BU Research Blog

Dr Ediz Akcay shares his experience of presenting at a BU Café Scientifique event on 6 September 2022

My Café Scientifique experience

The talk I made in Cafe Scientifique in September 2022 was about the research we are conducting with Dr Hiroko Oe about city resilience and communities. The research aims to provide insights to city managers to improve the resilience of their cities through collaboration with stakeholders and local communities. 

We had previously presented the research to an academic audience at a Royal Geographical Society conference but felt it would be beneficial to also share it with the public, to create awareness about the impact of climate change on cities and seek their thoughts.

Details of the presentation can be found here: City resilience and increase communities’ preparedness for natural disasters

Originally, I planned to present the research together with Dr Hiroko Oe, sharing insights about our home countries to receive feedback from the audience about the cases we presented. However, Dr Oe couldn’t attend the event due to unforeseen circumstances. That meant I needed to spend extra time on her part before the event to successfully share the learnings about her case with the audience.

Due to my previous experience in public events, I anticipated that there would be many questions after the presentation. I prepared my answers to potential questions before the event, but they were difficult to predict, considering the debate going on about the climate change and its impact. 

Before the event, I learned that we were expecting a packed audience, with a registered guest list and others who arrived hoping for a space. This added some pressure but also more motivation for my presentation. 

I feel the talk went well, thanks to an engaged audience who reacted well to questions I asked during the talk, which provided extra interactivity. At the start of the Q&A session I facilitated an online quiz to test knowledge and raise awareness about the impact of our daily routine on climate change, which ended up triggering further questions.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Q&A session with its engaged discussion about the issues I presented in the talk. The questions and feedback I received from the audience have already opened new paths in the research we are conducting. Furthermore, it also led to potential new collaboration with BU colleagues who attended the event. 

Cafe Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. We’ve been holding these talks in Bournemouth for over ten years and we’re very pleased to have returned to in-person events at The Black Cherry, a fantastic new venue in Boscombe, Bournemouth.

If you have any questions about Café Scientifique, or if you would like to get involved, please get in touch publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk