National Nuclear Laboratory

Hybrid Forums for Nuclear Public Consultation

NNL’s Public Engagement team explored a novel method of public consultation called Hybrid Forums. This is a technique that has been used in the UK to conduct meaningful dialogue with civil society on controversial issues, such as flood defence systems and pollution in reservoirs.

In collaboration with The Beam network at the University of Manchester’s Dalton Nuclear Institute, NNL conducted a pilot study on a non-nuclear topic. The aim was to gain firsthand experience of designing and delivering a Hybrid Forum, with a view to developing the technique ready to use for a nuclear-related public consultation.

The Hybrid Forum focused on the future development of the Oxford Road corridor in Manchester, and a number of significant themes that emerged from the dialogue between forum participants can be considered analogous to nuclear sector activities.

The ability of the Hybrid Forum to extract previously unknown knowledge and issues and place them at the forefront of the conversation was observed. This provided valuable knowledge and experience of how to run a Hybrid Forum.

CollaboratorsMore information can be found on the Beam network via this link.