Public Engagement

University academics talking to members of the public at an external event

Tell Us About Your Public Engagement...

We want to understand and capture the impact of the public, civic and community engagements University of Bedfordshire staff are involved in.

This isn't just about our published research: it’s about all forms of our public engagement, be it volunteering at a food shelter; sitting on a national policy board; or working with a local community group. It matters to you so it matters to us.

The form below is a simple way for you to tell us what you do. We can use the information to report our engagements annually as part of our Knowledge Exchange Framework submission to HESA/OFS. We will also be able to feed back about it to all staff and external partners via our marketing communications.

In a review of the last REF submission, the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement listed the terms people use when describing public engagement with research. These included outreach; patient involvement; collaborative research; citizen science; participatory arts; lifelong learning; community engagement; and engagement with partners. Also, universities engage through community-based learning; widening participation; corporate social responsibility; and so on.

Whilst the purposes of these approaches and processes may differ, what they all have in common is describing an aspiration to better connect the work of universities and their research institutes with society in a mutually beneficial way.

PLEASE SUBMIT A FORM FOR EACH ENGAGEMENT AND/OR ACTIVITY. THANK YOU.

About you






About the Engagement


Name or title of the engagement (120 characters)*
Type of the engagement*

Start date of your engagement (Please enter DD/MM/YYYY)*
End date of your engagement (Please enter DD/MM/YYYY - if it is ongoing, please enter a date three years from start date)
Please tell us WHY you are doing this public engagement, detailing the problem you solve by doing it. Typically, this starts with “They needed…”*

This section is about your involvement. Please tell us what you did. For example, did you design, create or deliver something?*

This section is about what actually happened. For example, if you gave a talk or offered advice, what was the outcome of it? What did you achieve? What difference did you make to someone, or to an organisation?

Client feedback - Please tell us client comments and/or quotes. You can also add in your comments and quotes too

Related course
Do/did delegates pay to attend? - We report this data via our HEBCI Survey (Please tick the box if ‘yes’)
If this is a paid event, please enter the amount received for the tickets in total (e.g. £100)

Attendee numbers - we report this data via our HEBCI Survey*
(Please enter ‘0’ if not applicable. For example, if you selected ‘External Board Commissions’ you should enter ‘0’)

Number of staff involved - we report this data via our HEBCI Survey*
(If you are recording an event that involved more than one staff member or took place over several days, please multiply your number of staff by the total days of the event. For example, if 4 members of staff were involved in a 1-day event, please type in ‘4’. If there was 1 staff involved in a 3-day event, please type in ‘3’)

Have you read the GDPR and Privacy Statement [PDF]? (If yes, please tick below)*