29. Parliament and Public Engagement

Research Highlights and Abstract The UK Parliament’s activity in public engagement has recently expanded considerably. Faced with declining levels of trust, it has invested considerable time and resources to new activities focusing specifically on engagement: educational resources and cultural events among many others. This embodies a new role for parliament of increasing importance particularly in the context of the 21st-century parliament. But it is an area that still requires further study, as we know little about the role performed by parliamentary public engagement. This article explores the institution’s aims in developing public engagement and reflects on the extent to which this embodies elements of symbolic representation. We utilise different theories on representation to develop a framework to understand the role played by public engagement in the 21st-century context. We then employ this perspective to analyse the aims and characteristics of public engagement activity in the UK Parliament. Besides a normative reflection on representation and engagement, our article is based on qualitative research which included elite in-depth interviews with parliamentary officials complemented by documentary analysis. Our research shows that public engagement planning in the UK Parliament aims to develop among the public a sense of connectivity that relies on more collective and symbolic forms of representation, which seek to present the institution detached from its actors and politics. The UK Parliament’s activity in public engagement has recently expanded considerably. Faced with declining levels of trust, it has invested considerable time and resources to new activities focusing specifically on engagement: educational resources and cultural events among many others. This embodies a new role for parliament of increasing importance particularly in the context of the 21st-century parliament. This article analyses the aims of public engagement and its consequences for representation. We explore the potential representative role of public engagement, identifying key changes that have affected the relationship between public and parliament. We utilise evidence from documentary analysis and elite in-depth interviews with parliamentary officials to show that public engagement planning aims to develop among the public a sense of connectivity that relies on more collective and symbolic forms of representation, which seek to present the institution detached from its actors and politics. We utilise constructivist representation theories to support our analysis.

Science and Public Engagement in National Parks: Examples and Advice from Young Scientists

This paper explores the cultural and urban significance of Tugu Yogyakarta, a famous monument in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Located at the city's main crossroads, Tugu Yogyakarta is essential to Yogyakarta's Philosophical Axis, symbolizing the city's identity and pride. This analysis examines the academic discourse and social media presence of Tugu Yogyakarta, highlighting the monument's historical, cultural, and urban importance. The study emphasizes the role of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok in promoting the monument to a broader audience through visual and interactive content, with virtual reality (VR) technology discussed to provide virtual tours, increasing public engagement and awareness without time and distance limitations. The findings expose that academic literature, predominantly produced by Indonesian researchers, focuses on cultural heritage, urban design, and educational roles, while the topic is just starting to gain attention internationally. The social media analysis shows strong public engagement, with hashtags like #tugujogja widely used, reflecting the monument's cultural significance. This study combines a literature review with social media data analysis, making it a unique approach to comprehensively assess the monument's popularity and public awareness of its historical and cultural value. The social media data was analyzed using Gephi and Excel to calculate hashtag frequency and visualize network interactions. The findings show the critical contribution of Tugu Yogyakarta to the sustainability of cultural heritage preservation. The study highlights the synergistic relationship between academic research and the social media presence in promoting Tugu Yogyakarta, with digital platforms significantly boosting its visibility and public engagement. In conclusion, this study provides a multifaceted analysis of Tugu Yogyakarta, integrating cultural aspects, urban elements, and city marketing strategies. Successful promotion of the monument through academic works and social media can enhance heritage conservation and strengthen the public's engagement with Yogyakarta's historical landmarks.

Innovation in social security systems ensures economic sustainability and public well-being. In 2018, Georgia introduced a mandatory Funded Pension System (FPS) as a financial innovation aimed at enhancing pension sustainability. The success of such reforms depends on economic feasibility, public perception, awareness, and trust. This study examines the public perception and adoption of FPS in Georgia, applying a marketing and innovation management perspective to explore behavioural drivers, trust dynamics, and communication strategies affecting pension reform acceptance. Using a quantitative survey, the study identifies key determinants shaping public attitudes toward FPS participation. The findings highlight significant challenges, including low financial literacy, scepticism regarding fund security, and a preference for voluntary over mandatory enrolment. The results emphasize the role of strategic communication and public engagement in shaping consumer confidence in financial innovations. Effective marketing approaches such as personalized financial education, targeted awareness campaigns, and trust-building mechanisms are essential for overcoming resistance and fostering long-term engagement with pension reforms. Public trust in financial innovations is influenced by knowledge dissemination, transparency in financial transactions, and the effectiveness of institutional communication strategies. The study contributes to the discourse on financial innovation adoption by emphasizing the intersection of behavioural economics, financial literacy, and innovation management. It highlights how public attitudes toward financial innovations depend on clear, structured communication and transparent policies. The findings suggest that addressing behavioural and communicative aspects of pension system reforms increases public trust and engagement. These insights assist policymakers, financial institutions, and marketing strategists in designing communication frameworks that enhance trust, encourage participation, and ensure the sustainable implementation of pension system innovations in transitional economies.

This chapter reimagines the relationship between citizens and parliament. Five core principles of public engagement – inclusivity, relevance, relatability, continuity and sustainability – drive the process of reimagining; and result in a reimagined parliamentary public engagement that would be welcoming and inclusive, consequential and future generations aware. In reflecting upon how far the UK parliament is from this reimagined future, core features of parliament – such as its collective and hierarchical nature, and its dependency on electoral cycles – are identified as inhibitors of a principled reimagining of parliamentary public engagement. The chapter concludes by calling for a far more institutionalised approach to engagement, to make it more meaningful, consequential and better resourced.

This article focuses on the UK Parliament’s recent efforts to engage citizens: specifically, the use of storytelling techniques to represent Parliament as a relevant and relatable institution. The use of these techniques is very recent within parliamentary engagement which, in its own right, is a relatively new addition to Parliament’s functions and activities. Building on theories of parliamentary engagement, representation, and narratology, we construct a new conceptual framework of ‘parliamentary storytelling’ through which these recent engagement efforts can be understood and examined. In demonstrating the utility of this framework, we analyse three contemporaneous case studies according to five key components (and the dynamic between them): storyteller, narrator, characters, plot, and audience. In facilitating this unprecedented depth of analysis, the ‘parliamentary storytelling’ framework is relevant beyond the UK Parliament, and applicable to any legislatures intending to enhance – and more comprehensively understand – their own public engagement practice.

Science communication and public engagement with science have repeatedly been called for in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, die Swiss Academies of the Arts and Sciences have set up an expert group to assess the state of science communication in Switzerland, and to provide recommendations for how to improve it. The expert group report is based on a comprehensive review of the available interdisciplinary scholarship analyzing science communication and public engagement with science in Switzerland. Selectively, it also incorporates original data, international findings, and secondary analyses where little or no published scholarly work was available. The report covers a wide range of facets of science communication and public engagement in Switzerland, from public attitudes towards science over individuals and organizations engaging in science communication and engagement formats to news and social media representations of science. On this basis, it formulates 20 recommendations for improving science communication in Switzerland.

Public awareness, participation and attitude toward the national biosafety framework and genetically modified organisms in Ghana

As public attitude research evolves, often becoming more complex and variable, we are coming to understand that public attitudes are also more complex and variable than can often be captured by a single opinion poll, and more sophisticated forms of analyses are needed that look not just at a breadth of attitudes, but at a breadth of publics. The Australian Department of Industry undertook a public attitude study in 2012 that was not only longitudinal, looking at changes in attitudes towards nanotechnologies, but also looking at the values or worldviews that influence attitudes. The findings allowed for a segmentation of the public, into four key segments, with distinct homogenous attitudes. This allows for not just a deeper understanding of the diversity of views that exist and the worldviews that influence them, but challenges engagement practitioners to ensure they have a broad representation of participants with different attitudes and do not favour one or two segments only.

Governments committed to the Paris Agreement are obligated to empower the public to participate in decision-making on climate change. Research shows that higher levels of public engagement (PE) lead to fairer, more inclusive, and socially acceptable policies and outcomes. Yet significant gaps remain between obligation and implementation due to institutional, structural and social-psychological factors faced by policymakers and scientists. This study developed a situated, longitudinal training programme to support decision makers new to PE overcome these challenges. Incorporating learning-by-doing, critical reflection, and social support the programme enabled 19 of 20 participants to gain new knowledge, understanding, and skills related to knowledge co-production and deliberation. Additionally, 30% demonstrated positive changes in PE attitudes and values, and 40% noted behavioural shifts favourable of PE. Competency development was influenced by factors such as programme enjoyment, opportunities for reflection, and perceived suitability for PE roles. Just as policies require public acceptance, public participation requires decision-makers acceptance. To further the social acceptance of knowledge co-production and deliberation, increased funding and integration of comprehensive, experiential PE training in institutions and programmes. Pre- and post-programme evaluation is also needed to assess learning, barriers, and pathways to ethical knowledge co-production and deliberation.

This conclusion summarizes key insights from the former chapters, and highlights political dimensions of media use in digital everyday life. I particularly underline how our more digital everyday lives intensify communicative dilemmas, in which individuals in everyday settings negotiate with societal norms and power structures through their uses of media technologies. I also discuss how everyday media use connects us to different societal spheres and issues, also pointing to global challenges such as the pandemic and the climate crisis, arguing that everyday media use is key to our understandings of society. I discuss how to analyze this in media use research, emphasizing attention to processes of change and disruption.

The communications and engagement strategies of local councils play an important role in contributing to the public's understanding of local democracies, and their engagement with local issues. Based on a study of the local authority in the third largest city in the UK, Leeds, this article presents an empirically based analysis of the impact of new opportunities for public engagement afforded by digital media on the Council's communication with citizens. Drawing on over 20 face-to-face semi-structured interviews with elected politicians, Council strategists, Council communications specialists, mainstream journalists, and citizen journalists, the article explores perceptions of the Council's engagement and communication with citizens from the perspective of a range of actors involved in the engagement process. The research asks what the differing motivations behind the Council's communications and engagement strategies mean for the way that digital media are and might be used in the future to enhance the role of citizens in local governance. The research suggests that while there are no grounds for expecting digital media to displace existing channels of public engagement, digital media are beginning to play an important role in defining and reconfiguring the role of citizens within local governance.

This study tests the key factors influencing public engagement in product recall announcements in China. Product recall events can affect firm’s brand equity, and corporate reputation. However, public engagement is a prerequisite step for others. We developed and verified our conceptual arguments on public engagement by analyzing 432 product recalls in the Chinese automobile industry during a five-year period (2010–2014). Empirical results showed that public engagement in product recall announcements was affected by: the number of defective products, recall history, response measures, defective product price, and country of origin. Our results also reveal the difference between domestic and imported products in public engagement in China. Thus, the findings provide cues that could trigger public engagement and potential ways of reducing public engagement in product recalls of firms.

Women's History and Digital Media: Uniting Scholarship and Pedagogy Shelley E. Rose (bio) Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar. "Black Women Suffragists."Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600–2000. Alexander Street Press. ISSN 2164-537X (Basic Edition); ISSN 2164-5361 (Scholar's Edition). http://wass.alexanderstreet.com. P. Gabrielle Foreman. Colored Conventions Project. http://coloredconven-tions.org/. "History of Women's Struggle in South Africa."South African History Online. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-womens-struggle-south-africa. In the twenty-fifth anniversary issue of the Journal of Women's History( JWH), historian Claire Bond Potter asks, "Has the Internet made a difference to the practice of women'shistory? If so, what difference has it made?" 1Potter emphasizes the potential and challenges of a range of digital resources for women's and gender history, focusing on matters of access, creation of community, and the role of such "traditional" academic arenas as print journals and the standard of sole authored works in the process. This digital media review essay marks the beginning of a new JWHinitiative, connecting the traditional and digital realms of publishing while enhancing a sense of community among scholars of women's and gender history from diverse backgrounds and career paths. The Journal of Women's Historyjoins such peer-reviewed journals as the American Historical Review, the Journal of American History, Western Historical Quarterly, and Bulletin of the History of Medicinein vetting digital media. In a timely intervention, the historian Cameron Blevins calls for historians to seize and shape the current wave of reviews. He observes that peer-review of digital projects ranges from informal Twitter dialogues and blog posts to print journals and, in his analysis, falls into three general categories: pedagogy and public engagement, academic scholarship, and data and design criticism. 2Limiting a digital media review to only one or two of these categories, however, potentially obscures a major contribution of digital projects. 3This review therefore focuses on the primary strength [End Page 157]of digital media projects: the ability to bridge the gap between scholarship and pedagogy. Currently, many digital media reviews reinforce a false dichotomy between scholarship and pedagogy. The Journal of American History( JAH), for example, sponsored by the Organization of American Historians, began publishing "web site reviews" as early as June 2009 in collaboration with the educator resources site History Mattersjointly sponsored by American Social History Project and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. The JAHeditors explicitly name educators as their primary review audience. 4The American Historical Association (AHA) creates a similar separation between digital media scholarship and pedagogy. In 2016, the AHA Todayblog launched the excellent "Teaching with #DigHist" series, edited by historian and high school teacher John Rosinbum, which discusses the use of a range of digital projects in the secondary and university-level classroom. In terms of scholarship, Alex Lichtenstein's 2016 introduction to American Historical Review's "AHR Exchange: Reviewing Digital History," characterizes the AHR'sstrategy of pairing digital media reviews with responses from digital editors as an "opportunity to defend their approach and to clarify how the digital medium made it possible for them to push scholarship in new interpretive directions." 5This distinct focus on scholarly contributions in the traditional journal aligns with the AHA "Guidelines for the Professional Evaluation of Digital Scholarship by Historians," released in June 2015, where the terms "teaching" and "pedagogy" do not appear in the main section "Forms and Functions of Digital Scholarship." 6On the AHA website, however, these scholarship guidelines are found under the site heading "Teaching and Learning," which indicates the need for more focused discussions in the historical profession on the role of digital media projects in scholarship and teaching. Digital media consumers represent a broad audience, including academics who identify strongly with both scholar and educator communities. Early adopters of digital media, furthermore, are cognizant of statistics that reveal significant numbers of K-12 educators utilizing primary and secondary sources made available through large scale projects like German History in Documents and Images( GHDI) and the Library of Congress's American Memory. 7Data from...

What is the relationship between public engagement activities and public trust? What makes different types of engagement methods effective, and how can they engage the public and impact trust levels?