People’s Vision for R&D: How to move from principles to action
Recommendations for building on the insights from CaSE’s public dialogue exploring society’s stake in R&D
09 September 2024
The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) works to champion R&D as a political and societal priority that can transform lives and livelihoods. Our Discovery Decade programme is supporting a behaviour change in how our sector advocates for R&D with the aim of making R&D matter to more people. We believe this can radically transform our advocacy by creating a research system that feels more human and more local.
Broadening public support will mean moving people from a vague sense of arms-length approval of R&D to a stronger relationship with the people, processes and places that make the system what it is. Establishing this connection requires action from the R&D sector, and a shift towards a more society-centred vision for R&D in the UK.
To support this shift, and strengthen our existing public opinion research, CaSE commissioned a deeper exploration of the public’s views, through a public dialogue focused on society’s stake in R&D. This was delivered by the National Centre for Social Research and the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement. It brought together 33 members of the public for 10 hours across four sessions in May 2024, with discussions framed around the public’s emotional connection to R&D and ways in which the public can be involved in R&D. In the final sessions, participants worked collaboratively to develop four People’s Principles for Involvement in R&D, which set out their expectations for the sector’s behaviours.
CaSE believes that increasing public involvement at all stages of the R&D process will lead to research that better serves society. It will help identify new research questions, bring fresh perspectives, challenge norms, motivate researchers and open up more funding opportunities. The public will be brought closer to the research system, developing skills and strengthening their emotional connection to R&D. In turn, this will help form the basis for sustained public and political support for the R&D sector’s work.
This report sets out CaSE’s reflections on the dialogue and offers recommendations for those working in R&D. We urge everyone to think about how they can apply these principles and recommendations in their own work. CaSE will be doing the same.
Find out more
You can find out more about why CaSE commissioned this work and the project’s findings here.
People's Vision for R&DConclusions
The results of the dialogue process have emphasised to us that:
- The public’s emotional connection to R&D can be strengthened through the opportunity to learn more about, and reflect on, both R&D and involvement in it
- The approaches and behaviours chosen by those in the R&D system can support an increased sense of public agency and ownership in R&D
Participants expressed a range of motivations for getting involved in R&D, with priority given to projects they found interesting, that they felt would benefit wider society, and that would allow them to learn or develop new skills. However, the dialogue emphasised that while participants should feel informed, respected and invested in the work, they do not necessarily need to be excited by it. The resulting People’s Principles show what the public expects from the R&D sector. They demonstrate that participants believe that involving the public can lead to better R&D and improved involvement; and that accountability, transparency and trust are vital.
The opportunity in front of the R&D sector is clear. Opening up R&D, in a way that respects the People’s Principles, will not just improve R&D. It will bring more people closer to research and establish a stronger, long-lasting relationship with the public, grounded in mutual trust. This will bring benefits for research, society and individuals.
Adopting the principles will require a commitment to change from all parts of our sector, underpinned by honest and practical conversations about how to value and resource involvement in R&D. We are not starting from scratch – there are many excellent examples of processes and places where R&D happens being opened up to the public – but it is clear these efforts are not cutting through as widely as we need them to.
A more concerted effort will help the R&D sector to fully shake off its distant, academic image, and embrace the mutual benefits of working in partnership with the public.
Summary of recommendations
Our recommendations to further embed public involvement in R&D are framed around three connected challenges – culture, capacity and resourcing – and two overarching next steps.
To develop a culture that values involvement in R&D, CaSE calls on the sector to:
- Demonstrate sustained and visible support for public involvement in R&D among senior leaders and decision makers.
- Establish mechanisms to raise the profile of existing individual and organisational champions, and help them access the resources they need.
- Respond to demand for an open and honest public conversation about the people, processes and places connected to R&D and the benefits of engaging.
- Embrace new ways to engage with the public, including looking outside the R&D sector and stepping beyond our traditional comfort zone.
To increase capacity for involvement in R&D, CaSE calls on the sector to:
- Fund and develop training programmes for researchers.
- Create and promote opportunities for those working in non-research organisations or roles to develop skills in involvement.
- Increase capacity among the public by supporting greater and more diverse engagement, including by removing barriers.
To ensure proper resourcing for involvement in R&D, CaSE calls on the sector to:
- Work together to establish long-term plans for public involvement in R&D.
- Commit to long-term funding that is used wisely.
- Seek value for money and guard against tokenistic involvement.
To take steps to act on these recommendations, CaSE calls on R&D organisations to:
- Undertake an engagement and involvement health check
- Form stronger and more purposeful partnerships and networks
People’s Principles for Involvement in R&D
The People’s Principles for Involvement in R&D were developed collaboratively by 33 members of the public, drawn from across the UK, through a public dialogue process. The principles represent participants’ hopes, and address their concerns, about involvement in R&D. References to ‘participants’ in the principles refer to any participant in a hypothetical case of public involvement in R&D, not the participants in this dialogue process itself.
1. Public involvement in R&D should use the public’s expertise to benefit the participants, the research and wider society.
2. Public involvement in R&D should provide everything that participants need to feel properly informed
3. Public involvement in R&D should involve the right number of people with a range of experiences
4. Public involvement in R&D should ensure that participants feel safe, heard, and invested in the research
Read the People's Principles in full
Read the PrinciplesRelated resources
Making R&D Matter to More People conference
30 September 2024
We were delighted to bring together senior sector leaders and expert speakers for CaSE’s Making R&D Matter to More People conference on Wednesday 11 September, hosted at the Royal Institution in London.
Making R&D matter more to Government
18 September 2024
We were delighted to welcome Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, to CaSE’s Making R&D Matter to More People conference on Wednesday 11th September.
People’s Vision for R&D: NatCen and NCCPE Reports
09 September 2024
Read the full results of CaSE’s People’s Vision for R&D public dialogue project exploring society’s stake in R&D.
What CaSE has learned from a public dialogue exploring society’s stake in R&D
09 September 2024
Advocacy and engagement manager Rebecca Hill reflects on the People’s Vision for R&D public dialogue exploring society’s stake in R&D.