One finding of the Dalberg report was that there is not a widely shared understanding of engagement – what it is, who should do it, how it can be assessed – and that if there was, it might be easier to promote it. It is argued above that ‘Engagement’ can be characterised as a field of activity. Here attention is given to aspects of how it could be developed as such. Dalberg also noted that there were some significant differences, such as levels of scientific and actual literacy, technological options, linguistic preferences as well as political, legal and broader media contexts, between engagement work in the UK and in the Global South. This raises the question of whether carrying out engagement there merits special arrangements, labelling both practice and study as being ‘for development’ as has happened in other fields.