Engaged research

Our engaged research programme seeks to engage communities and groups in conversations surrounding innovations based on materials science and bioenginnering research – such as energy storage applications for wearable technologies and climate change, plastics and materials choices for a circular economy, and public patient involvement and engagement in materials for health.

Our community dialogues consider the many ways we think about, and could engage with, the futures of technology based on current materials science and bioengineering research.

At our dialogue events we aim to listen and understand the concerns of people, co-create understanding through social learning, and explore:

• the political and social aspects research and innovation: how is technology governed? Who benefits? Who is involved in making decisions and how do these decisions affect ownership, control, and responsibility
• the values that underpin our research: Why do we research particular areas? Who is the research for? How do different groups think about the technological but also political and social implications of the research and its outputs.
• the possible futures might the research lead to? How do we get to this future? Who should be involved? How should they be involved?

The key questions for our engaged research programme are:

• to identify how “upstream” public engagement can tease out questions open, accountable ways to understand how conventional ideas of technological risk can be integrated with wider social and political questions about purposes and alternative trajectories of technological futures.
• what lessons can be drawn from dialogue based upstream public engagement that considers the downstream technologies and innovations arising from research

We will also consider and reflect on the process of engagement through dialogue to identify what changes or recommendations publics would make to improve our engagement practices at AMBER, to ideally improve public engagement capacity of the researcher and processes that we implement.

At each event participants will meet with AMBER researchers, explore current research themes, and talk through implications for the development of future technologies engendering a sense of inclusivity, insight into technologies & learning, and civic engagement. We envisage that participants will feel empowered to engage in other consultative programmes or civic engagement fora.

No experience is required to take part – just contact us!