Filter by keyword: Science and technology, art and literature

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79 publications found

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 and 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 25 • Issue 2 • 2026 • Science 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 and 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 25 • Issue 2 • 2026 • Science 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 and 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 25 • Issue 2 • 2026 • Science communication in Unexpected Places (Unexpected places)

Nov 10, 2025 Practice Insight

Theatre and bipolar disorder: dealing with emotions

by Mário Montenegro, Silvia Carballo and 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 24 • Issue 06 • 2025 • Emotions 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 and 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 24 • Issue 05 • 2025

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 24 • Issue 04 • 2025

May 14, 2025 Article

Science on screen: the representation of science in independent films

by Edite Felgueiras and Teresa Ruão

Cinema has long been a powerful medium for exploring and communicating scientific ideas. From its early days, film has served as both a tool for scientific documentation and a means of engaging the public with scientific concepts. While mainstream films have popularised scientific issues, independent cinema, distinct from Hollywood's commercial focus, offers more innovative and critical portrayals of science. By examining short films from the 2023 Braga Science Film Fest, this study investigates how independent films represent science and scientists. The findings reveal that while these films often depict scientists as adult white men, they challenge traditional stereotypes by avoiding common scientific tropes, like the mad scientist, and instead portray a more diverse range of scientific endeavours and behaviours, contributing to a nuanced understanding of science in society.

Volume 24 • Issue 03 • 2025

Feb 26, 2025 Book Review

Review of “Queer as Folklore”: reimagining science communication through storytelling and identity

by Andrea Bandelli

This review of “Queer as Folklore” examines how cultural narratives and queer identity intersect to reshape our understanding of science communication. By analyzing myths, legends, and personal stories, the book illustrates how folklore operates as a form of “data storytelling”, capturing accounts of resilience, identity, and exclusion. It critiques the traditional boundaries between scientific knowledge and cultural storytelling, arguing that stories of figures like witches, vampires, and mermaids contain meaningful lessons about survival and social change. The book demonstrates how adopting a queer lens can expose power imbalances and foster inclusive communication, encouraging deeper public engagement with science.

Volume 24 • Issue 01 • 2025

Sep 16, 2024 Article

The effect of scientific impact on science communication through art from the lens of deviance theories

by Joaquín M. Azagra-Caro and Vincenzo Pavone

Exploring the multifaceted relationship between scientific impact and science communication through art, our study surveys 2,500 Spanish artistic researchers. Guided by deviance theories and double standards theories we reveal a nuanced pattern: the effect of scientific impact initially impedes science communication through art, turning positive after a given impact threshold. Striking a harmonious science-art balance emerges as a mitigating factor, fostering broader links between science communication through art and scientific impact. Our findings advocate for targeted incentives to encourage science communication through art without compromising scientific impact, contributing to a deeper understanding of their complex interplay.

Volume 23 • Issue 06 • 2024

Sep 09, 2024 Practice Insight

Creating resonance with arts-based approaches to sustainability science communication

by Marianne Achiam, Sabrina Vitting-Seerup, Louise Whiteley and Sofie Louise Dam

Mainstream science communication has struggled to drive sustainability changes. We experimented with arts-based methods in a workshop series that sought to co-create new methods and formats for sustainability science communication with communicators, artists, scientists, and policy-makers. Here, we describe how we used Hartmut Rosa’s notion of resonance to interrogate our experiences, prompted by the workshops and the artwork produced in them. We show how the elements of resonance: affection, emotion, transformation and uncontrollability, fundamentally reshaped the workshops in constructive ways that we could not have predicted. We conclude by drawing out three insights for science communication practice.

Volume 23 • Issue 06 • 2024