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Communicate 2009: a researcher's perspective
Communicate is a conference for those engaging people with environmental issues. This year was my first experience of the conference and I quickly realised that it was not going to be like a typical science conference - rather than talks in lecture theatres there were 'provocations' and discussion (with occasional comedy and puppetry interludes) and we were seated at round tables. Clearly this was going to be something different...
But first, by way of introduction, I am a research fellow at the University of Bristol, conducting research on the value of biodiversity. This conference with its subtitle 'valuing the invaluable' was therefore highly relevant to my work. Here I give my reflections on the diversity of contributions and provocations at Communicate 2009. (If you want to find out more about what you missed then check the Communicate 09 website.)
Early on in the conference, following a keynote address by Tony Juniper, there was general agreement that an important, possibly essential, way of communicating the value of biodiversity is to engage with people "emotionally and spiritually".
At this point I should admit that I am not just a scientist; I am also a human being with interests, emotions, commitments, values and beliefs. Coming from scientific academia it was startling to hear the terms 'emotional' and 'spiritual' openly discussed in a professional context... but for me as a human being it made complete sense!
Communicate 2009 affirmed to me that public engagement by scientists is about treating people as multi-faceted individuals. Once we do this we can then creatively engage with people to communicate important and often complex scientific ideas and imperatives. That engagement could be face-to-face (we heard examples of story-telling, music and puppetry), it could be through traditional media such as newspapers and television (if they survive in the changing media landscape), or it could be through new technologies such as blogging and twittering (or whatever technology comes next).
Communicate 2009 reminded me of the bigger context of my research - that it really could and should be world-changing. For those researching on environmental issues, public engagement should not therefore simply be an add-on to cutting-edge research, but ensuring that people are engaged with environmental issues is an imperative. Of course, as scientists, we need to balance the value of public engagement with the other essentials of publishing papers and winning funding. Fortunately, there is a changing culture in universities towards valuing engagement. This has been supported by the work of organisations such as NCCPE and the inclusion of public engagement as an assessment of 'impact' in the forthcoming Research Exercise Framework.
Of course, unlike individuals, politics and business do not respond to biodiversity in an 'emotional' or 'spiritual' way. This raised the thorny problem of how we objectively value biodiversity for the sake of evidence-based policy and business accounts. At Communicate 09 there was good discussion about the role of monetarily valuing biodiversity, and whether placing a monetary value on biodiversity (which is not a tradable commodity) makes any sense. Should we even consider using market forces to try and solve the mess into which consumerism has got us? See the Natural Capital Initiative or the forthcoming TEEB report for a lot more discussion on that topic.
Jonathan Porritt in his closing keynote address contended that the environmental movement has lost some of its authenticity (but gave a, perhaps, surprising example of an environmentalist exemplifying depth and authenticity in his communication). During Jonathan's talk the thought occurred to me that as a researcher in environmental issues I can have an authenticity in my communication - because I am part of the group of researchers actually doing the science that leads to a greater understanding of environmental issues. As researchers, we therefore have a valuable and important role in engaging with the public about scientific issues.
Although academics were in a minority at Communicate 2009 (representing 10% of the participants), this meant that I had the opportunity to interact with a wide range of people - including other academics, television producers, funders, policy makers. People that I spoke to were keen to hear about my engagement with the public, especially citizen science activities, in which real scientific research can be undertaken by volunteers (OPAL is one good example).
For me as a researcher, I came away from Communicate 2009 with a deeper sense of the importance and richness of public engagement (and for my research as a whole). By joining the NCCPE Public Engagement Network I hope to continue to be supported as I undertake and promote public engagement. If you are an 'engaged researcher' I would recommend Communicate as a refreshing and invigorating inspiration. And if you come next year, don't worry about the round tables instead of a lecture theatre and occasional comedy interludes - you'll quickly get used to it!
I am grateful for a bursary supported by the NCCPE, Bristol Natural History Consortium and WWF:UK which gave me the opportunity to participate in Communicate 2009 as a Public Engagement Ambassador.
Michael Pocock, Nov 2009
Enthusiastic about public engagement?
If you are interested in public engagement then you can join the NCCPE Public Engagement Network (email list). This is aimed at anyone in a higher education institute (including students and academics) who is enthusiastic (or wants to become enthusiastic) about public engagement. The aim of the network is to share information about and experiences of public engagement activities and the current thinking about public engagement in universities.
You can also apply to become a Public Engagement Ambassador. The NCCPE supports ambassadors in their public engagement and gives them a role to help create a positive culture of public engagement in universities. The NCCPE does this through access to funding and resources and supporting events.
Michael Pocock is a NERC research fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol. He has undertaken citizen science projects under the title 'Our web of life' in which got an enthusiastic response from members of the public and school children when they were asked to rear parasitoid wasps ('natural pest controllers') from 'alien' caterpillars!