Closing Remarks – Professor Ken Woodhouse
By Jasmin Skelly
Cardiff University’s former Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement Professor Ken Woodhouse closed the day by giving his personal take on the field of Public Engagement. A Professor of Geriatric Medicine, he joked that he was very familiar with engaging members of the public, saying "we call them patients". He began by talking about the perceived problem of universities – that they are ‘Ivory Towers’, lofty, insular, and removed from the likes of the general public. However he believes that this doesn’t have to be the case. A University is a place to disseminate knowledge and the popularity of documentaries on television prove that public interest in knowledge is enormous.
Academics also have a proud history of engagement. From Charles Darwin’s widely read books on the ‘Origin of Species’ and ‘The Descent of Man’ in the 1800s, to the critically lauded ‘a Brief History of Time’ by Stephen Hawkins – the public has always shown an appetite for learning about university research.
In order to learn more about the engagement that goes on in Cardiff University, Professor Woodhouse went to each of the separate schools and asked them about the work that they were doing. He remarked that he was astounded by the amount of, and quality of public engagement work going on that he didn’t previously know about.
The Beacon for Wales is, of course a collaborative venture. Cardiff University work alongside the University of Glamorgan, the BBC and Techniquest to change the culture in universities so that they support, recognise, reward and build capacity for public engagement. This has involved the setting up of two networks: Science Alliance Cymru and the Wales Culture Exchange. It has also involved the funding of projects that have encouraged links between universities and the various communities that live alongside them. Part of the work of the Beacon for Wales has also included evaluation of public engagement. For example they commissioned the Welsh Attitudes to University 2011 survey that was conducted by Beaufort research, which found that most people in Wales believe the nation’s universities make a valuable contribution to society.
Closing his speech, Professor Woodhouse admitted that the ending of the Beacon for Wales project will provide further challenges, however the embedding of public engagement in universities in Wales is now so deep that we can still be optimistic about the future.
