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culture change, quality practice

PEP Insights Research Study

updated on 10 Oct 2023
3 minutes
Two colleagues network over hot drinks

23 / 07 / 2020

Public engagement and COVID-19 – facing the future together

UPDATE: This study has now closed.

 

The NCCPE  launched a research study to explore the impact of COVID-19 on public engagement professionals and the engagement work of universities.

During 2020, the NCCPE were involved in a range of initiatives to respond to the  pandemic, and its impact on all of our lives. In all of this we sought to respond to the present and emerging context, offer support to all those involved in the public engagement ecosystem, and work with funders to explore how to ensure that engagement is embedded into our collective responses.

Specifically, our work to engage with Public Engagement Professionals (PEPs)  included:

  • The PEPtogethers, an opportunity for people to come together, at first weekly, then fortnightly, to share responses, experiences, stories and ideas, and to work collectively to make sense of life in a global pandemic
  • The PEP Network – which is now free to all those who want to engage with other public engagement professionals
  • PEP Network events – which offered the opportunity to access training, support, and collective problem solving
  • Creating quick access guides and training, including engaging online, hyperlocal engagement, and community engagement during COVID-19 context

This context provided a real opportunity to step back, and reflect, and to plan differently for the future. It shone a light on inequalities, and how these were exacerbated by the pandemic.

The research project aimed to understand better the experiences of PEPs and their institutions, researchers and partners within this context, and consider the opportunities and challenges raised.

Therefore we invited PEPs to join us to do a piece of peer research. There were four ways to be involved.

  • Volunteer to be a peer researcher: Peer researchers had the opportunity to participate in online training, to develop and enhance their research skills. They were part of a small team who conducted the research, and helped us to make sense of it through a two data analysis workshops.
  • Volunteer to be interviewed: Aa group of PEPs who were interviewed for 35 minutes, about their experiences of the pandemic context, and their hopes and fears for the future.
  • Volunteer to participate in a focus group: We ran online focus groups to promote discussion and exchange addressing the research questions
  • Do our survey: We also ran an online questionnaire.

The results of this piece of research were:

  • Shared with PEPs, to inform their own leadership and advocacy within their own contexts
  • Used to inform funders to consider how they can best support the engagement ecosystem, which is so critical to the future
  • Used to inform the NCCPE’s work – to ensure we offered appropriate support to the sector, including PEPs, university leaders, partner organisations, etc

The research built on the insights and intelligence gained through a consultation process run by the NCCPE and UCL in 2019, which sought to take stock of the current ‘state of play’ in supporting public engagement in higher education.

For further information about this research project, please email maddy.foard@uwe.ac.uk. 

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