for Public Engagement's website and aim to have a new site launched by December 2009. The site will have numerous distinct audiences, including members of the public, members of the University and people in external organisations interested in public engagement.

This is your chance to help shape the new site! We would like to ask for your input into the development of our website, and would love to know what you think. Here are some questions we'd like your help with:

• What would you expect from the website of the University of Bristol's Centre for Public Engagement?
• What would make you bookmark the site?
• How should it talk about public engagement to (a) the general public, (b) the University community, (c) external organisations?
• How could it be effectively used as a public engagement tool in its own right?
• How can we embrace social networking through the web as a tool for public engagement, using the web to support two-way conversations with the public?
• Any other thoughts?
  

Please post your reflections in the Comments section below. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Festival weather

The students -- and half the staff -- may have vanished for the summer but we're still here to support engagement. We'll be attending a Good Practice Workshop on Universities and Festivals organised by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement next Tuesday. It'll address questions like "What are the key ingredients for a good festival?" and "How can participating in festivals help universities' public engagement?" Should be interesting.

If you have any questions or thoughts you'd like to share, but can't be there, let us know by commenting on this post.

Photo by: Mick Y

Frank talking about social enterprise

When research has a social purpose, it can be even more important to communicate with the public about it. Professor Bronwen Morgan and PhD student Sarika Seshadri of the University of Bristol's School of Law, together with Professor Dave Gordon of the School of Policy Studies, are researching social enterprises: businesses that trade for social and environmental purposes.

Read the full story.

Science for all

Caroline McKinnon is a biochemist with a difference. When not researching the causes of cancer, she is keen on communicating her passion for science to schoolchildren and the public. Over the past few years she’s volunteered at Cheltenham Science Festival, been part of the award-winning Science Alive! 2008 team, and most recently led the Biochemistry Schools Week, which gives Year 11 and 12 students the chance to visit the department to learn by doing hands-on experiments.

Read the full story on the Public Engagement Stories website at the University of Bristol.

Wildlife detectives - Bristol BioBlitz

Who needs Glastonbury? The real action on the weekend of 26 June 2009 was happening just over the Clifton Suspension Bridge at the Ashton Court Estate in Bristol, where hundreds of volunteers, children and members of the public braved some damp conditions for Bristol's first ever BioBlitz.

Read the full story on the Public Engagement Stories website at the University of Bristol.

Photo by: BioBlitz Bristol