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• Date of publication Mar 28, 2022 Category: Practice Insight

  Valuing visitors' knowledge: the experience of Association Traces at the crossroads between science communication, participatory activities and social inclusion

  by Matteo Merzagora , Claudia Aguirre Rios , Paul Boniface , Clementine Bricout , Celine Martineau

  In this “practice insight” we present a series of experiences run by Association Traces, injecting participatory approaches into science engagement activities by valuing the knowledge of the public rather than focusing on their ignorance. Starting from the observation that a sort of hybridization is occurring between cultural activities and public engagement with science on one side, and co-creation and participatory activities on the other, we provide some insight on the features of each approach. Examples are then used to highlight the potential value of this hybridization: as a way of making participatory activity more recognizable and accessible to a wide audience; to ensure that scientists have a professional interest in engaging in the communication activity; to raise a sense of ownership and empowerment in the audience, etc. These examples will eventually show that participation may lead to science communication practices that are socially-inclusive and/or productive for research, and ideally both.

  Volume 21 • Issue 02 • 2022 • Special Issue Participatory science communication for transformation (PCST2020+1) (PCST2020+1)

• Date of publication Mar 28, 2022 Category: Practice Insight

  For real-world outcomes you need real-world training: participatory capacity building in science communication

  by Graham J. Walker

  Concepts underpinning participatory science communication have much to offer science communication training and capacity building. This paper investigates a capacity building program with 15 science communicators from nine African countries involved in a six-week program in Australia. Data was collected via surveys, observations, informal interactions and ongoing relationships tracking program outcomes. Key features with a participatory nature included: holistic programs giving participants diverse skills and entry points; ensuring participant's freedom, agency, autonomy and self-efficacy; real-world networking as a self-directed participatory process; participant-led design processes to build skills for creating programs; and, embedding training in real-world contexts with deliberately selected publics.

  Volume 21 • Issue 02 • 2022 • Special Issue Participatory science communication for transformation (PCST2020+1) (PCST2020+1)

• Date of publication Mar 28, 2022 Category: Practice Insight

  Participatory citizen science in solar energy research: going beyond data collection to promote the energy transition

  by Luisa Barbosa , Carlos del Cañizo , Gema Revuelta

  Despite the societal relevance of energy research, there is a distinct lack of citizen science initiatives in the field. This paper reports the experience of a participatory and innovative strategy to develop a citizen science initiative for solar energy research. A number of stakeholders participated in the definition and implementation of the initiative, and tools such as surveys and a hackathon were employed. The process described aims to provide a blueprint for transforming the relationship between citizens and research into societal challenges. Here we describe the collaborative process and analyse the main opportunities, limitations and future perspectives.

  Volume 21 • Issue 02 • 2022 • Special Issue Participatory science communication for transformation (PCST2020+1) (PCST2020+1)

• Date of publication Mar 28, 2022 Category: Essay

  The Group Provisory Conclusion, a powerful tool for science debut

  by Marima Hvass-Faivre d'Arcier

  This article will take you through the evolution of our approach in presenting and communicating science. For twenty years ‘1, 2, 3, sciences’ has run participatory live workshops for adults. A special tool, the Group Provisory Conclusion or GPC, involving each participant, contributes to the success. Our expectation was to rekindle the public’s interest through participatory methods, supported by the emergence of collective intelligence. It describes our actions to help people reduce their apprehension towards science.

  Volume 21 • Issue 02 • 2022 • Special Issue Participatory science communication for transformation (PCST2020+1) (PCST2020+1)

• Date of publication Mar 28, 2022 Category: Article

  The Christmas Lectures: extending the experience outside the lecture theatre

  by Hannah Little , Laura Fogg-Rogers , Ana Margarida Sardo

  Traditionally, the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures have always adopted a deficit model for communication, with one or two invited scientists giving lectures to an audience present at the Royal Institution (Ri) and, since 1936, an audience watching the lectures on television at home. As trends in public engagement have tended towards more dialogue or participatory models, the Ri has made efforts to create a programme of events around the lectures: extending the experience outside of the lecture theatre and giving audiences more opportunities to experience live events and participate in discourse. In this paper, we explore data collected as part of an 18 month evaluation of the Christmas Lectures and their associated events. We focus on data collected at events designed to create live and interactive experiences beyond the lectures and evaluate these participatory approaches. The paper shares this learning to enhance the extension of traditional science communication towards science participation.

  Volume 21 • Issue 02 • 2022 • Special Issue Participatory science communication for transformation (PCST2020+1) (PCST2020+1)

• Date of publication Mar 21, 2022 Category: Book Review

  Mass appeal

  by Ann-Christine Kinzer

  Justin Gest's book “Mass appeal. Communicating policy ideas in multiple media” illustrates how to communicate research effectively. He offers insights into different mediums and provides practical examples of each. While the author has a background in policy research, his ideas and insight are of interest to a much broader audience with an interest in science communication.

  Volume 21 • Issue 01 • 2022

• Date of publication Mar 14, 2022 Category: Article

  Deconstructing citizen science: a framework on communication and interaction using the concept of roles

  by Susanne Hecker , Monika Taddicken

  Citizen science opens the scientific knowledge production process to societal actors. In this novel collaboration process, scientists and citizens alike face the challenge of new tasks and functions, eventually resulting in changing roles. Role theory provides a way of conceptualizing the roles that people take in communication and interaction. We use role theory to create a framework that identifies scientists' and citizens' tasks in citizen science projects, main aims of communication, spaces they interact in, and their roles — thus providing a structured way to capture communication and interaction in and about CS for further scientific reflection and practical application.

  Volume 21 • Issue 01 • 2022

• Date of publication Mar 07, 2022 Category: Article

  Scientific research in news media: a case study of misrepresentation, sensationalism and harmful recommendations

  by Georgia Dempster , Georgina Sutherland , Louise Keogh

  Accurate news media reporting of scientific research is important as most people receive their health information from the media and inaccuracies in media reporting can have adverse health outcomes. We completed a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a journal article, the corresponding press release and the online news reporting of a scientific study. Four themes were identified in the press release that were directly translated to the news reports that contributed to inaccuracies: sensationalism, misrepresentation, clinical recommendations and subjectivity. The pressures on journalists, scientists and their institutions has led to a mutually beneficial relationship between these actors that can prioritise newsworthiness ahead of scientific integrity to the detriment of public health.

  Volume 21 • Issue 01 • 2022

• Date of publication Feb 28, 2022 Category: Practice Insight

  ‘Born or Built?’ Exploring visitor understandings of robotics

  by Gizem Bilgin , Erika Kerruish , Rod Kennett , Rob DeSalle , Anita Beck , Alex Jordan , Doug Newton-Walters , Matt Cracknell

  The ‘Born or Built? — Our Robotic Future’ (‘BOB?’) exhibition examines relationships between humans, robots and artificial intelligence. It encourages visitors to explore ethical and social issues surrounding these new technologies and invites visitors to post their own questions. We examine visitor responses to the exhibit “A of the Day”, which encourages visitors to engage by writing down their own question prompted by their experience in ‘BOB?’. As responses were submitted, it became apparent that the questions posed by visitors were potentially a valuable contribution to future science communication policy about robotics, and to those designing and implementing these technologies. We performed a content analysis that distilled themes in visitors' open-ended questioning that conveyed visitor knowledge and insight into what science communication about robotic technologies needs to address. Taken this way, visitors' questions form a moment of dialogue between the public and science communicators, engineers and researchers in which visitors contribute their knowledge and ideas about robotics. Such moments of dialogue are potentially valuable if the public is to be included in the development of robotics technology to build trust in robotics technology.

  Volume 21 • Issue 01 • 2022

• Date of publication Feb 21, 2022 Category: Article

  Wildlife comics, or the making of young naturalists in late Franco's Spain (1969–1970)

  by Carlos Tabernero

  This essay examines a highly popular comic series published in Spain between 1969 and 1970 which focused on Felix Rodríguez de la Fuente (1928–1980), a prominent and influential naturalist and media icon, as main character. These comics constitute a remarkably illustrative example of the use of popular media in processes of construction of natural history knowledge. Situated in the complex final years of Franco's regime, they allow us to probe the combined role of science, media, and celebrity in the construction of a visual environmental culture through storytelling strategies designed to engage young audiences in naturalist-like practices.

  Volume 21 • Issue 01 • 2022