20 December 2019
By Karien Joubert
The term ‘public engagement with science’ is gaining importance in all fields of research. From the European Union’s strategy for Responsible Research and Innovation to the National Research Foundation’s funding proposals, the demand for researchers to engage with the public is increasing. And it seems this demand won’t be going away any time soon. But what does ‘public engagement with science’ really mean and how can it be done most effectively? CREST brought together 36 delegates from 12 DSI-NRF Centres of Excellence across South Africa to grapple with these questions during a two-day engagement seminar on 28-29 November 2019. Each Centre of Excellence was given the opportunity to provide a brief outline of their work and the methods they use to engage with the public. Although significant differences emerged across research fields, it was also evident that we as researchers could learn a lot from each other’s approach to the public. Recurring themes included the need for public accountability, demonstrating the relevance of research in everyday life situations, (a striking example of this was the mathematical modeling required to predict tsunamis accurately and insure the safety of the population) as well as the need for effective and continual evaluation. Several of the delegates expressed interest in the possibility of making such a seminar an annual event on the research calendar in future.
