29 July 2024 | Shayda Kashef, Senior Public Engagement Manager at ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK)
It was November of 2021 when I received an email from ADR UK Director Dr Emma Gordon to attend a ‘public engagement summit meeting’. The summit meeting was delivered by Professor Sir Ian Diamond, the UK’s National Statistician, along with the Office for National Statistics and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK).
Despite its name, the meeting was small but included representatives from some other key players in data, such as the NHS Transformation Directorate and the British Heart Foundation; along with some unexpected guests, including a representative from the Natural History Museum. We were brought together to devise a ‘toolkit’ of principles to support best practice in public engagement with data and statistics.
You see, we had a problem…
The data landscape was growing. The big secret – that we can yield a wealth of insights from administrative data and other data not traditionally collected for research to support policy and practice – was out. Amongst the excitement was the fear that the public voice could get left behind.
We understood that in the eyes of the public, if one of us failed to do meaningful public engagement, we could all rightly be considered as untrustworthy. And so, we started talking to each other in ways we hadn’t done before. From that, the Public Engagement in Data Research Initiative, or ‘PEDRI’, was born.
More effective as a collective
At the time of the summit meeting, I had only been working in public engagement for a few months. While I was still getting to grips with what ‘meaningful’ engagement can look like, I remember feeling inspired by the motivation to work together to do this properly.
From then, we began to meet regularly as a group. Eventually discussion turned to action, and I am pleased to say that the original mission of PEDRI, to create a toolkit, or standards, for meaningful public engagement with data and statistics is in the process of being achieved.
I am proud of the journey we have taken to develop the standards and I look forward to working with ADR UK colleagues, and other PEDRI partners, to implement them. These standards are just one example of the excellent work that’s come from collaboration with members of the public and others working in data who are supportive of meaningful public involvement and engagement.
A growing community with lots of ideas
PEDRI has also grown its membership to include more members of the public and people working in data. The beauty of something like PEDRI is that it moves us away from siloed working and encourages us to collaborate, check each other’s biases, and get to the core of why meaningful public involvement and engagement is valuable to everyone.
This was recently experienced at our second in-person away day in Edinburgh in early July 2024. The last time we had an in-person away day, in 2022, we collectively came up with the idea of a pilot communications campaign which launched in 2023. I’m excited about what will come from our most recent meeting.
Find out more and get in touch
As someone who has been working in this space for so long, I have spent a lot of time meeting experts to learn from their craft. It is strange to think that to some people I am now the expert they learn from, but I’m still learning too.
As I approach the end of my reflections on PEDRI, I leave you with an action. To those who don’t work in data but are interested in how it can be used to change people’s lives, please get in touch.
To those who are involved in data but aren’t part of PEDRI, again, please get in touch. Our work in this area is ever-evolving. Let’s work together on creating something great.
