SHDC Workshop: Media & Information Literacy for Health and Science Communications

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On 20th June, the Centre for Science, Health and Data Communications Research at Bournemouth University hosted a workshop on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) for Communication Ecosystem Change, with a focus on how to promote MIL for better science and health communications.

Kate Morris from Ofcom and Stephane Goldstein from the Media and Information Literacy Alliance shared what each organisation is doing and supporting in the MIL space. The rest of the workshop brought researchers from across BU faculties and external guests together (in addition to Ofcom and MILA, this included other universities, Parentzone and Sense about Science) to share their work using BU’s theory of change for MIL. This ToC was initially produced for BBC Media Action and has subsequently been developed further for the UK Government (DSIT), in collaboration with Ofcom; The British Council and MILA.

During the workshop, colleagues mapped their completed, present and future research to the theory of change, to precisely locate the difference their work makes to people’s lives with regard to access to media and information; critical awareness; new forms of capability and positive consequences for the health and science communication ecosystem. We also considered how to move our research across the threshold between latent and manifest change, and also how our work is congruent with the strategies set out by Ofcom and MILA in the opening talks. This approach also helps us to think about how our work relates to the criteria for research impact in the UK REF framework.

This workshop was the first meeting of this new BU research cluster, within SHDC, working together on research in this area, and we hope it will be the first of many productive collaborations.

The cluster supports and enables research into the role of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in a resilient and healthy society, with a focus on three core strands of activity:

  • Education and training in MIL for scientists and health practitioners
  • Developing resilience to misinformation through MIL
  • Improving science, health, and data communication advocacy through advancing public MIL

Thanks to Anna Feigenbaum, An Nguyen and Samantha Hutton for supporting the event and to all those who attended and contributed to the workshop.

For more information about this research cluster, contact Julian McDougall.

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