Filter by keyword: Science and technology, art and literature

Oct 26, 2026 Essay

A new poetics of place: engaging public audiences with deep science through an art-science installation

This essay offers a practitioner reflection on an art–science installation titled Perpetual Motion, presented at Art Central Hong Kong in 2021. The work places visitors between two records of path-taking: a handmade carpet derived from the firing patterns of neuronal grid cells and a suspended mobile of pre-1500 AD mtDNA haplogroup maps tracing deep-time human migrations. Developed under conditions of enforced confinement and shaped by the practical constraints of access, copyright, and institutional ownership of scientific imagery, the installation explores what becomes possible when an artist works directly inside high-profile scientific visual languages rather than illustrating them from the outside. Drawing on observations and visitor questions recorded during facilitated sessions, the essay examines the conceptual operation of juxtaposing these two scales of path-taking and the practical realities of presenting such work in a high-traffic public setting. It contributes to the growing body of practitioner accounts that document the productive frictions and modest possibilities of aesthetic engagement with complex science.

Volume 25Issue 72026

Jul 20, 2026 Essay

The promise of the story: harnessing the participatory capacity of stories for science communication

by Masoud Irani , Dr Gabi Mocatta , Prof. Paul Venzo , Alexander Hall

A substantial body of empirical research identifies participatory models of science communication as best practice for achieving social, ethical, or governance objectives, particularly where dialogue, inclusion and public influence are central. At the same time, storytelling has emerged as a widely used strategy for engaging audiences with scientific issues, helping audiences make informed decisions, and shaping community attitudes and behaviours regarding science-related topics. Drawing on narrative studies, this essay examines how storytelling contributes to audience engagement through processes such as narrative transportation, simulation, and p-responses. It argues that reading or listening to stories is not a passive activity, and that these forms of audience engagement can be understood as interpretive and affective involvement. Storytelling does not always support participation in the dialogic or co-productive sense (typically associated with participatory science communication), but it can always support some of the aims of participatory approaches, such as fostering reflection, empathy, and relevance. While remaining analytically distinct from participatory practices that involve audience input and influence, it plays a valuable and complementary role in science communication by enhancing audience accessibility and resonance.

Volume 25Issue 42026

Jul 13, 2026 Practice Insight

Agents of (comedic) change: co-creation through improv to develop environmental science agency

by Claire A. Murray Dr , Ms Paola Serrano Bravo , Gesche Kindermann Dr , Jessamyn A. Fairfield

The climate crisis is no longer a crisis of knowledge, but a crisis of agency. Individuals wishing to act must overcome climate anxiety, feelings of powerlessness, and doubt associated with the complexity of the scientific realities of climate change. Rural communities offer much to learn about sustainable living and environmental solutions, but are rarely the site of many science communication initiatives due to inequities in funding, transit, and access to decision-makers. This practice insight explores how the act of performing in `We Built This City on Rock and Coal', an improvised theatre show about climate change in rural and remote communities in Ireland, supported performers to develop agency and transition towards taking pro-environmental actions in their own lives. Accessing environmental science expertise alongside space for emotional responses (both heavy and light-hearted) in specific contexts anchored by local knowledge helped practitioners create a platform for change and climate action.

Volume 25Issue 52026Transitions in Science Communication: Continuity and Change (PCST 2025)

Jul 13, 2026 Practice Insight

Including lived experience voices in science communication to combat mental illness stigma: insights from India

by Kadambari Patil , Anushka Banerjee , Imtiaz Zafar , Ipsa Jain , Meghna Prakash , Dr Pavithra Jayasankar , Ms Varsha Kini , Vasundhra Teotia , Ashitha S Niranjana Murthy , Dr Bhagyalakshmi Mallapura Shankarappa , Swarna Buddha Nayok , Jayant Mahadevan , Suhas Ganesh , Biju Viswanath , Reeteka Sud

Outreach on mental illness presents a unique challenge for science communication, in that it requires approaches to actively address associated stigma. A significant barrier to treatment and recovery, stigma shapes the lives of those diagnosed with mental illnesses alongside their clinical symptoms. Evidence suggests that active involvement of person(s) with lived experience (PwLE) may be a promising strategy to combat stigma. However, such interventions remain under-documented in low- and middle-income countries like India. To address this gap, we designed a series of innovative events, co-produced with PwLE. We engaged approximately 260 participants and displayed 191 creative artefacts. This article presents and reflects on our science communication practices to address mental illness stigma by integrating arts-based participation with principles from contact theory.

Volume 25Issue 52026Transitions in Science Communication: Continuity and Change (PCST 2025)

Feb 11, 2026 Article

Improvised theatre for public engagement with the climate crisis in rural Irish communities

by Claire A. Murray Dr , Gesche Kindermann Dr , Paola Serrano Bravo , Katy Schutte , Fergus McAuliffe , Amanda Jane Mathieson , Ruth Graham , Jessamyn A. Fairfield

Engaging the public with the climate crisis has proven challenging due to both the technical complexity of the issue and the strong emotions evoked. “Doom and gloom” approaches run the risk of provoking backlash, despair or overwhelm, none of which support constructive action. Here we used unscripted theatre to make room for both scientific content and affective responses, towards enhancing agency in rural communities at the greatest risk of negative impacts from climate change, who are often excluded from scientific, engagement, and policy discussions. We developed a travelling improvised theatre show called ‘We Built This City on Rock and Coal’ that toured diverse Irish coastal and island communities. Mixed methods evaluation showed that self-efficacy of improvisers, scientists, and audience members on the topic of climate change increased after taking part, demonstrating the viability of improvised theatre as a science communication strategy and methodology for co-created engagement with societal challenges.

Volume 25Issue 22026Science communication in Unexpected Places (Unexpected places)

Feb 11, 2026 Practice Insight

Three scientists walk into a bar... Approaching new audiences for informal science communication: the project “Plötzlich Wissen!” (Sudden Knowledge!)

by Julia Schnetzer , André Lampe , Inga Marie Ramcke , Kerstin Kremer , Philipp Schrögel

Sudden Knowledge! (Plötzlich Wissen!), a science communication format established through our own initiative as scientists, implemented science communication in a spontaneous conversational setting. It combined elements of guerilla science/street science, science busking and pub science events. Between 2017 and 2020 the project - centered on marine science - was presented in 16 major German cities. This novel approach, using puppetry and hands-on experiments sparked interest in science and reached non-academic audiences. During the COVID19-pandemic, the format transitioned to online livestreaming on the platform twitch.tv, using video games as entry points for conversations about marine sciences. Between 2020 and 2024 we performed 55 livestreams. Here we outline the development of the format, share evaluation data and our experiences. Our main goal is to provide practical recommendations for scientists who are interested in using informal, guerilla style approaches to reach audiences who might not be reached by traditional science communication strategies.

Volume 25Issue 22026Science communication in Unexpected Places (Unexpected places)

Feb 11, 2026 Practice Insight

Climate science on the farm: connecting community to research through movement and creative action

by Geoffrey Hunt , Christina Catanese , Jamē McCray , Cassie Meador

Effectively addressing the climate crisis at scale in a timely manner will require novel engagement strategies that move beyond laboratory findings and policy dictates. In this practice insight, we present the Moving Farm Tour, a movement-based, farm- and community-centered exploration of the intersection of art and culture with agriculture and climate change. Through this model, we highlight the use of dance and creative engagement as tangible mechanisms for learning about, sharing, understanding and creating new perspectives. Additionally, we demonstrate the value of not only bringing science (and scientists) out of the lab, but of establishing a visceral, physical connection with place and community. Our collaborative efforts have resulted in a scalable, replicable model that demonstrates how live, interactive experiences are useful for cross-sector learning, broadening perspectives, fostering community building, and inspiring novel approaches to collaboration that can lead to better outcomes for researchers, industries, communities, and the planet.

Volume 25Issue 22026Science communication in Unexpected Places (Unexpected places)

Nov 10, 2025 Practice Insight

Theatre and bipolar disorder: dealing with emotions

by Mário Montenegro , Silvia Carballo , Francisca Moreira

Theatre is a privileged medium for expressing and conveying emotions. Emotions play a significant role in audience engagement when communicating to create awareness and knowledge about a given subject. The Marionet Theatre Company has created a series of theatre performances related to health sciences over the past few years, to expand knowledge and reduce the stigma frequently associated with certain diseases. In this report on practice, we present the process of developing the theatre performance Oxymoron, between solstices and equinoxes, exploring bipolar disorder and its consequences. The artistic team devised the performance after a series of interviews with both patients and mental health professionals. In this article, we discuss the process of its creation, identify dramaturgical connections between the performance and the interviews, and examine the emotional engagement it provoked in the audience. We conclude by assessing the effectiveness of theatre in communicating health-related subjects, most particularly by involving the audience emotionally.

Volume 24Issue 062025Emotions and Science Communication (Emotions and Science Communication)

Sep 29, 2025 Essay

Examining science and art collaborations through a social psychology lens reveals the need for Third Spaces

by Karleigh Groves , Fanuel J. Muindi , Arianna Zuanazzi

SciArt is an evolving field that seeks to bring together art and science. Numerous SciArt spaces and initiatives exist, bridging the gap between the two and fostering interdisciplinary collaborations. However, personal and interpersonal obstacles have been identified for both artists and scientists within the context of SciArt collaborations and environments. Here, we first introduce key concepts about SciArt and then leverage theories from social psychology in the study of group dynamics, including social and group identity, group norms, and minority dissent and influence, to examine artist-scientist collaborations and their challenges. Drawing on social psychology frameworks, our goal is to inform and encourage the creation of Third Spaces that identify common ground between practitioners, foster balanced interactions, build shared group identity and new group dynamics, and ultimately move beyond discipline-specific identities and institutionalized environments.

Volume 24Issue 052025

Sep 01, 2025 Practice Insight

Imagining exoplanets as destinations: a case study of artist-scientist collaborations on NASA's iconic Exoplanet Travel Bureau posters

by Ceridwen Dovey

This is the age of exoplanets. Thousands of planets around other suns have been discovered, upending settled science. Unlike spectacular imagery of other phenomena (e.g., nebulae), exoplanets are difficult to `directly' image, and exoplanet scientific imagery is visually limited. This practice insight is a qualitative case study of how artists and scientists at NASA's Exoplanet Travel Bureau co-imagined exoplanets as destinations of the future, with the artists playing an essential role of clarifying and extending scientific thinking. Using textual/visual analysis of how the Bureau's iconic series of exoplanet posters (launched in 2015) invited the public to visit exoplanet landscapes, this practice insight reflects on a recent historical instance of how exoplanets were visually communicated to the public in innovative ways, using overlapping scientific and artistic practices.

Volume 24Issue 042025

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