Philippa's comment has reminded me about a section I intended to include which is about how to use non university based communicators as part of the process and from the available research funding but I couldn't work out a clear way yesterday!
My point about departments acting strategically and getting more academics/researchers involved in public engagement should not be to the detriment of other communication organisations. As others have commented, there is a wide range of people within academia who have a range of apptitudes/capacity for public engagement and so there need to be a similar range of routes by which as many as these as possible can engage with others. This may be through organising an on-campus lecture series, it may be through working with a local science cafe where they do the organising and the academic just turns up, it may be through working with a museum/science centre to inform the development of a new exhibit. External communicators can play a massive role in heloing academics to shape their engagement activities and to bring academics to where the audiences are
For those of you in external science communication entities, there are networks around the UK that can help link you to academics. The main few are Science Alliances, Science Cafes, Skeptics in the Pub, etc. Alternatively, keep an eye on your local university web page for public events, turn up and talk to the academics there to get you started.
Bruce
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