Public engagement – ESRC

Public engagement brings researchers and the public together, raising awareness of the social sciences and encouraging involvement in research.

Activities can range from engaging people with social science concepts through staging debates to involving key stakeholders in shaping research priorities and directions.

Public engagement can build trust and understanding between the social science research community and a wide range of groups, from policymakers through to school children.

It’s more than just meeting an audience and telling them about your research. Effective public engagement is about two-way communication, with the researchers listening to and learning from participants.

Festival of Social Science

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences run each autumn.

Read more about the festival.

Contact us

If you have queries about the Festival of Social Science, first please check the Festival of Social Science information.

For any queries not covered by the information here, please email the ESRC Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAA) team: impactaccelerationaccounts@esrc.ukri.org.

Last updated: 31 March 2022

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