Edinburgh Beltane Training Course for Post Graduate Researchers (PhD Students and Research Associates)

Dialogue Techniques for Public Engagement

2 day course

Day 1: Monday,  21 November 2011, 9:30am - 5pm

Day 2: Monday, 28 November, 2011, 9:30 - 5pm

Why might you need to engage or dialogue with the public over your work? 

Whether your research work is controversial, remote from ‘the public’, misunderstood and/or essential to society, you will need to engage with others to find out their views or concerns, explain your work, discuss implications, or just to help you appreciate the value of your work to society. Dialogue can be a powerful tool in public engagement and in any collaborative interaction, professional or personal.

What will the course give you?

This course, has been specifically designed for postgraduate researchers, and will help you understand:

·         what dialogue is and what you can achieve with it

·         what it means to ‘engage the public’

·         how to design a public engagement exercise and facilitate dialogue

·         the ethics of ‘dialogue’

The programme comprises four sessions over two days:

1.      Scene setting: What is dialogue and when is it useful in public engagement?

2.      Facilitations skills: How to nurture dialogue

3.      Choosing specific techniques: What techniques to use for what purposes and groups

4.      Process planning: How to design dialogic public engagement activities

You will get hands-on experience of practical techniques plus orientation and reflection on dialogic approaches to public engagement. Since the content of the programme is progressive, participants must attended the first day before attending the second.  Participants may have the option to take the first day only.

When and where?

Sessions 1&2: Monday, 21 November 2011.

Sessions 3&4: Monday, 28 November 2011.

Both days: 9:30 to 17:00,

The Main Library, George Sqaure, The University of Edinburgh

Who should attend?

The course is open to all  PhD students or Research Staff  in the Edinburgh Beltane network. It provides a particular perspective on public engagement and is a ‘must do’ if you plan to conduct any form of public engagement in the near future. But it is also recommended if you are simply curious about ‘public engagement’ and ‘dialogue’.

Cost:  Free  - But you are required to pay a £10 deposit by cash or cheque for each day to confirm your place within one week of registering.  

Please make cheques payable to "The University of Edinburgh" and send to:

POST GRAD DIALOGUE COURSE
The Edinburgh Beltane Beacon for Public Engagement, 
The  Darwin Building, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JR

Your deposit will be returned to you on the day of attendance. If we do not receive your deposit within one week of registration, we will release your place. 

Note we are doing this to ensure we do not waste public funds on catering for people who do not show up to our courses.

Providers:

The course has been developed and will be delivered by Wendy Faulkner, in collaboration with Heather Rea and Oliver Escobar.

Wendy recently retired from the University of Edinburgh where (amongst other things) she was latterly involved in a three year project doing and researching public engagement around stem cell research. She has also herself undergone two training courses on dialogic approaches: one from an independent company called Dialogue Matters, the other from Queen Margaret University.

Heather is the project manager and network coordinator of the Edinburgh Beltane Beacon for Public Engagement.  Formerly a researcher in Knowledge Management in Manufacturing Engineering, Heather has been involved in public engagement with research activities since 2005. She has also attend two courses on dialogic approaches: IAP2’s Planning for Public Participation course and a Dialogue course at Queen Margaret University.

Oliver Escobar is doing a PhD on citizen participation and policy making at the University of Edinburgh, where he works for the Public Policy Network. He is a Public Engagement Fellow of Edinburgh Beltane, and a former researcher at the Centre for Dialogue (Queen Margaret University). More info: http://oliversdialogue.wordpress.com