Strengthening R&D’s local identity offers a huge opportunity to connect with broader public audiences, according to a new report from the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE).
People and Places: How to put R&D on the map, explores how the R&D sector can use the framing of place to strengthen connections between the R&D system and the public. It draws on insights from CaSE’s landmark Discovery Decade programme, including extensive public opinion research and a set of pilot studies carried out across the UK in 2023-24, and from experts across the R&D sector.
CaSE’s research has emphasised the role that place can play in building a stronger public connection with R&D, and our pilot studies in Stevenage, Greater Manchester and Northern Ireland aimed to put these findings into practice.
In each area, CaSE, working with creative agency Luna 9, convened a small group of local organisations to collaboratively develop messaging strategies and example campaign and engagement assets. The Stevenage pilot has already led to the deployment of new public-facing messaging, with a billboard campaign rolled out in Stevenage and King’s Cross stations this month.
The pilot studies demonstrate the shared interests and common challenges of local groups and the R&D sector, as well as the benefits of working together to tackle them.
CaSE is urging organisations to collaborate and has made a series of recommendations for action. These are framed around five ways that R&D sector and local actors and governments can strengthen the connection between the public and R&D in their area:
- Build a distinct brand for R&D in your area
- Open up R&D’s doors to local communities
- Demonstrate R&D’s benefits and champion diversity among researchers and research
- Encourage collaborations across disciplines, sectors and geographic areas
- Prioritise building public connections with R&D when harnessing powers of devolution
CaSE plans to use this work to stimulate new ideas and collaborations with R&D organisations and local actors to carry out more place-based messaging in the coming years.
Commenting on the report, Dr Rebecca Hill
Advocacy and Engagement Manager, CaSE said:
“CaSE’s Discovery Decade work has emphasised how important it is to strengthen our connections with the public at a local level.
“Our pilot studies in Stevenage, Greater Manchester and Northern Ireland demonstrate the shared interests and common challenges of local groups and the R&D sector – and the benefits of tackling them together.
“We urge R&D organisations and local actors to collaborate to build local identities for R&D that help convey the tangible value of their work in people’s lives and communities.
“CaSE is looking forward to building on this project as we enter the next phase of our efforts to embed the public’s views into our advocacy for the UK’s R&D system.”
Kim Shillinglaw
Chair, CaSE’s Discovery Decade Programme said:
“CaSE is urging everyone interested in accelerating Britain’s drive to be an R&D positive nation – one with strong support, interest and buy-in from its citizens – to consider how they can boost the profile of R&D in their area.
“As part of CaSE’s continued efforts to bring the public voice into R&D policy-making, we will be building on this work to stimulate new ideas and collaborations. We are confident that focusing on place as a connection point will bring benefits not just locally, but nationally, as people see that UK-wide investment in R&D is delivering for them closer to home.”