EPSRC Partnership for Public Awareness Awards - good practice guide to delivering public engagement events

The PPA scheme is run by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and provides funding for EPSRC grant holders to support the Council’s mission of improving public awareness of leading research and its impact on society.

EPSRC commissioned People Science & Policy Ltd to develop a good practice guide to support award holders in the design, planning and delivery of their projects. There are many different types of PPA project, and there are many different ways of delivering, marketing and evaluating projects. So the guide is not about providing the definitive approach, rather it is intended to help people think through issues before they meet them.

After advice from EPSRC, six PPA award holders were contacted and asked if they were willing to help by identifying good (and less good) practice and sharing their ideas and experiences.

The PPA scheme is supported by a set of mentors who are hired independently to assist award holders. The mentors played an important role in supporting the development of the guide, through their comments on drafts and their suggestions of important topics to include. The final good practice guide contains the following sections:

  1. Introduction – which explains basic terminology and instructions on how to use the guide.
  2. Why Get Involved? – this section explains the benefits that participating in the scheme will bring.
  3. Audiences – this section gives guidance on how projects should be tailored in order to target appropriate audiences and how selected audiences should be reached.
  4. Techniques – this section gives general hints and tips on carrying out the projects.
  5. Project Management and Evaluation – this section provides good practice information on overall project management, resources needed, marketing and evaluation of projects.
  6. Annexes – contains glossary of terms, a list of useful websites, advice on designing evaluation questionnaires and sample case studies.

The PPA Awards scheme is now discontinued.

The guide is available from EPSRC’s website from the link below:
PPA Good Practice Guide