Top Tips

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'Providing information in stages helps participants make sense of it' Democs

'Invite policy makers to attend and participate in events.  This communicates their commitment to the end results and allows them to hear citizens’ views directly' drugsfutures

'Public engagement should only be commissioned where the relevant policy makers can allocate enough time and resources to engage with the activities and their findings'
Nanotechnology Engagement Group

'Scientists who can communicate well with the public are invaluable to have on hand to answer queries' Hybrid and chimera embryos research

'Scientists and policy makers should not be scared of saying ‘we don’t know’. Conversations about uncertainty are far more interesting than conversations about facts' Nanodialogues

'Actions speak louder than words - provide hands-on interactive demonstrations where possible rather than presentations' Trustguide

'Discussions of controversial issues can succeed if diverse publics are allowed to contribute the expertise they have gained through their life experiences on an equal footing with experts'
community x-change

'Building trust is important. Spend time at the start of the event explaining who is involved in the project, why, and how their views will be used' drugsfutures

'All public engagement activities need a clear objective, with all involved fully understanding how the exercise is going to make a difference' Nanotechnology Engagement Group

'Organisations new to dialogue need to spend as much effort embedding the values of participation internally as they do on external engagement initiatives' community x-change

'The public are very able to engage with complex issues and provide policy makers with meaningful insights' sciencehorizons

'Using a range of methods to engage the public enables people to participate in the way that suits them'
Hybrid and chimera embryos research

'It's not nanoparticles we need to govern, it's the people that are making them and using them' Nanodialogues participant

'Engage young people intellectually and emotionally, and provide a real opportunity for them to participate in debate feeding into policy' Risky Business

'Participant recruitment is difficult - use existing groups and the snowball technique' Trustguide