3.2 - Passive and non-participatory dissemination

Non-participatory dissemination of results might be thought of as the entry level or ‘light-touch’ activities and events within an engagement programme. They offer ways to share the stories and successes of the project widely and can normally be run in ways that don’t impact or delay work on site. They also provide alternative means for people to connect with a project if the site is not open and accessible. Passive engagement need not necessarily be thought of as ‘lesser’; even brief engagements have the potential to create a deep and lasting impression on a person and can give an opportunity to inspire a person to engage with archaeology or heritage in a deeper way later on.

Considerations for passive engagement:

  • resource investment: passive engagement does not automatically mean low resource investment, and although some activities require limited team time and planning, others will take as much work as more active forms
  • participation level: across the spectrum of participation in community engagement, passive activities are at the lowest level. The goal will be to inform, providing relevant information clearly to help people understand more about the project and its findings. More involved participation, such as open days, downloadable resource packs or presentations, can invite feedback and consultation with the project audience from a one-sided, fixed position
  • audience engagement: passive opportunities can reach wide audiences and raise awareness of the project in a range of stakeholder groups, acting as a promotion tool for other planned activities. Resources, presentations, and media can target specific groups
  • impact measurement: activities will tend to provide recordable outputs (such as media coverage) and headcounts of participants. Media posts can record engagement statistics

Open days, signage and display

Passive forms of engagement such as open days, signage or a temporary public display are a reasonably regular form of public engagement with archaeology. They present an opportunity to lightly engage high numbers of people and can be delivered at very different scales. This type of engagement has real benefits; it relays information, gets people interested, and is likely to attract local audiences, which then provides the potential to attract and encourage participation in deeper and more hands-on activities.

Useful questions to consider are

  • how can an open day or signage be evaluated?
  • where should the open day be promoted to reach as many people as possible?
  • where should signs be placed to reach as many people as possible? What is the accessibility consideration with a sign only?
  • what will attract people to an open day who might not typically be interested?
  • can other organisations or community groups help bring people to the archaeological site?
  • can we use the open day to host any other activities?
  • how can signage or display be used creatively to increase accessibility, impacts and outcomes?

Project examples

  • Revitalising Redesdale – an open day with added value: Webpage
  • MOLA Walbrook Walk – pictorial hoardings: Webpage
  • PCA Archaeology – finds in a phone box: Webpage

School resource packs

Providing access to archaeology for children, either in schools or through a site visit, can be a great way of disseminating project results, inspiring young people about history and science, and diversifying project audiences. Working with schools requires time and effort to get right, as well as presenting challenges around term times, exam schedules and the planned curriculum. Hosting school visits to sites can also pose problems, such as health and safety, access, and cost of travel to the site, which is unsupportable for many schools. If well-resourced, school engagement presents an excellent opportunity to run active and participatory workshops (see 3.3 - Active participation). For projects with less opportunity to directly offer engagement activities with schools, a well-designed resource pack offers a passive opportunity to invite people to engage.  

The planning and design of school resources needs careful consideration and will need to clearly link to the national curriculum, as well as provide practical tools that teaching staff can use without specialist knowledge. The resource pack will need to be hosted where potential audiences can find it.

Project examples

PR, media and the web

Traditional media and news outlets provide a useful medium for project dissemination, and can provide statistics and data about audience reach. Local media such as newspapers, radio and local TV news are also a great way to raise awareness of the project and promote opportunities to potential audiences.

Creating a media or communications plan should be part of project delivery, coordinated with the wider project team and client, especially as they will need to be involved in this process and they often have PR and media teams. It is important to be clear and pay attention to how the stories are told – we’ve all seen too many stories of ‘baffled archaeologists shedding new light’.

It is important to remember that dissemination of archaeology through traditional or social media is rarely more than a passive engagement. Websites can provide a powerful and flexible tool for promotion and dissemination, but most outbound content remains passive in terms of participation and impact measurement (structured training or interactive online content being notable exceptions).

Using social media platforms to broadcast stories can provide more insight into how many people are engaging with a post, but still present little opportunity to assess the impact (if any) of engaging with the story. Different platforms can be used in creative ways to do more than simply relay information, such as in co-creation activities, which can lead to more impactful outcomes , as in the case of DigVentures’ Twitter poll to decide where to dig at Coldingham.

Project examples

Non-participatory

Non-participatory can infer a situation or approach where individuals or groups are not actively involved or engaged in a particular activity, decision-making process, or initiative. It implies a lack of direct participation or involvement from those who are affected or have a stake in the matter. However, non-participatory engagement can provide a useful way for wider audiences to learn about a project and its results, especially if access to a site is limited. See also passive engagement.

Passive engagement

Passive engagement can be seen as the lighter-touch activities and events which share the stories and successes of the project widely. They also provide alternative means for people to connect with a project if the site is not open and accessible, and can create a deep and lasting impression on audiences. Also see non-participatory.