BES Facebook pageScience Policy Training Opportunities
*The next Science - Policy Interactions Workshop will take place in 2012*
The BES and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) organise a policy training workshop each year.
In 2011 thirty PhD students and early-career researchers came together to explore how the policy-making process works, how scientists can engage with policy-makers, and how to improve personal communication skills to influence policy-makers.
Some of the feedback we received from the 2011 workshop is illustrated as a 'word cloud' (www.wordle.net).
Workshop Aims
To support attendees' knowledge exchange activities through:
- Providing information about means of engagement with policy and how this can best proceed
- Providing an opportunity to practice communication skills
- Establishment of a science to policy professional network to facilitate ongoing science to policy discussion and sharing of best practice
Broader aims of the workshop were:
- To build a cohort of ‘ambassadors’ within the ecological science community, well-versed in the means by which the policy process develops and able to communicate this to others in their departments and wider networks.
- To network and share experiences with colleagues from other research institutions and public sector organisations
- To develop a framework for participants to create a knowledge transfer strategy
- To explore effective means of maintaining the network following the workshop as a resource for policymakers, NERC and BES
- To trial a workshop that could be rolled out across the UK research base as a wider initiative.
Workshop Sessions
The workshop may include sessions on:
- Best practice sharing with mentors
- Policymaking presentation by a policymaker
- Working with policymaking case study
- Communication skills: written and oral
Format
The workshop takes place over two days. There is a networking dinner on the first evening.
Who can take part?
The workshop is available to members of the British Ecological Society and NERC-funded researchers undertaking research of potential relevance to policy and practice.
There is space for 30 participants.
Please note that this workshop is aimed at early-career researchers (no more than 12 years since completing PhD). Whilst we can accept applications from PhD students, this will need to be balanced against the number of high quality applications received from post-doctoral researchers, to whom priority will be given
Cost
The BES and NERC cover the cost of attendees' accomodation but do not cover participants' travel expenses.
Further information
For further information please contact Policy@BritishEcologicalSociety.org.
