Report of the public engagement pilot cases on Societal Challenges

30/09/2016News feedKaisa Matschoss

This report presents the work executed in PE2020 Work Package Three. The aim of the work package was to 1) test and refine innovative public engagement tools and processes in research programme contexts, 2) to evaluate the feasibility of using such tools in other countries, and 3) to gain further understanding of the relevance of contextual factors in designing processes for public engagement.

The seven pilot initiatives were co-designed and implemented with the research projects and programmes we examinied. Testing and introducing new public engagement processes requires them to be adapted to the preconditions of the target programmes. Through the pilot initiatives we were also able to identify innovative public engagement methods. The initiatives led to positive results with regard to the quality of the research projects as well as the relationships between the actors. The forms of public engagement used in the pilot initiatives varied from more conventional science communication and focus group discussions, to highly collaborative co-creation practices.

There has been strong pressure to find solutions that match the style and obligations of the new funding programmes. However, the successful research consortia from the first phases of adopting innovative practices have shown ability to develop both their knowledge and skills in public engagement.

-Timo Aarrevaara, Kirsi Pulkkinen and Ian Dobson-

Societal Interaction Plans of the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland

23/09/2016News feedAcademy of Finland, engagement tools, PE pilots, societal interaction plan, Strategic Research CouncilKaisa Matschoss

In the pilot initiative about Societal Interaction Plans we have examined the 16 projects selected in the first call of the Strategic Research Council (SRC) at the Academy of Finland. These projects commenced in late 2015 and will run for a maximum period of five and a half years. The competition for SRC funds was fierce and the application process was considered to be laborious. Hence, those responsible for the selected projects are aware that their progress will be followed closely and expectations are high for both scientific and societal deliverables.

The SRC projects funded from the first call in 2015 fell under three main topics, each focusing on grand societal challenges: 1) utilisation of disruptive technologies and changing institutions (six projects), 2) a climate-neutral and resource-scarce society (four projects), 3) equality and its promotion (six projects). The Societal interaction plans report analyses public engagement tools, and identifies the partners and processes that define successful consortiums, the new knowledge on societal interaction plans (SIP) and benefits of SIPs for researchers and research groups. In addition to these core capacities of dynamic governance, continuity is viewed as an additional key capacity in the framework of this report.

Pilot initiative of the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) More Years, Better Lives (MYBL)

16/09/2016News feedJPI, MYBL, PE pilots, pilots, societal impact, stakeholder engagementKaisa Matschoss

The Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) More Years, Better Lives (MYBL) was chosen as a pilot initiative for the PE2020 project in order to pilot the idea of societal impacts and stakeholder involvement in the research grants awarded by the JPI MYBL programming initiative on European and global demographic change. Joint programming is a new approach to increase collaboration and coordination in research and development in Europe. The JPI MYBL programming initiative is focussed on demographic change which is one of the determining megatrends all over the world and is having an exceptional impact on Europe, for example in rising life expectancy and falling birth rates, resulting in an ageing society which in turn creates strains on existing welfare systems (e.g. pensions, health care, the labour market, and education). The conceptual aim of the programming initiative is to explore and enhance the understanding of societal impacts and stakeholder involvement in studies on the science and the society. You can read more in the report of the pilot initiative.

Policy conference about Public Engagement for Research, Practice and Policy

08/09/2016News feedpolicy, practice, public engagement, research, sustainable innovationKaisa Matschoss

Public Engagement for Research, Practice and Policy
Exploring Policy Options for Responsible Research, Sustainability and Innovation

Policy conference, 16-17 November, 2016
Venue: Committee of the Regions, Rue Belliard 99-101 B – 1040 Brussels

By setting public engagement (PE) as a key thematic element of responsible research and innovation (RRI), the European Commission promotes fundamental changes in the way in which civil society and other stakeholders outside the scientific community influence – and are expected to influence – research activities. Promoting PE means giving more weight to citizens and stakeholders in the definition of research needs, in the critical reflection of current and future research priorities, and in the implementation of R&I activities. Especially intriguing is the role of public engagement for sustainable development through innovation – a relatively new paradigm that stresses the importance of sustainability considerations in the innovation processes, but also aptly integrates public engagement as a precondition to sustainability.

Yet there is limited understanding of the transformations that widespread use of PE will involve in R&I activities. Can PE remain an add-on to academic research, or does it involve some new functions, or even structural changes in the ways that research will be designed, funded, implemented and evaluated? How can PE contribute to better governance of science-in-society interaction at the regional, national or EU level, and what makes PE successful in it? How will PE enhance (or hinder) innovating, and what strategic, programme or operational measures, and among which societal actors, can best guarantee (a solid pathway to) sustainability commitments? Without clear answers to these issues, there is a risk that PE does not serve RRI, but on the contrary, becomes a burden for R&I activities, and an obstacle for bridging of research and society.

This policy conference focuses on best public engagement and sustainable innovation practices and identifies common European priorities on how to stimulate societal engagement for sustainable innovation activities in European regions, scientific institutions, SMEs and other societal actors. We bring together a broad range of experts, stakeholders, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, regional authorities and Commission officials. This conference, jointly organised by the PE2020 (Public Engagement Innovation for Horizon 2020) and the CASI (Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation) projects, focuses on the intersection of public engagement and sustainable innovation.

You can find the registration form, more information, the programme and soon to be updated session contents in here.

Early-career researcher support in the Bonus pilot project

06/06/2016News feedBonus programme, capacities, early career scientists, junior researchers, PE pilots, science-society dialogueKaisa Matschoss

The promotion of science-society dialogue among early-career researchers with the use of blogs was chosen as a pilot initiative for the PE2020 project in order to deliberate on the possibilities to support junior-level researchers to engage with stakeholders and citizens in the different phases of research and innovation processes, to support the bottom-up initiatives of junior-level researchers in a traditionally hierarchic academic environment, and to deliberate on the possibilities for using new social media as a public engagement tool. Early-career researchers refer here foremost to doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers who are going through the first stages of their academic career. Download the Bonus Pilot Report for more information.

The rationale for developing the capacities of junior-level researchers is related to the potential impact on agenda-setting and new modes of work, if new generations of researchers see value in public engagement and if they have the necessary knowledge, skills and motivation to actively participate in science-society dialogue. In the long term, as the junior researchers proceed in their career, they may continue this dialogue and collaboration with stakeholders and citizens not as a separate process, but as a natural component of their work. In choosing the pilot initiative, it was also expected that members of younger generations would already have some of the necessary capabilities and a positive attitude towards trying out forms of social media that enable new modes of interaction between researchers, stakeholders, and the general public.

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Innovative Public Engagement – A Conceptual Model of PE

26/05/2016News feedconceptual model of PE, innovative public engagement, innovativeness, obstacles of PE, participatory performance, successful PEKaisa Matschoss

The objective of the PE2020 project is to identify, analyse and refine innovative PE tools and instruments for dynamic and responsible governance of R&I. The study Innovative Public Engagement – A Conceptual Model of Public Engagement in Dynamic and Responsible Governance of Research and Innovation elaborates a conceptual framework of PE, where innovativeness, participatory performance and dynamic governance remain the key concerns. Our data are based on descriptions of 38 innovative PE cases, selected from a global sample of 256 cases that were identified in the data basis of the MASIS and Engage2020 projects, a systematic literature review, and our own qualitative survey.

Engage with society? Sure! But how do I do it?

11/04/2016News feedBonus programme, interaction with stakeholders, Kaskas Media, public engagement in science, science communication, tailoring the message, trainingKaisa Matschoss

Researchers are nowadays expected to interact with stakeholders. They are expected to define who might benefit from their research outside of academia, and know how to identify the most relevant target groups. These groups vary from decision-makers to industry, and from media to the general public. In addition to finding the right stakeholders, researchers are expected to know which channels are the most useful for reaching them.

At societal level, public engagement of science can have many useful outcomes. These include, on the one hand better informed policy and business innovations with a solid base on credible research, and a better understanding of the ethical and social aspects of research, as well as a more accurate view of science and scientific work, on the other. For researchers, interaction with stakeholders may be rewarding as it stimulates research creativity and innovation, provides ideas and new angles to an issue. It enhances research quality and its impact, and provides different kinds of intellectual challenges, not to mention the many effects of new fruitful partnerships. Some go as far as claiming that quality research in today’s world is dependent on having access to knowledge that is based on broad societal networks.

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Public engagement in the vacuum does not exist

29/03/2016News feedcontextualisation, obtacles, opportunities, PE pilots, PE toolkit, resources, risksKaisa Matschoss

One of the main outputs expected from the PE2020 project is the development of a web-based toolkit that, helps policy makers to adopt, adjust and implement public engagement processes for their different needs. Starting from February 2015, under WP3, six pilot initiatives have been launched, of which three in Finland and three in Italy. Some of the initiatives have been concluded while others are still ongoing. Therefore, the results of the pilots are still to be fully identified and developed. However, some preliminary outputs can be mentioned, especially for what concerns obstacles and potentials of public engagement practices, which can be extremely relevant with the PE2020 Toolkit design process. (A toolkit design document can be found here.)

Undoubtedly, one of the key elements emerging from the pilot initiatives is the necessity to strongly contextualise public engagement initiatives. There is no public engagement tool or approach that fits all organisations and aims. The same tool and approach could assume a set of meanings in a given context and another one in another context. This element clearly emerged from the context-tailoring workshop held in Finland, but also from the Dialogue Workshop on mobility and transportation especially by comparing the experiences made in the Naples area and those carried out in Zurich.

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Living Lab of Global Change Research

25/02/2016News feedcollaboration, global change, global change research, Living lab, PE pilots, stakeholder engagementKaisa Matschoss

The rationale for launching the Living Lab of Global Change Research stems from the pressures emerging from large-scale societal challenges that transcend boundaries of traditional academic fields. There is a need to understand interlinked, large-scale changes in environment and societies which cannot be studied solely from a perspective of one discipline. For example, the changes in climate, biodiversity, agriculture and energy are interlinked, which calls for collaboration between researchers in human and natural sciences.

The Living Lab of Global Change Research was chosen as a pilot initiative for the PE2020 project in order to deliberate on the possibilities to support and strengthen multi- and interdisciplinary, multi-actor research collaboration related to solving societal challenges, and to elaborate on the possibilities how intermediary organisations may strengthen inter- and multidisciplinary and multi-actor collaboration and support the continuity of living labs.

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The pilot projects in Italy at a glance

25/01/2016News feedAgorà Scienza, Città della Scienza, Dialogue Workshop, ENEA, mobility and transportation, Naples, PE pilots, Rome, science-society relations, Scientific Summer School, TurinKaisa Matschoss

The pilot projects carried out in Italy presented in this website through three specific presentation sheets are certainly different from each other for what concerns the issues dealt with, the kind of players involved and the procedures adopted.

The first pilot, titled Educating science-society relations and public engagement was held in Turin, in partnership with Agorà Scienza, an inter-university centre specialised in public engagement and science communication. The pilot was organised to test the possibility of using PE mechanisms to raise the awareness of and transferring knowledge to young students on the complex and changing relationships existing between science and society. The context was given by the 2015 edition of the Scientific Summer School (SSA), a week-long informal education initiative targeted at 50 high school students that Agorà Scienza organises each year. The strategy was that of mobilising the involved researchers (around 20 from different universities based in Turin) for incorporating public engagement in the SSA and for organising an experience of public engagement involving all students.

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PE2020 Public Engagement Innovations for Horizon 2020

Research project of the European Union FP7 Framework Programme