27 November 2024 | Samaira Khan, Partnerships and Operational Lead at PEDRI and Anna Woolman, Community Engagement and Knowledge Sharing Lead at PEDRI
We’re really excited to finally introduce you to our new Public Engagement in Data Research Initiative (PEDRI) brand!
It’s something we’ve been working on for a while, and today is the big day. We’re launching a new look and website that truly represents who we are and where we’re heading.
Before we jump into the detail, let’s talk a bit about why we decided to rebrand in the first place.
Why the rebrand?
Since PEDRI’s inception over two years ago we’ve grown a lot.
We started with our four founding members, DARE UK (Data and Analytics Environments UK), the Office for National Statistics, Health Data Research UK and ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK). Since, our membership has grown to over 15 organisations in the data and statistics field.
As we’ve expanded, so has our capacity and ambitions. Now that we’re doing more in public engagement in data and statistics research, it felt like the right time for a refresh.
Our away day earlier this year was a great opportunity for representatives from PEDRI partners to come together and discuss how we can best serve our audiences within and beyond data research.
Demonstrating PEDRI’s values
We wanted a design that shows how we collaborate, convene, enable and involve people in transparent and meaningful ways. We also wanted to embed these values in the redesign process.
At PEDRI, building trust between the data research sector and the public is our top priority. This is why collaboration and partnership working to make data research open, clear, and relevant to everyone is such a big part of our work. So, it was extremely important for us to not only involve our partners in the process, but also bring in the public voice through our website advisory group.
With everyone involved, we were able to be guided through the rebrand process by our design agency, Luna9 and website developers, Unfold.
Introducing our mosaic
Our mosaic patterns symbolise the connections between everyone impacted by or involved in data research, from the public to engagement practitioners, data researchers and data managers.
Together with the vibrant colours (including our signature PEDRI red and PEDRI blue), it demonstrates our optimism and ambitions to be as collaborative and inclusive as possible in our work.
We also have a new typeface – Rubik. Freely available on Google Fonts, we wanted something that was accessible for anyone to use and could speak to both public and professional audiences. We think it looks great on lots of different kinds of communication materials.
Our use of photography will also play an important part in conveying the role of human relationships in effective public engagement in data research. Where possible, we will always strive to include real people captured candidly in real situations, who are involved in our, and our partners’, activities.
Our new colourful mosaic pattern can be applied in lots of different ways.
A new website which helps us achieve our goals
You may have come across PEDRI’s old website – which was actually just one page. It served its purpose while PEDRI was finding its feet, but it was apparent that it no longer worked for what our partnership wanted to do.
On the new website you’ll find a growing bank of resources to help you work well with the public like the Good Practice Standards (co-created with the public), guidance and a glossary of common terms in the sector. You’ll also find upcoming events from PEDRI and our partners, and news from the world of public engagement in data research.
Importantly, you can also find out how to get involved with PEDRI. Membership is open to organisations who manage data or research, data researchers, engagement practitioners and public-led groups.
Reducing duplication of effort is a big part of our work. We are keen to work with organisations to develop and collate relevant resources so get in touch if you have something in mind. We’d love to hear from you.
Together, the redesign and website enable clearer guidance and tools and provides more opportunities for collaboration, making it easier for everyone to do effective and meaningful public engagement in data research.
Our website provides lots of opportunities for us to better support the data research sector to do good public engagement.
On the horizon
With our new brand and website in place, we’re looking forward to what’s next. There are some exciting things coming up.
In the next few months, after two years of collaborative work, the final version of the Good Practice Standards for public engagement in data research will be published. Our Standards will create a robust framework to enhance public involvement and engagement efforts in data and statistics. Of course, the journey won’t finish there. The release will just be the start. Our next steps will be helping the community put them into practice to make a real difference in data research.
Beyond this, one thing we’re really excited about is expanding our public advisory group. We want to create even more opportunities for people to get involved in data research projects and have a say in how data is used and shared.
Jan Speechley, a PEDRI Public Partner, has been an important part of our growth. She has contributed to all workstreams at some stage, including the creation of our Good Practice Standards. We’re looking forward to expanding the public’s role as PEDRI continues to develop.
We also want to explore how we can improve equity, diversity and inclusion practices across our work and support organisations to do the same – which our partners will play a crucial role in.
With the website and LinkedIn page, we now have the chance to grow our audiences through our digital presence. These platforms will make it easier for anyone to find out what we’re up to, access resources and get involved, whether you’re an experienced researcher or just curious about data.
And, finally, we’re deepening our existing partnerships and building new ones. We all know that working together is key to making a bigger impact. We’re excited to collaborate with even more people, organisations and communities – and we’d love to work with you. Find out how you or your organisation can get involved in PEDRI and be part of something big!
