This is a brand new session for 2021-22 – providing an introduction to what is involved when developing mutually beneficial research partnerships with communities. It will also help you decide whether it is the favoured approach for you and your community partners.
The session will be delivered by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement and is aimed at those working in universities who want to know more about community engagement and are interested in the potential of applying a community-engaged research approach.
Learning objectives:
Consider your knowledge and understanding of community engagement and community engaged research
Explore the continuum of collaborative research with communities
Think about what helps to build strong community engagement and enhance your skills by experimenting with these ideas
Reflect on how community engagement relates to your own work and roles.
By the end of this session, you will:
Understand how community engagement works
Be aware of how community engagement relates to your own work
Have an understanding of what makes strong community engagement
Workshop
Date
Time
Location
Introduction to Community Engagement
Monday 14th March 2022
14:00 – 16:30
Online
To book a place on this workshop please complete the booking form.
At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with BU research.
The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support (RDS) can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our regular newsletter and social media channels. It also helps us to stay informed on the public engagement work being carried out by BU.
Please note: we are keen to promote BU public engagement with research activity wherever possible, but completing this form does not guarantee that we will be able to promote your event. To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;
Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme.
Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event.
For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May. This is due to lead times on producing and sending the newsletter.
Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us.
Soapbox Scienceis a fun and engaging way of communicating your research and raising the profile of female, non-binary and gender queer scientists. The aim of Soapbox Science is to promote female and gender diverse scientists and the work they do, challenging stereotypes of who can be a scientist.
Events
Soapbox Science events transform public areas into an arena for public learning and scientific debate; they follow the format of London Hyde Park’s Speaker’s Corner, which is historically an arena for public debate.
Learn, heckle, question, probe, interact with and be inspired by some of our leading scientists. No middle person, no PowerPoint slides, no amphitheatre – just remarkable women and non-binary scientists sharing their latest discoveries, and answering the science questions you have been burning to ask.
Open Call
The call for speakers is open to female, non-binary and gender queer STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) researchers and entrepreneurs from PhD to Professor.
Funding for travel is provided. The organisers will provide all speakers with training in public speaking and science communication, as well as supporting you to think creatively about how to communicate your research in the most engaging way.
The event will be held on Brighton Seafront on Saturday 21 May 2022
Alternatively, please contact Adam Morris (BU Engagement Officer) if you would like advice on planning or submitting your application: publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
Join our free online event with Dr Alejandro Estudillo, Thursday evening at 6pm.
An ESRC Festival of Social Science 2021 event
What is it about?
We judge so much from faces – attributes like age, gender and identity, as well as how someone is feeling emotionally. So what happens when faces are partially covered? The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot about how humans communicate and interact with each other, one of the most significant of which is the wearing of face masks.
Dr Alejandro Estudillo has been studying how face masks affect how we perceive faces – and what this can tell us about the psychology of face perception in general. At this online event we’ll learn what this means for social interactions, but also issues of security, eyewitness identification and face-recognition technology.
Everyone is welcome to join us online from 6pm, where you can chat to each other and type questions for Alejandro, or just sit back and enjoy the talk. Either way, your microphone and camera will be disabled so everyone can focus on the speaker.
What’s on offer?
This talk will be held online, and will take about 1 hour. Dr Estudillo will explore his research, and you will have the opportunity to interact, test your knowledge and share your thoughts throughout the talk.
At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed online setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.
We’ll be joined by Dr Marin Cvitanovicon Tuesday 7 December from 7.00pm until 8.30pm.
Wildfires and Us
Every year wildfires engulf 3.4 million square kilometres of Earth’s surface – approximately the size of India. These fires have massive economic, social and environmental impacts and, due to climate change, are expected to increase in the future. However, wildfires are also a naturally occurring global phenomenon that many ecosystems depend on.
Join us to discover how scientific research at Bournemouth University could fill in some of the gaps in this complicated relationship between humans and wildfires.
At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed online setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.
We’ll be joined by Dr Luciana Esteveson Tuesday 2 November from 7.00pm until 8.30pm.
Climate change and coastal flooding – relocate before it’s too late?
For an increasing number of people, coastal flooding and erosion are a real threat to property, the local economy and, in some cases, life. With the effects of climate change, this threat is quickly growing.
Should coastal communities at risk be relocated before they are forced from their homes? Or could engineering and nature-based solutions provide the defences they need?
Join us to discover the challenges faced by coastal communities in an uncertain climate future, and what society could do to address them.
The session will run from 10.30am to 11.30am over Zoom and is open to all BU academics and PhD candidates who are interested in finding out more about working with The Conversation.
Learn how to consider the news potential of your expertise, how to look for story hooks and angles from the news, and how to write a quality story pitch to section editors.
The Conversation is a great way to share research and informed comment on topical issues. Academics work with editors to write pieces, which can then be republished via a creative commons license.
Since we first partnered with The Conversation, articles by BU authors have had over 7.5 million reads and been republished by the likes of The i, Metro, and the Washington Post.
With the COP26 climate change conference on the horizon, insights around how to protect and preserve our environment and deal with our changing climate will be high on the news agenda.
A limited number of 20-minute one-to-one sessions with Will are available from 11.30am – 1pm on Wednesday 27 October, to discuss environment-related story ideas. To request a place, please contact newsdesk@bournemouth.ac.uk.
At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with BU research.
The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support (RDS) can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our regular newsletter and social media channels. It also helps us to stay informed on the public engagement work being carried out by BU.
Please note: we are keen to promote BU public engagement with research activity wherever possible, but completing this form does not guarantee that we will be able to promote your event. To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;
Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme.
Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event.
For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May. This is due to lead times on producing and sending the newsletter.
Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us.
Dr Sue Thomas shares her experience of presenting at a BU Café Scientifique event on 6 July 2021.
For my talk at Café Scientifique I took a fresh look at the topic of my 2017 book “Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age: How to feel better without logging off”, which has new relevance in the age of digital wellbeing during COVID-19. This continued the theme of my previous book, “Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace”, which looked at the prevalence online of nature-derived metaphors and imagery, and which I discussed at Café Sci in 2013.
My talk topic – Technobiophilia
Intuitively we all know that Nature is good for us. Research has backed that up, showing that contact with nature can support emotional wellbeing and better concentration, as well as reduce stress and lower heart rate and blood pressure. Sometimes even simple psychological connectedness to nature can produce the same effects.
Biophilia is a hypothesized hidden programme which runs in the background of our lives. The term was first coined by Erich Fromm but became more popular when the eminent biologist EO Wilson described it as “the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes”. Wilson believes that biophilia may have the ability to lie dormant for periods of time until something triggers it into action again.
The notion of biophilia led to my own definition of ‘technobiophilia’ as “the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology”. Technobiophilia connects our lives in nature with our lives in the digital, and this process has been very evident during the Covid-19 Lockdowns. Here are some examples:
In October 2020, the Metro newspaper declared that “Nature documentaries are ‘perfect lockdown viewing and make people happier’ in an article about the TV programme “Seven Worlds, One Planet” which highlighted the story of the last two northern white rhinoceros left alive on the planet.
On Instagram, thousands of RSPB #breakfastbirdwatch watchers shared their photos. Sussex_sara posted “Is anyone else feeling in a state of suspended animation these days? 😕 Living alone, the only tangible sense I have of days passing are the changes in nature as our lives are put on hold.”
Country Life magazine, perhaps not the most techie of periodicals, listed the best live animal webcams to get you through lockdown. Their Top 3 were: Little penguins, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Australia; Folly Farm, Pembrokeshire (sheep, goats, newborn lambs) and Edinburgh Zoo (Panda cam, Penguin Cam, Koala Cam and Lion Cam)
The BBC launched a collaboration to bring virtual soundscapes of music and nature directly to audiences with Radio 3, 6 Music, and BBC Sounds, and also embarked on The Virtual Nature Experiment with The University of Exeter, a ground-breaking study exploring how virtual experiences of nature might impact wellbeing.
Nintendo relaunched its old online game “Animal Crossing” and it was soon dubbed ‘the game of the pandemic’. Slate Magazine said “Animal Crossers new and old found comfort in exerting control over their islands’ virtual terrain as the world outside grew more and more chaotic” and the MIT Technology Review reported that “Gentle, comforting games like Nintendo’s latest hit are perfect escapist entertainment, but they’re also helping us to connect in these strange times.”
This last observation was born out by a study conducted before the pandemic and published in 2020, which reported a significant increase of feelings of connectedness to the community after watching digital nature. Interestingly, they also found that tended nature scenes elicited more social aspirations than wild nature scenes.
In 2020, Natural England surveyed the changing relationship with nature during lockdown. It reported that 41% of people said that visiting natural spaces had become even more important to them than before. Also in 2020, in a study conducted before the pandemic, the University of Exeter found that the best way of delivering virtual nature for improving mood was computer-generated virtual reality, which proved more effective than high definition TV or 360° video.
During the lockdown pause, Nature was busy regenerating. As early as April 2020, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide fell by up to 40%. Air traffic fell 50%. UK road traffic fell 70%. And during that year, wildlife came closer – wild goats wandered the empty streets of Llandudno, coyotes walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, there were deer in Washington DC, and wild boar in Spain and Italy. Everyone heard more bird song. By April 2021, marine noise pollution had decreased so much that the seas had become measurably quieter.
So, what has lockdown taught us about digital nature and wellbeing? It seems that we have learned that we can connect with nature in many different ways, both physically and digitally. We have been reminded that we can live more of our lives outdoors, and that nature can help connect our local communities.
But individual nature connection is not enough. Covid has taught (some of us) to better connect with nature, but has that process sedated us? Distracted us? Separated us even more from what else is happening? This year, floods and fires around the world have reminded us that there are other disasters too, most of them a result of the global warming.
While we in the First World are busy self-soothing with nature, many millions of people have no access to vaccines. In January 2021, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WHO Director-General, warned “The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries.”
Of course, this moral failure can be seen in the climate emergency too. In his 2020 film ‘A Life on Our Planet’ David Attenborough delivered his Witness Statement and told the story of ‘our greatest mistake’. The film begins and ends in Chernobyl which, although still devoid of humans, has seen the return of many thriving animals and plants. This allows Attenborough to make his final message one of hope. ‘We have’, he says, ‘the opportunity to become a species in balance with nature’.
When my book ‘Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace’ was published in 2013, some thought the idea of using technology to connect with nature was contradictory, even harmful. But the last 18 months of the pandemic have shown the benefits of nature in the digital age, for some of us at least. But there is much more work to do. Perhaps digital nature can play a part in helping humanity to finally, to quote Attenborough, “become a species in balance with nature” – if there is time.
My Café Scientifique experience
I enjoyed my second Café Scientifique session. It went very well and was followed by a lot of positive feedback and a lively exchange of ideas, which brought the July lecture to a successful conclusion, slightly over the scheduled two hours.
The audience asked some excellent questions and we were pleasantly able to deepen our exchanges. It was interesting to hear from those providing opportunities for engaging with digital nature, especially Radio Lento https://radiolento.podbean.com/ who produce entrancing virtual nature tours in the form of weekly sound postcards from beautiful places. Find them on Twitter @RadioLento where they regularly share some wonderful sounds. There was a lively exchange of views about the relative values of visual, audio, VR and analogue nature experiences, especially when created from the same sources.
It was a great experience with people from all over the world, including old friends. My talk was recorded and is available to watch on the Café Sci YouTube channel. I hope that it inspires you to think and act on the relationship between nature, digital nature and our well-being.
At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed online setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.
We’ll be joined by Dr Ashok Patnaikon Tuesday 5 October from 7.00pm until 8.30pm.
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened children’s mental health, which was already in decline. Researchers have observed increased levels of anxiety, depression and other psychological distress. However, children with poor mental health do not always receive the support they need from schools and mental health services.
Stormbreak is a new programme that combines simple, fun movements with well-being techniques such as talking therapies and mindfulness, to help children care for their mental health. Join us to discover what happened when Stormbreak was trialled in several local schools, and where it could go next.
At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with BU research.
The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support (RDS) can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our regular newsletter and social media channels. It also helps us to stay informed on the public engagement work being carried out by BU.
Please note: we are keen to promote BU public engagement with research activity wherever possible, but completing this form does not guarantee that we will be able to promote your event. To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;
Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme.
Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event.
For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May. This is due to lead times on producing and sending the newsletter.
Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us.
Please see below for the following training opportunity:
Date: 15 September 2021 Time: 09:15-13:30 Location: Online
Funded and hosted by the NIHR Research Design Service (RDS) South Central, discover how to move from thinking about doing research to taking your first steps in the getting support, dedicated time and funding to actually do it. Sign up to the workshop on Eventbrite.
New public engagement and professional development opportunity for Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) climate scientists* looking to engage young people with their environmental science research, and develop their digital and youth engagement capacity.
As part of NERC’s contribution to COP26, NERCPublic Engagement have commissioned a public engagement project that seeks to support young people in the UK who experience eco-anxiety to reshape new positive narratives about the future. Through a series of events and co-design activities, the project will look at how the actions and stories of young citizens and recent scientific advancements in decarbonisation fit together within a systemic picture.
How you can be involved
NERC researchers* are invited to this unique professional development and engagement opportunity to work on the project with eco-anxious young people. Through a series of workshops with young people, you would be supported to share insights from your research and professional careers, engage young people in climate science, and develop your own public engagement skills including co-design, storytelling, digital communication and engagement with young people.
*for this project, Common Vision and NERC, are inviting NERC researchers to be involved, including; PhD students, Early career researchers, and other roles involved in delivering NERC science research, for example, project managers, engagement staff etc.
Time commitment
Researchers who can commit to being involved for at least six months. In the first month (September) approximately a day of your time will be required to feed into the project design and initial materials. From then on, an afternoon in October, December, and February. The total estimated time commitment will be no more than 3 days of your time between September 2021 and March 2022.
More about the project
The magnitude of the climate crisis and the mismatch between the scale of the problem, and the power that any individual has to address it, has left many conscientious young people with feelings of eco-anxiety, anger and helplessness. While these feelings of helplessness may paralyse some young people, they can also be precursors to committed action and positive activism.
This public engagement project, funded by NERC, will examine the narratives which permeate and influence public understanding of climate change. It will draw on insights from environmental science research to understand and showcase the many different ways that citizens are already engaging with decarbonisation on their own terms, and how these individual actions can complement wider structural and systemic shifts. Through active storytelling exercises and live prototyping events, we will engage young people in shaping new positive narratives about the future and co-designing materials, which can be used to address eco-anxiety.
About the partners
This project is a collaboration between the following partners:
Common Vision is an independent think tank with a mission to unite people around long-term intergenerational goals and catalyse collaborative action and collective agency. Common Vision specialises in public dialogue and engagement and has a strong track record facilitating policy dialogue and civic leadership opportunities for young people.
Octophin Digital is a London-based digital agency working primarily within the wildlife conservation, arts and charity sectors.
Force of Nature is a youth non-profit mobilising mindsets for climate action. Force of Nature supports leaders across business, education and policy to centre young people in delivering intergenerational climate solutions
Climate Carersis a team of researchers, designers, policy-makers and educators aiming to understand and support mental health in the current climate and ecological crises. Climate Cares is a collaboration between the Institute of Global Health Innovation and the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London.
Contact
To express an interest in taking part, please email Matilda Agace, Research and Engagement Manager at Common Vision: matilda.agace@covi.org.uk, please copy in Hannah Lacey, NERC Public Engagement Programme Manager: hannah.lacey@nerc.ukri.org no later than 4pm on Tuesday 7 September 2021
The Summer Science Exhibition is the Royal Society’s flagship public engagement event which takes place in July every year at the prestigious home of the Royal Society in central London. The Royal Society are looking for researchers to take part in their festival celebrating the cutting-edge of UK science.
“One of the most enjoyable and satisfying outreach opportunities that I have ever taken part in. The range of visitors is so wide that almost each encounter brings up something new.” Exhibitor, 2019
Taking place between 4 – 10 July 2022, the Exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to engage a variety of audiences with your research, including members of the public, school groups, policy makers and potential funders and fellows of the Royal Society.
Each year, the Royal Society welcome thousands of visitors through their doors and reach many more through national coverage on TV or in the media. This is a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of UK research and gain valuable experience communicating with diverse audience groups.
“I would highly recommend taking part in Summer Science, for the exposure it has given our research, and for the fantastic experience of connecting with visitors and getting direct feedback.” Exhibitor, 2019
The Royal Society provides help to applicants, from guidance on submitting a proposal to preparing and coordinating an exhibit. If you have any questions, please email the Exhibition team exhibition@royalsociety.org
Alternatively, if you would like advice on planning or submitting an application, or to discuss ideas, please contact BU Engagement Officer, Adam Morris publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed online setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.
We’ll be joined by Dr Samuel Rennie on Tuesday 7 September from 7.00pm until 8.30pm.
The skeleton of a young woman, dated to almost 10,000 years old, was recently discovered by divers in Mexico. Her bones hint towards a short, hard life and raise questions about the first settlers to America.
The Ixchel skeleton, or Chan Hol 3, is one of the oldest skeletons on the American continent. What makes her stand out, though, is that she was healing from three traumatic skull injuries. Analysing her skull, and comparing it to others found in the area, led researchers to discover what might be a new group of humans. Join us to help unravel the mystery of America’s earliest settlers.
How well does BU currently support public engagement? What are we doing well, and are there areas that we could quickly and efficiently target to make a big difference?
We’re looking to answer those questions and others, to take stock and plan where to focus our efforts. We’ve created a survey to seek feedback from as many members of BU staff as possible – academic and professional services.
We’ll analyse the results using the NCCPE’s EDGE Tool, and will share our results for discussion in the next academic year.
To share your feedback, complete the short survey below. It should only take a few minutes and all questions are multiple-choice. Your responses are completely anonymous. We require you to be signed into a BU account only to ensure that all responses are from BU staff.
We appreciate the time taken to complete this survey, so are offering the chance to win a £50 Love2Shop e-Gift Card, redeemable at 40+ retailers. At the end of the survey you’ll be directed to a separate form to collect your details for the prize draw.
The survey closes on Friday 13 August, so please provide feedback before then. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with BU research.
The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support (RDS) can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our regular newsletter and social media channels. It also helps us to stay informed on the public engagement work being carried out by BU.
Please note: we are keen to promote BU public engagement with research activity wherever possible, but completing this form does not guarantee that we will be able to promote your event. To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;
Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme.
Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event.
For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May. This is due to lead times on producing and sending the newsletter.
Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us.
How well does BU currently support public engagement? What are we doing well, and are there areas that we could quickly and efficiently target to make a big difference?
We’re looking to answer those questions and others, to take stock and plan where to focus our efforts. We’ve created a survey to seek feedback from as many members of BU staff as possible – academic and professional services.
We’ll analyse the results using the NCCPE’s EDGE Tool, and will share our results for discussion in the next academic year.
To share your feedback, complete the short survey below. It should only take a few minutes and all questions are multiple-choice. Your responses are completely anonymous. We require you to be signed into a BU account only to ensure that all responses are from BU staff.
We appreciate the time taken to complete this survey, so are offering the chance to win a £50 Love2Shop e-Gift Card, redeemable at 40+ retailers. At the end of the survey you’ll be directed to a separate form to collect your details for the prize draw.
The survey closes on Friday 13 August, so please provide feedback before then. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
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