About the Beacons for Public Engagement Initiative
The National Beacons programme is supported by a fund of £9.2 million. The Beacon Funders are the Higher Education Funding Councils (including the Higher Education Funding Council for England), Research Councils UK and The Wellcome Trust.

Funders Objectives

• Create a culture within higher education and research institutes and centres where public engagement is formalised and embedded as a valued and recognised activity for staff at all levels and for students
• Build capacity for public engagement within institutions and encourage staff at all levels, postgraduate students, and undergraduates where appropriate, to become involved
• Ensure higher education institutes address public engagement within their strategic plans and that this is cascaded to departmental level
• Create networks within and across institutions, and with external partners, to share good practice, celebrate their work and ensure that those involved in public engagement feel supported and able to draw on shared expertise
• Enable higher education institutes to test different methods of supporting public engagement and to share learning.

The Beacons and the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement
There are six Beacons in Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, London, Cardiff and Edinburgh with a national co-ordinating centre based in Bristol. The National Co-ordinating Centre works with all the Beacons to promote best practice and provide a single point of contact for the whole higher education sector. The six UK-wide Beacons for Public Engagement are –

Beacon North East - a partnership between Newcastle University, Durham University and the Centre for Life.
Contact - beacon@ncl.ac.uk
Website - http://www.ncl.ac.uk/beacon/

Edinburgh Beltane - the beacon that gets its name from a Celtic festival that unites the whole community - is drawing on the experience of researchers across disciplines including medicine, science, engineering, social sciences and the arts in its public engagement work.
Contact - edinburghbeltane.bpe@ed.ac.uk
Website - http://www.edinburghbeltane.net/

Beacon for Wales - working with the universities in Wales to help them show how the work that they do is relevant and vital to modern Wales.
Contact - beacon@cardiff.ac.uk
Website - www.engagingwales.org
 
Manchester Beacon - The Manchester Beacon uses engagement to connect people, place and knowledge to make its internationally acclaimed resources accessible to all.
Contact - beacon@manchester.ac.uk
Website - www.manchesterbeacon.org

University College London (UCL) - builds on UCL's existing strengths in working with the public, and happens alongside cultural shifts in other parts of the University, which are increasingly focussing on our local communities, London and UCL as a Global citizen.
Contact - s.macdonald@ucl.ac.uk
Website - http://www.ucl.ac.uk/public-engagement

CUE East – designed to foster an informed climate to improve quality of life, support social and economic regeneration regionally and inculcate civic values.
Contact - community@uea.ac.uk
Website - www.cueeast.org
 

The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement
Based in Bristol, and a partnership between the University of the West of England (UWE) and the University of Bristol, the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) pulls together the work of the six Beacons and their partners. The Centre’s own partners include the BBC, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and the participation specialists Involve.

The NCCPE’s role is to inspire a culture change in how universities engage with the public. The Centre works with all the beacons to promote best practice in public engagement and provide a single point of contact for the whole higher education sector. The Centre also works strategically with its key national partners to help develop work across the sector.
Contact - nccpe.enquiries@uwe.ac.uk
Website - www.publicengagement.ac.uk

Public Engagement Network: Anyone can join the Public Engagement Network by sending the following command: SUBSCRIBE NCCPE-PEN your forename and surname to LISTSERV@JISMAIL.ac.uk from the email you wish to subscribe from.