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Public dialogue:

Basic bioscience underpinning health pilot public workshop

BBSRC have piloted a novel approach to public dialogue around strategy setting

BBSRC has a long history of involvement with public dialogue and engagement. In recent years, topics for dialogue have focussed on specific technologies, such as the BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Dialogue published in 2010. With advice from the BBSRC Bioscience for Society Strategy Panel we have now conducted a pilot workshop to trial an approach to engaging public audiences around a broad strategic area, in this case one of the three BBSRC strategic priorities Basic Bioscience Underpinning Health.

To trial this approach we were keen to explore how people view their health and to potentially use these insights to help inform our research strategy.

The objectives of the workshop were:

• To engage in meaningful conversations with public groups about what challenges in the broad 'Basic Bioscience Underpinning Health' space we should focus on
• To engage a range of views and values
• To provide advice which is relevant to us, so that we can respond
• To provide ourselves with potential grand challenges and an indication of what success under these challenges might look like
• To demonstrate our commitment to open and transparent strategic planning
• Explore models for further use of public dialogue in our strategic planning activities

Ipsos MORI were commissioned to run a one day workshop in Swindon on 6 October 2012 to deliver these objectives. A light touch evaluation of the workshop was carried out by Dr Gene Rowe.

The report of the workshop and the evaluation report are available to download below.

Throughout the process we were clear that this was a pilot exercise and, as such, we were not committing to act on the results of the workshop. However the report of the workshop and the evaluation are being considered by BBSRC and its Strategy Panels and a formal response explaining what actions we have taken and what we have learnt from the pilot will be published in early 2013.

Final report and evaluation

• Public views on strategic priorities for BBUH report (PDF 1.32MB)
• Evaluation of a BBSRC public dialogue on health (PDF 165KB)

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