Activity 1: Evaluate the Impact of Public Engagement on Professional Growth

Core ideas – Content:

• Participants in this activity will critically evaluate the effects of public engagement on their professional development
• Participants gain a deeper understanding of how public engagement can positively impact their professional growth by analysing benefits and strategically addressing challenges

Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Objectives:

• Assessing personal and professional benefits of public engagement, including the skills developed and the knowledge gained through such a process
• Identifying and addressing the challenges/barriers that hinder scientists' participation in public engagement

A detailed description of the activity’s implementation:

Begin the activity by discussing the importance of public engagement for scientists and researchers. Emphasise the value it adds to personal and professional growth, including developing essential skills and knowledge.

In the first two exercises, participants engage in self-reflection;

•  First, they reflect on their career journey, focusing on personal experiences with public engagement and then compile a list of skills and knowledge acquired through past public engagement activities. 
• Then, in small groups, participants share insights into their challenges in engaging with the public and suggest practical solutions (including ideas and best practices) to address the identified challenges. 
• Finally, three case studies featuring global examples of public engagement in diverse climate change topics, where participants working in pairs, analyse and discuss how challenges in public engagement were overcome in these case studies and what skills were crucial for success.

Reflection: Individually, participants map their career journey to reflect on personal experiences with public engagement.

Handout 1: My Carreer Journey - Exercise 1

Individually, participants list the skills and knowledge gained through previous public engagement activities (Handout 2: Exercise 2). 

Participants can also use the publication “Benefits of Public Engagement for Researchers” for this activity as an inspiration, as it includes first-hand experiences of researchers and gives an idea of the positive benefits of engaging with the public.

1) Participants in groups of 2-3 (for example trhought MS Teams, ZOOM etc.) discuss personal challenges they perceive in engaging with the public during their career journey and identify common barriers.

2) In a (online) plenary discussion, all participants share the challenges they discussed and propose practical solutions to address the identified challenges.

Distribute case studies (Handout 3: Case Studiesfeaturing examples of public engagement from worldwide, covering a diverse range of topics demonstrating the cross-sectoral nature of climate change issues. 

Participants analyse and discuss in pairs/prepare individually (worldcloud, thinking map):

1. How were public engagement challenges overcome, and what skills are required?
2. What impact do they have on professional growth?