Who are the public?

The Public are individuals, groups and communities external to the University. We don’t mean business and industry when talking about public engagement, but you may find that you engage with organisations that represent specific groups, or are running a public project.

They may not have affiliations with the University but may have an interest in, may benefit from, or be able to inform the work we’re doing at the university. They also may not be interested in what we’re doing, and that’s even more reason to try and engage with them! It can be helpful to think about the public as your “target audience”.

Whilst many refer to “the general public” as a broad catch-all, it can be helpful to be as specific as possible when defining your target audience, so you can tailor your engagement approach to suit their preferences and needs and yield more impactful engagement. For example, age, gender, ethnicity, location, lived experience, interests.

Depending on your project, you might be engaging locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.

Understanding our definition of who the public are to us will be explored as part of a process to develop a strategic approach to Public Engagement and this page will be updated accordingly. Watch out for updates soon to get involved.

What support is available?

There is plenty of support and guidance available. Please see the support for Engagement section to identify colleagues/teams to approach.

There is lots of great guidance within this Engagement portal.

Training and development opportunities are shared in the Public and Community Engagement Teams group.

Additional resources and training will be developed to support your Public Engagement activity, as part of a process to develop a strategic approach to Public Engagement and this page will be updated accordingly. Watch out for updates soon to get involved.

If starting from scratch feels daunting, there are numerous events already happening that provide a platform for engaging with the public here at Lancaster University. Some examples are:

The Lancaster University Public Lectures series runs throughout the year. Twice a year there is a call for nominations of speakers. You can submit anyone who you think would make a great speaker at one of our events... you can even put your own name forward! If approved, the Stakeholder Relations team will work with you to organise the event in a collaborative way that benefits your department. Public Lectures provide an opportunity for anyone working at Lancaster in a related field to engage with attendees alongside the main speaker, with demonstrations and stands at the event.

Bright Club: Ever fancied yourself as a comedian? Develop your communication skills and confidence by putting together a comedy set and performing at a real comedy gig! Full training and support is provided by Dr Steve Cross, an external skills trainer and comedian. Trust us, it’s a lot less scary than it sounds! If you are interested in taking part in the next cohort contact Dee Hennessy, Creative Engagement Manager. Email: d.hennessy@lancaster.ac.uk

Campus In The City: A family-friendly community festival at various venues in the Lancaster and Morecambe area. This event is organised by the Stakeholder Relations team, so you can focus on developing your activity and delivering it in an accessible way. The main festival takes place in Spring, with pop-up opportunities throughout the year. Keep an eye out for an open call to express your interest, or email: publicevents@lancaster.ac.uk

Light Up Lancaster: A light festival which takes place every November in Lancaster City Centre, which Lancaster University supports and takes part in. Each year an open call requests expressions of interest from researchers with a project idea. The festival producers then select a few which they think would be most suitable to be transformed into light art to feature in the festival or developed into a suitable workshop for families.

Faculty events: As well as the central Lancaster University Public Lectures programme, you may notice that faculties often put on their own events, or get involved in national initiatives such as Pint of Science or the Festival of Social Science. Contact your Departmental Engagement Lead to find out about opportunities within your department or faculty.

Recording and evaluating your activity

Don’t forget to record and monitor your activity as you go. More guidance is available in the evaluation and recording your engagement activities sections.

Public and community engagement case studies

There are some excellent examples of public and community events that have taken place across the University. Some of these are illustrated in the gallery below.

Within each example there is a link to a case study, that includes the key learning from the engagement - useful for anyone undertaking a similar activity.

Do you have any good examples that can be worked up into a case study? If so, please contact us: stakeholderrelations@lancaster.ac.uk