On this page, we've compiled useful links and resources to help academics looking to engage with publics or policy. Our team also provide advice and consultancy for those planning events in relation to parenting, so please do get in touch if you would like to discuss your upcoming event.

Public Engagement Guides

• Vitae - The engaging researcher - Brief outline for when first thinking about public engagement - getting started, measuring impact, top tips, and getting support.
• National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) - Do It - Guides about getting started, techniques / approaches, training, marketing, working with media, partnership, and how the NCCPE can help. The website also has a specific section with guides about engagement with minority groups.
• Economic and Social Research Council - Impact Toolkit - Guidance on what impact is, tips for engagement, support from your research organisation, and guidance for collaboration.
• Wellcome Trust - Planning your public engagement - advice, ideas, common pitfalls to avoid.
• Wellcome Trust - Sharing Our Practice: Successes and challenges of public engagement in the Wellcome Trust's UK Centres
• Research Councils UK - Resources for Schools
  
• Involve - "Not another consultation": Making community engagement informal and fun - Guide which tries to speak to issues of engaging, interesting, even benefiting our public audiences, and ensuring that they are comfortable and happy with our research work.
• Manchester Beacon - Public Engagement Evaluation Guide - support for quantitative and qualititative guidance for those running public engagement events.

In terms of evaluative literature in this area, you may wish to consult:

• Research for All journal - A new journal which publishes the latest research around the methodology and practices of public engagement.
• Laura King and Gary Rivett, 'Engaging People in Making History: Impact, Public Engagement and the World Beyond the Campus', History Workshop Journal, 80 (1) (2015), pp. 218-233.
• John Tosh, 'Public History, Civic Engagement and the Historical Profession in Britain', History, 99 (335) (2014), pp. 191-212 [Institutional Access needed to read].

Policy Engagement Guides

• UK Parliament - How does the UK Parliament and academic interact? - Explains how Parliament uses academic research, and how academics can get themselves involved in these processes.
• Government Office for Science, A Guide to Engaging with Government for Academics - short but useful for its explanation of the different bodies and committees which may use and provide academic research for policy.
• University of Bath - Engaging with policymakers: Top tips and relevant resources - very useful set of challenges, resources, tips about policy engagement for academics.

The LSE Impact Blog has many articles reflecting on how academic research can, is, and should be used in policy construction, notably:

• Sarah Foxen, 'Nine ways research gets into Parliament' - Offers nine concrete examples of how academic research is used within Parliament.
  
• Marc Geddes, Katharine Dommett, Brenton Prosser, 'An understanding of networks, relationships and everyday practices is key to parliamentary engagement' - discusses barriers to using academic research in policy, for example in terms of the accessibility of academic writing.

For a reflexive account of the relationship between history and policy, please see:

• Pat Thane, 'History and policy', History Workshop Journal, 67 (1) (2009), pp. 140-5. [Institutional Access needed to read].

There are also many blogs which use historical or academic research to inform policy, such as Made by History, History & Policy, Historians in Residence, and, with more of a public and media-facing focus, The Conversation. These are all great places to look for examples of this kind of writing, and places to consider publishing your own work, if looking to engage with broader audiences. History & Policy also offers training in this type of work, and details of the latest courses can be accessed here.