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• Date of publication Nov 08, 2021 Category: Practice Insight

  Boundary spanners and thinking partners: adapting and expanding the research-practice partnership literature for public engagement with science (PES)

  by Karen Peterman , Sarah Garlick , John Besley , Sue Allen , Kathy Fallon Lambert , Nalini M. Nadkarni , Mark S. Rosin , Caitlin Weber , Marissa Weiss , Jen Wong

  This paper is the culmination of several meaning-making activities between an external researcher, PES practitioners, and social scientist researchers who considered the unique contributions that can be made through RPPs on PES (that is, research-practice partnerships on public engagement with science). Based on the experiences from three RPP projects, the group noted that the PES context may be particularly suited to RPPs, and identified the importance of working as thinking-partners who support reciprocal decision-making. Recommendations are made in support of using these approaches to advance practical knowledge-building and reduce shared frustrations about the disconnect between research and practice in PES.

  Volume 20 • Issue 07 • 2021

• Date of publication Jun 17, 2021 Category: Practice Insight

  Scaling training to support scientists to engage with the public in non-traditional venues

  by Caitlin Weber , Sue Allen , Nalini M. Nadkarni

  Public engagement with science activities need to be extended beyond traditional learning venues (e.g., museums, schools) to increase public access. Scientists are motivated to carry out this work; however, it is difficult to scale up training to support the implementation of engagement activities in non-traditional venues. Such training would need to be applicable to different engagement contexts, while avoiding a “one size fits all” approach. We describe the guiding principles, challenges, and design choices of a training program in the United States to support scientists in designing and implementing audience-specific engagement activities in a range of non-traditional venues.

  Volume 20 • Issue 04 • 2021