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ETUDE was a unique opportunity for engineers to benefit from
training and experience in public engagement.
From the Earth to Mars, micro- to mega-scale, research or practice,
a group of engineers were invited to take part in a series of events
exploring the practice and potential of engineering.
A project full of ideas, expertise and imagination!
A series of events were held in the North East in 2014, full
details of which can be found below.
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Engineering
Transmission Using Deliberative Events
The success of engineering projects depends on understanding the intersection of
technology with human values and behaviour. Engineers who lack an
understanding of the human side are at a disadvantage, as are citizens
who lack an understanding of the technology. Following on from the
successful
Sustained Engagement project, ETUDE
brought engineers and the general public together in creative ways to
encourage each group to engage deeply and
constructively with the other, to the benefit of both.
ETUDE was funded by
Royal
Academy of Engineering as part of the Ingenious
grant scheme.
In the course of the project The Great Debate delivered
five events providing engineers with practical
experience of public engagement.
The events spanned a range of issues related to engineering and
used a variety of formats: from stand-up and busking to panel
discussions and conversations with a public audience and
the consensus-building method
Crowd Wise devised by
new economics foundation (nef).
A three day workshop was delivered
(19th to 21st March) leading up to an
open day
on 22nd March
in which participating engineers presented their work in unconventional
formats. The workshop introduced participants
to a variety of approaches to public engagement. Pair work, group work and
individual mentoring exposed participants to
different approaches and provided time and space to experiment, obtain
detailed feedback and prepare materials for the open day.
Topics included the use and remediation of brownfield sites;
Newcastle Science Central: The Engineering Challenges;
Building Better Buildings; Energy; Infrastructure; The Future of Manufacturing in
the North East; Revitalising the Economy of the Ports; Engineering Education;
Flooding.
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The events were organised by The Great Debate
in partnership with
Etude Project Steering Group:
Dr Caspar Hewett,
Director and Chair, The Great Debate, Durham University
Prof. Richard
Dawson, Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Newcastle University
Dr Sara
Walker,
Director of Business and Engagement,
Faculty of Engineering and Environment,
Northumbria University
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ETUDE Public Engagement Training
Wednesday 19th - Saturday 22nd March 2014
This workshop will expose participants to a variety of ways of engaging publics
from demonstration and presentation to busking and comedy. It will be
an opportunity to experiment, obtain detailed feedback and prepare new materials
leading up to presenting for real at The Wonders of Engineering on
Saturday 22nd. The timetable will be flexible and tailored to participants
requirements, but below is a rough outline of the timetable.
Day 1 (Wed 19th March)
Room G.27. Devonshire Building
(map), Newcastle University
Focus on presentation skills – each participant will give a short presentation,
receive feedback and work on general and specific areas for improvement with
an eye on how to engage general (as opposed to specialist) audiences.
We will also have a demo of successful public engagement activities.
Day 2 (Thurs 20th March)
Room G.27. Devonshire Building, Newcastle University
Experimenting with a variety of alternative ways of presenting including:
the 3 minute format; stand up comedy; busking and discussions that work.
Using group work and pair work. Introduction to audience-building.
Day 3 (Fri 21st March)
Room G.27. Devonshire Building, Newcastle University
Preparation, rehearsal and promotion for Saturday event. New thoughts and
experiments.
Day 4 (Sat 22nd March)
Rutherford Hall
(map),
Northumbria University
The Wonders of Engineering (see below)
Facilitator: Caspar Hewett
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Devonshire Building
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Location Map - Devonshire Building, Devonshire Terrace
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne
[See also Newcastle University Campus map]
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The Wonders of Engineering
Part of National Science and Engineering Week
Saturday, 22nd March 2014
Rutherford Hall
(map)
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
A day of discovery, discussion and laughter
From the Earth to Mars, micro to mega, engineering influences every
aspect of our lives today. This one-day extravaganza invites you to
come and hear about cutting edge from engineers from around the
country. Talks, discussions and exhibits all mixed with a
dash of comedy will take you through a
wonder tour of engineering today, and offer the opportunity to ask
questions, challenge assumptions and engage in debate with each other
and the presenters.
Come along and be amazed and inspired!
FREE and OPEN TO ALL
BOOK HERE
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The Great Debate in association with
Institute of Hazard,
Risk and Reslience,
Durham University and
Great North Festival
Rescuing Our Brownfield Spaces
5.30pm - 8pm, Thursday, 3rd April 2014
SALSA Café & Tapas Bar
Westgate Road, NE1 4AE
What do we need to do to develop brownfield sites and make the best use
of them? How do we want to use them? What technologies can be applied
to make them useable?
Brownfield or previously developed land, is everywhere. Nearly everyone
has visited or lived near an area that was once used for industrial purposes,
making it unsuitable for redevelopment. Besides being an eye sore,
brownfield is also known to be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of
communities who live near it, but often the financial costs are too great
for it to be restored and developed. As the global population rises and
land for agriculture and housing increases in demand, redeveloping
brownfield may hold a solution to some of these challenges,
but how do we do it? Some technologies are available, while others are
in the making, but how can they best be used?
This event will explore these questions with a panel
of experts and practitioners and a general audience.
Light refreshments (food and drinks) will be offered to participants to
help keep you on your toes.
The event is OPEN TO ALL and will use the
new economics foundation's
Crowd Wise process
to explore the topic: Beginning with an open question, participants
(panel and audience) are invited to work together to create and refine
possible answers with a view to deciding jointly what the best solutions are.
Get your FREE TICKET HERE!
Speakers:
Michele Allen, artist
Alero Arenyeka,
Newcastle University
Phil Hartley,
Land Contamination Specialist, Newcastle City Council
Karen Johnson,
Durham University
Elisa Lopez Capel, Newcastle University
Facilitators:
Perry Walker and Caspar Hewett
Come along and join the discussion!
Links:
Royal Academy of Engineeering
Durham University
ROBUST project
Institute of Hazard, Risk and Reslience
NECTER
Great North Festival
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The Fracking Great Debate
A Crowd Wise event
5:45pm, Thursday 22nd May 2014
Room 2.32, Cassie Building
Newcastle University
MAP
Should we exploit the UK's onshore shale gas,
and if so under what conditions?
Induced hydraulic fracturing (widely referred to as fracking) has
been in use since the 1940s but has recently come to the fore as
a means of releasing natural gas stored in shale rocks that would
otherwise be inaccessible. This technology has huge potential for
providing gas for energy generation, and has become increasingly
attractive as gas prices have risen and the natural gas that can
be easily extracted has been depleted. However, there is significant
resistance to the technology due to potential environmental risks
of its widespread use, such as ground water contamination
and the migration of gases and chemicals to the surface.
So, how great are the risks? How will they be managed?
What are the long term implications of pursuing this technology?
How should we move forwards?
This event explored these questions using the
new economics foundation's
Crowd Wise process:
Beginning with the central question
"Should we exploit the UK's onshore shale gas,
and if so under what conditions?"
participants (panel and audience) will be invited to work
together to create and refine possible answers with a view to
deciding jointly what the best solutions are.
Click Here
for full details, speakers and videos of the event
Speakers:
Ampea Boateng, Narec
Jonathan Imber, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University
Gareth Powells, Department of Geography, Durham University
Jeffri Ramli, Mech-Tool Engineering
Facilitators:
Perry Walker and Caspar Hewett
Links:
Royal Academy of Engineeering
Durham University
Great North Festival
NECTER
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Debating the State of the Nation
In partnership with Institution of Civil Engineers
8:30 - 10:30am, 1st July 2014
Lecture Theatre G.05, Ground Floor, Percy Building
Newcastle University
A breakfast debate
What is the current state of the North East's infrastructure? How does it
compare with the rest of the country? What should we prioritize over the next
decade and the next half century?
A panel of six engineers will introduce the current state of play based
on the latest ICE State of the Nation Report, followed by an hour
of discussion with the audience.
So, come along, join us for breakfast, hear the latest on the region's
infrastructure and have your say on its future!
Introduced by Nick Baveystock, Director General,
Institution of Civil Engineers
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Project summary
Engineers from industry and academia will be mentored in public
engagement skills, and will deliver five public events over 15 months.
The programme will include four days of intensive training for 20-23
engineers during National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW)
culminating in an event devised and delivered by participants and
four sets of training workshops leading up to events of two types:
consensus-building discussions and panel debates.
Events will be part of Great North Festival, NSEW
and the ICE president’s visit to the North East.
Workshops will provide participants with the opportunity to develop
public engagement skills and increase confidence in delivering events.
Evaluation will focus on which types of training and events worked best
for engineers and public. The project will provide participating
engineers with practical experience of public engagement activities
involving members of the public in discussing engineering and its
impact on our daily lives.
Engineers
The aim is to involve 35 - 40 engineers in the project.
The principal target group will be engineers with little or no
experience of public engagement. It is anticipated that they will
be drawn from academia and industry in roughly equal numbers.
Recruitment will be carried out primarily through established
contacts in Newcastle, Northumbria and Durham Universities,
ICE North East, Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability (NIReS),
National Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC), Mott MacDonald and
Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Through this project, participating engineers will benefit from
bespoke training in presentation skills and different approaches to
public engagement, the opportunity for specialist and peer to peer
feedback and first-hand experience of public events.
An engineer might be expected to come to the end of the project
with a significant increase in confidence in presenting his or her
work to general audiences, many ideas of different ways to do so,
and the inspiration and enthusiasm to carry those lessons and experiences forward.
Publics
Events will be aimed at general audiences of all ages without
pre-existing specialist knowledge of the topics. We would expect our
audiences to include a representative cross-section of society with
or without any relevant knowledge or experience. This would include
people who are unwaged, retired, students all the way through to
academics, consultants, Board Directors as well as people working in
relevant disciplines. Beyond that, the target audience and therefore
the promotional strategy will vary according to the topic. The event
organised during NSEW is likely to attract the largest audience since
it will span a whole day and will be embedded in the wider programme
of the festival.
Project impacts
Impacts are anticipated on participating engineers and engineering
organisations, public participants and the wider engineering community.
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Participating engineers will gain experience and learning on engaging
with the public, resulting in increased desire to take part in;
confidence in taking part in; and estimation of the value of public
engagement. It will offer them insights into how the public reacts to
their work which may affect their future practice. They may become more
aware of the differential impact of public engagement methods, in
particular of deliberative methods.
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Organisations will increase their capacity to undertake public engagement,
increasing the likelihood that they will initiate it in the future.
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Public participants will gain from discussing, and critically engaging with,
engineering topics, leading to increased confidence in discussing engineering
issues; understanding of the role of engineers in solving social problems;
and interest in engaging in discussion of social and technical issues.
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The wider engineering community will gain access to guidance and case
studies. This will contribute towards the adoption of effective public
engagement models across the sector.
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2014
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