Wellcome Public Engagement

Supporting arts collaborations for public engagement with research

Who I worked with: University of Leicester

Partners: National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement, Wellcome Trust

Project Description

Whilst working as the first Public Engagement Manager for the University of Leicester, I noticed many researchers wanted to work with artists in some way, yet it often was limited in its role. I felt I had a gap in my own knowledge of how to best support this and so embarked on research to understand better how science engagement tended to collaborate with the arts for public engagement. I consulted with colleagues at the Wellcome Trust and NCCPE, and agreed to use the What Works method to address this gap in practice guidance.

The What Works process consists of:

• conducting desk research on current practice

• creating a survey to find examples of current practice

• conducting a workshop to codevelop new guidance

• Publishing the new guidance with case studies

From the desk research, it appeared art was often utilised to either create visual communication tools or facilitate craft and art-making from a particular cultural angle. Using this research, I worked with the NCCPE to codevelop practice guidance on how to really effectively encourage cocreation of public engagement projects between artists and researchers.

What Works Guide: Artist and Researcher Collaborations

Learnings and Insights

It became clear that there was a gap in opportunities for artists to cocreate engagement projects and people with the skills needed to effectively support partnership working. This limited the role artists could play in developing public engagement at universities which could in turn be limiting the diversity of people able to engage in research.

This inspired me to explore addressing this gap through the Creative Engagement Fellowship.