We Drive Change

At the heart of Public Engagement we strengthen connections between research and society. As both practitioners and researchers, we stand as dedicated allies to those advancing societal participation with research. We do so by advocating for the professionalisation and recognition of Public Engagement on local, national, and international stages. Our mission is to lead a change in research culture.

Driving Culture Change and Impact in the Research Landscape

Specialised Training

We offer tailored programmes to enhance skills in Public Engagement.

Professionalisation

We drive the embedding of Public Engagement into research careers, institutional strategies and policy, ensuring it is integrated into the future of academic excellence.

Cutting-Edge Research

We conduct pioneering studies that advance practices and understanding across the sector.

Maximising Impact in all Research Disciplines

Founded in 2020, the Berlin School is embedded in the Public Engagement and Impact Unit in the Society and Nature Science Programme at the Natural History Museum Berlin (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin). Our work supports the Museum’s mission ‘to discover and describe life and earth – with people, through dialogue’, and extends this across disciplinary boundaries. By working in collaboration across disciplines, we increase the impact of research and practice, ensuring it is maximally transferable and accountable to address Global Challenges.

Our Principles for Collaborative Work

To engage and empower others in advancing our mission for culture change, we are guided by shared Working Principles.

Dialogue and Collaboration

We foster dialogue with, and within, our communities.

Reflective Practice

We are reflective and consistently self-learning.

Respect and Empathy

We are respectful to people, cultures, and values, and show empathy and kindness.

Openness

We show openness to diversity in all things from individuals to opportunities.

Creativity and Innovation

Embedded in our vision, we are committed to encouraging innovation and creativity.

What is our understanding
of Public Engagement?

Public Engagement describes a field in the German research landscape, the practice of exchange between researchers and the public, and stands for the attitude that research and society benefit from mutual interaction.

Together with the Public Engagement community, we have created the “Principles for Public Engagement”, offering a detailed definition and guiding principles for practitioners.

What do we mean by culture change?

Our initiative for culture change has an international reach, and unites a global community of practice. We drive transformation across three dimensions:

Change in Research Culture

So that engagement is recognised and valued as a core component of academic work.

Change in Research Careers

In order that engagement is integrated into standard research training and funding, with excellence rewarded.

Change in Institutions

So that engagement is embedded into institutional strategies, structures, and processes.

What do we mean by Impact?

The term Impact describes broader or longer-term changes or effects resulting from a project’s activities. These effects and changes can have different impact spheres (e.g. societal, social, environmental, political, health, economic, cultural).

At the Berlin School, and in our wider Public Engagement and Impact Unit, we conduct foundational research on how Public Engagement practices not only drive societal Impact, but also result in many reflective benefits to academia, including positive impact on both researcher development and Institutional development. To enhance the Impact of research projects within the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, we founded IETI, a project dedicated to capturing and optimising internal and external dimensions of Impact.