June 9, 2021

ICM Media & Midwifery presentation today

conferences, international, Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today Prof. Vanora Hundley, based in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, gave a well-received presentation on ‘Changing the narrative around childbirth: whose responsibility is it?’ at the 32nd ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) Virtual Triennial Congress. Prof. Hundley presented online a BU collaboration published in the journal Evidence-based Midwifery [1]. This presentation is part of a larger body of interdisciplinary work between media and heatlh scholars at Bournemouth University [see 2-6].

The finding that UK midwives fear the media resonates with experiences from many other countries and professional groups. There is a need to change media discourse in fictional and factual representations of childbirth, and midwives have a critical role to play in this, but to do this they need to equip themselves with the skills necessary to engage with the media. Guidelines on responsible media reporting could ensure that media producers portray pregnancy, midwifery
and maternity care as naturally as possible.

Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E., Edlund, S. (2019) Changing the narrative around childbirth: whose responsibility is it? Evidence-based Midwifery 17(2): 47-52.
Luce, A., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) (2017) Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media, London: Palgrave Macmillan [ISBN: 978-3-319-63512-5].
Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C. (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth16: 40 http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x
Angell, C. (2017) An Everyday Trauma: How the Media Portrays Infant Feeding, In: Luce, A. et al. (Eds.) Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media, London: Palgrave Macmillan pp: 45-59.
Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest24(4): 444-447.
Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Do midwives need to be more media savvy? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest25(1):5-10.

June 3, 2021

Training from BU – getting started in public engagement with research

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

Sign up now for free training and tailored feedback on public engagement with research.

Getting started in public engagement with research

Thursday, 24th June 2021
11.00-12.30
Online

This workshop aims to get academics from zero or little PER experience to a position where they are confident carrying out activity with awareness of audience, delivery and evaluation.

This workshop will cover the status of public engagement in the research landscape; why it is important and what it can do for researchers. We’ll cover how to identify audiences and target their needs and expectations by designing public engagement activity around them. In addition, the workshop will go into the logistics of public engagement – from securing funding through planning, developing skills and the support offered at BU. Finally, we’ll discuss how to evaluate engagement activity to provide evidence for impact, insights into improving your activity and to provide further opportunity for engagement.

This 1.5 hour session consists of two parts;

30 minutes

A pre-recorded training video, recorded by BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris, covering all the content above.

You have a choice here on when you’d like to watch this session. You can choose to watch it at this time, immediately prior to the Q&A, combining both into a single session. Alternatively, you can watch the session at any time prior to the Q&A and allow yourself more time to develop questions, joining this workshop just for the Q&A.

Watch the training video on Brightspace at any time.

1 hour

A live Question and Answer session, hosted by BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris, providing an opportunity for you to ask your questions on public engagement with research and to hear from other attendees.

Find out more and book your place

June 1, 2021

Research Training Events Coming Soon

BRIAN, Public engagement, Publishing, writing Theresa

The following RKEDF training events are coming up this month.

These are all online events.

Please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk to book now!

Monday 14^th June – Wednesday 16^th June

Writing Academy

A three day workshop including planning and writing your research article, developing a strategy for getting your articles published, read and cited, and a writing day.

Thursday 17^th June 15:00 – 16:00

Impact and Funding Bids

How to write about impact successfully in funding applications.

Tuesday 22^nd June 13:30 – 15:00

On Writing – Improving Writing Practice

How to improve your writing practice by making more compelling knowledge claims, theories and arguments from your research and writing for your audience, with Professor Matthew Bennett.

Wednesday 23^rd June 16:00 – 17:00

Early Career Researchers Network Meeting

There will be presentations from two Early Career Researchers about their respective research projects followed by Q&A.

Thursday 24^th June 11:00 – 12:30

Getting Started in Public Engagement with Research

Public engagement in the research landscape; why it is important and what it can do for researchers.

Wednesday 30^th June 16:00 – 17:00

BRIAN, Building your staff profile with research websites

An introduction to BU’s publication management system.

BOOKING: Unless otherwise stated, to book, please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk.

You can see all the Organisational Development and Research Knowledge Development Framework (RKEDF) events in one place on the handy calendar of events.

If you have any queries, please get in touch!

May 27, 2021

The Invisible Talk at the National Gallery

Fusion, Fusion themes, innovation, Public engagement, REF Subjects, Student Engagement gingricho

‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.’

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Invisible – Curated talk at the National Gallery on Data Visualisation Art

In a time, when there are nearly as many pieces of digital information as there are stars in the universe, contemporary artists explore new forms of making this vast amount of information accessible – be it through visual interpretations or new forms of interactivity. While museums around the globe including The National Gallery revisit their collections through the prism of data, contemporary artists such as Refik Anadol, Marshmallow Laser Feast and the Analema Group develop new processes for audiences to experience invisible phenomena in all new ways.

In the Analema Group’s KIMA: Colour, artworks within the National Gallery’s collection form a point of departure for a deeper understanding of colour palettes through the reading of data. Refik Anadol’s work breaks new ground in displaying visual complexity for instance in the context of ‘invisible’ neural processes such as ‘Memories’. The pioneering art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast illuminates hidden natural forces that surround us, resulting in all new experiences of the environment. Together these pioneering media artists shed new light on how media art can unearth the Invisible, and make sense of the vast complexity of data that surrounds us. The benefits of investing in collectables include the potential for substantial returns, the pleasure of owning culturally significant pieces, and the ability to diversify one’s investment portfolio with tangible and appreciating assets.

The talk ‘The Invisible’ is curated by the NCCA’s Dr. Oliver Gingrich at National Gallery X.

Speakers: Refik Anadol, Ersin Han Ersin (MLF), Evgenia Emets, Alain Renaud, Oliver Gingrich;

Hosted by Ali Hossaini, Co-Director National Gallery X

This free online event takes place on Tuesday, 1 June 2021 at 18.30

Free tickets are available here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/art-in-flux-national-gallery-x-the-invisible-tickets-153817326765

More information on the presenters, host and curator can be found here:

https://www.artinfluxlondon.com/the-invisible.html

Event hosted by Art in Flux London

Funded by the Arts Council of England

Supported by National Gallery X, a new studio by The National Gallery and King’s College London

May 24, 2021

Training from BU – getting started in public engagement with research

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

Sign up now for free training and tailored feedback on public engagement with research.

Getting started in public engagement with research

Thursday, 24th June 2021
11.00-12.30
Online

This workshop aims to get academics from zero or little PER experience to a position where they are confident carrying out activity with awareness of audience, delivery and evaluation.

This workshop will cover the status of public engagement in the research landscape; why it is important and what it can do for researchers. We’ll cover how to identify audiences and target their needs and expectations by designing public engagement activity around them. In addition, the workshop will go into the logistics of public engagement – from securing funding through planning, developing skills and the support offered at BU. Finally, we’ll discuss how to evaluate engagement activity to provide evidence for impact, insights into improving your activity and to provide further opportunity for engagement.

This 1.5 hour session consists of two parts;

30 minutes

A pre-recorded training video, recorded by BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris, covering all the content above.

You have a choice here on when you’d like to watch this session. You can choose to watch it at this time, immediately prior to the Q&A, combining both into a single session. Alternatively, you can watch the session at any time prior to the Q&A and allow yourself more time to develop questions, joining this workshop just for the Q&A.

Watch the training video on Brightspace at any time.

1 hour

A live Question and Answer session, hosted by BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris, providing an opportunity for you to ask your questions on public engagement with research and to hear from other attendees.

Find out more and book your place

May 19, 2021

Café Scientifique – Tuesday 1 June: Predicting a post-COVID-19 economic future

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

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 Festus Adedoyin on Tuesday 1 June, from 7.00pm until 8:30pm.

Amidst the noise and confusion of the present, new scientific tools enable us to forecast the future. Advanced machine learning algorithms are tracing what the future could look like for countries with high death rates from COVID-19 and their potential for economic recovery. Comparing the UK with other similar economies like the United States, what can we learn, and is there anything we can do differently?

Attendance is free but booking is required

May 19, 2021

Are the world’s ecosystems about to collapse? – looking back at Café Scientifique May 2021

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

Professor Adrian Newton shares his experience of presenting at a BU Café Scientifique event on 4 May 2021.

This talk for Cafe Scientifique was designed to launch a new book that I’ve just written, called ‘Ecosystem collapse and recovery’. This is the first scientific monograph that explores these phenomena, and has just been published by Cambridge University Press. Ecosystem collapse has been in the news a lot recently, with major environmental catastrophes including the bleaching event in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and unprecedented fires in Australia, California, Indonesia and the Amazon. Indeed, as I was writing the book, new examples of major changes in the world’s ecosystems seemed to be happening every week.

Although ecosystem collapse could clearly have major implications for human society, it has only recently become the focus of scientific attention. I became interested in the topic through my research on ecosystems near to Bournemouth, specifically the New Forest National Park and the county of Dorset. In the New Forest, we found that the ancient beech woodlands are collapsing throughout the Park, which is having a devastating effect on the wildlife associated with them. The main cause appears to be climate change, although high herbivore pressure is adding to the problem. In Dorset, we found that a number of ecosystems have been dramatically transformed over the past 80 years or so. Back in the 1930s, there were extensive areas of species-rich chalk grassland, for example, which has now largely disappeared, owing to the spread of arable agriculture. So the problem of rapid environmental change is happening everywhere, including on our own doorstep here in Dorset.

For the talk, I decided to focus on some of the most interesting stories I came across while writing the book. I learned a great deal from the writing process; I really enjoyed digging into the literature on topics I knew little about. For example, what happened to the world’s ecosystems after the asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous – how long did it take them to recover? And how did extinction of megafauna at the end of the last Ice Age affect the world’s ecosystems? I also came across some epic human stories, such as the colonisation of Australia by boat perhaps as long as 60,000 years ago, and the colonisation of Madagascar by a boatload of fisherfolk from what is now Indonesia, around 3000 years ago. Perhaps the most startling is the idea that the Sahara desert might largely have been created by people, after they introduced livestock to the area around 7,000 years ago, when it was still a grassland landscape with lakes and rivers.

I thought the talk went really well, and I have since received a lot of positive feedback about it. I always find it challenging to answer questions from the public, as you have to think on your feet, but I really enjoyed the discussion after the talk – the audience asked some great questions. It certainly felt a bit strange giving my talk on-line, just speaking to my laptop rather than to an audience in a room, but I really liked the way that people from all over the world were able to attend, including some old friends. Some of the comments I received were along the lines of “I never knew that anything like this was happening”, so if my talk has helped raise awareness of how rapidly the world’s ecosystems are changing right now, it will have done its job.

Professor Adrian Newton’s book ‘Ecosystem Collapse and Recovery’ can be purchased here

May 19, 2021

BU expert Dr. Anna Feigenbaum helps in Amnesty Webby award win

afeigenbaum

An Amnesty International project, which received support from BU’s Dr Anna Feigenbaum, has won the 2021 People’s Voice award at The Webby Awards.

Tear Gas: An Investigation – an interactive explainer on what tear gas is, how it is abused and why you should care – won at the annual awards ceremony.

Dr Feigenbaum is an expert in the use of tear gas in policing and human rights, writing a book on the subject and contributed to the content of the Amnesty interactive. Dr Feigenbaum consulted at the early stages of the project on digital storytelling strategy, visual graphics for representing protest policing, and how to weave in evidence and history, using her knowledge of the subject and media expertise.

As a featured expert, Dr Feigenbaum was also interviewed for the platform, with the interactive storytelling device informed by Dr Feigenbaum’s on-going consultancy with Amnesty as well as by her book Tear Gas.

Dr Feigenbaum is an Associate Professor in Bournemouth University’s Faculty of Media and Communication, with her expertise also extending to interactive media and storytelling, which also helped to inform the project. Dr Feigenbaum’s previous RiotID.com ‘civic forensics’ project with Minute Works and Omega Research Foundation was instrumental in helping the team understand the use of infographics and interactive playable media to teach people about the harms and public health concerns surrounding tear gas and related police weapons.

On the subject of the Award win, Dr Feigenbaum said, “This platform was an incredible feat in the making that I got to play a part in. I am so proud of the Amnesty team, of the fight to protect protest as a fundamental right, and of the power that beautiful data storytelling can offer campaigns for social justice.”

May 14, 2021

Engaging online: getting started

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Training Adam Morris

This is part of our series on using online environments and platforms in engaging public audiences with research. You can read more about how BU has adapted to online engagement over the past year in a previous post.

Using online platforms and methods to engage public groups with research has its pros and cons, challenges and opportunities, as we examined previously. As with all public engagement with research, the first two things you should consider are what you are trying to achieve with your engagement activity, and who the public audience/groups are that you are looking to engage with. Once you have those things clear, you can begin to think about whether engaging online is the right choice and, if so, how best to do so.

Thinking about public engagement in this way can be summarised as People, Purpose and Process, a framework popularised by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE).

Right now, online engagement may seem like the only option, but it’s worth considering other methods that enable people to engage with research and each other, in person, whilst sticking to restrictions. David Owen (NCCPE associate) termed these activities ‘hyperlocal engagement’.

However, there are a number of good reasons why you might choose to engage online, even when all other options become available. It can be accessible in a different way to in-person events, cheaper and more easily scalable, allowing you to reach large but specific audiences.

In this post we’ll share resources and opportunities to support you at BU.

Useful reading

Online Engagement: A guide to creating and running virtual meetings and events – a crowdsourced resource of practical tips from the NCCPE
What Works: Engaging the public through social media – NCCPE
Public engagement in the digital environment: Opportunities and challenges for arts and humanities researchers – a working paper by Dr Anna Khlusova (KCL)
Click ‘more resources’ below to see an extensive list of resources collated by the University of Exeter

▸ More resources

Hyperlocal engagement during the time of lockdown	What does public engagement look like during a time of lockdown and social distancing? Does it all have to take place online? David Owen reflects on how public engagement is being re-imagined and invites you to share your ideas.
Communicating research during Covid-19	Paul Manners (Director, National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement) breaks down best practice in engaging the public with research during the pandemic.
CPExplores: Should we be taking our engagement projects online?	QMUL’s Centre for Public Engagement sets out to answer some of the most pressing engagement questions in relation to COVID-19 and engagement.
Learning from our virtual co-creation: accessibility and adaptability	Members of the Centre for Co-Production explore the importance of accessibility and adaptability.
Engagement in a time of social distancing	What does engagement mean in a time of social distancing? This blog creates a list of advice and tips to help researchers navigate their projects and be the support their partners need.
Digital Tools for Participation: Where to Start?	This blog post aims to give you a few pointers to help get you started. It’s based on a combination of experience, discussion with other practitioners and knowledge of good engagement principles and practice.
University of Exeter Online Engagement Resources	A note of discussions at a UoE webinar that focused on online engagement.
Guidance for Online Events	University of Exeter Communications Team share their advice on organising virtual events. Includes a risk assessment template, checklist and joining instructions.
Knowledge Sharing and Exchange in a Pandemic	The Cultural Capital Exchange has developed a crowd-sourced document as a rapid-fire means of creating a space for researchers and for the knowledge exchange community to share stories and examples of good and innovative practices at this time of unprecedented challenge as a result of Covid-19.
Coronavirus Tech Handbook	An open Google Doc with links to research-related resources. Includes sections on collaborations, remote decision making and creative tools.
Making Connections During the Coronavirus Pandemic	A guide from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute at the University of Bristol. Covers the basics of engagement and some practical tips for engagement during the pandemic.
A map of resources for co-producing research in health and social care	A guide for researchers, professionals and public contributors to navigate the different tools and guidance that can help people produce research together. Features a section on co-production during Covid-19.
Online Engagement: A guide to creating and running virtual meetings and events	A guide on engaging publics using digital platforms.
Top tips for carrying out PPI activities during COVID-19	Top tips for researchers who are in the process of applying for grants, to consider how to ensure they can continue to collaborate with public representatives in a meaningful way.
Shared National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) commitments to public involvement, participation and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic	The NIHR Public Involvement Senior Leadership Team has agreed new commitments for patient and public involvement, engagement and participation (PIE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guide to Online Engagement	The University of Bath’s Public Engagement with Research Unit shares their top tips on moving your engagement online.
Supporting Impact through Online Public Engagement	The University of Bath’s Public Engagement with Research Unit shares a recording of an online webinar sharing ways in which to move your engagement online.
Online Communities and Communication Tools	A series of guidebooks for anyone wishing to use Slack as a collaborative workspace.
Carry on co-producing: handy hints and tips to help you out	University College London shares tips and advice for virtual co-production, listing handbooks they have found useful, some training courses to try out and information on accessibility.
25 useful free online tools for workshop planning and meeting facilitation	Are you facilitating workshops, meetings or training sessions regularly? There are plenty of online tools to make your life easier when you need to prepare for meeting facilitation and to conduct workshops.
Google Jamboard and MURAL	Two online-based collaborative working platforms. Jamboard is free, MURAL is a subscription service.
Sidewalk Science	Danna Staaf shares their experiences of engaging passing publics in their chalk-based engagement.
Writing Back 2 and 3	The project tackles loneliness and isolation using a pen pal exchange between university students in Leeds and older residents in Yorkshire.
Museum Lates	The Natural History Museum has transplanted its Museum Lates series onto a digital platform.
Southampton Science and Engineering Festival	The University of Southampton’s Science and Engineering Festival moved its annual festival online for 2020. Follow their webpage to see the programme and examples of digital engagement.

Thank you to University of Exeter for the original list (doc)

Training

The training session ‘Getting started in public engagement with research’, delivered by BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris, is available to watch at any time.

Look out on the Research Blog and intranet for news about upcoming training sessions, in the past year we have run sessions from the NCCPE on ‘Meaningful online engagement’, ‘High Quality Public Engagement’ and ‘Evaluation: developing your approach.

Learning from others

The Public Engagement with Research Network welcomes all BU staff to learn, share best practice, network and collaborate. We have a Team where you can keep up with opportunities, resources and news, as well as regular meetings.

Advice

If you’d like help on developing your ideas for public engagement, contact BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris.

Promoting your activities

If you’ve organised a public engagement activity, online or otherwise, we can help you promote it through our regular newsletter.

May 13, 2021

Once Upon a Time in Animation Exhibition at Poole Museum

Fusion, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Student Engagement, student research gingricho

‘Once Upon A Time in Animation’ is an exhibition at Poole Museum that will run from the 22nd of May 2021 to the 4th of July 2021, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Bournemouth University’s National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA).

Organized by Dr Eike Falk Anderson and Dr Oliver Gingrich, and curated by Oliver Gingrich, the Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund supported exhibition will feature work by students, staff and alumni of the NCCA, including outstanding graduation films (animations), many of which have been shown at the prestigious SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, as well as award winning student research projects that took part in the ACM SIGGRAPH Student Research Competition. The exhibition launches the NCCA archive collection, which will provide a legacy of animation practices as a future learning resource and features artworks by artistic practitioners and NCCA researchers. Visitors will gain new insights into the processes involved in the production of computer animated movies, the cutting-edge technologies for animation creation being researched at the NCCA and different application areas for these technologies, such as computer gaming, health technologies or Cultural Heritage.

The exhibition is free and complemented by a programme of workshops and talks by Computer Graphics and Computer Animation researchers, artists and practitioners. For tickets, please go to

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/once-upon-a-time-in-animation-workshop-and-talks-programme-tickets-151476244525

For more information, see the Poole Museum website (http://www.poolemuseum.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/) or have a look at the virtual gallery http://www.poolemuseum.org.uk/museum-from-home/online-exhibitions/once-upon-a-time-in-animation/.

Eike Anderson & Oliver Gingrich

May 13, 2021

Talking about local food, sustainability, and well being

Public engagement Sean Beer

Following on from an article in the conversation published in the UK and then in France, Dr Sean Beer was invited to join the Durham Community Good Food Network to present his ideas relating to “Climate Friendly Diets.” The group is a very diverse and interesting collection of people, representing a variety of organisations, undertaking some fantastic work.
Sean’s presentation was entitled “Be careful what you wish for or a world of unintended consequences” and focused on some of the challenges we face in trying to make our food supply chains truly more sustainable. Also presenting at the meeting was Emma Mould from Food Newcastle. Subsequent discussion was wide-ranging. In many situations the primary problem, above and beyond ideas of sustainability, is trying to ensure that basic foodstuffs are available to everyone at a reasonable price.

May 13, 2021

Engaging online: ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Adam Morris

This is part of our series on using online environments and platforms in engaging public audiences with research. You can read more about how BU has adapted to online engagement over the past year in a previous post.

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of the social sciences, offers a fascinating insight into some of the country’s leading social science research and how it influences our social, economic and political lives – both now and in the future. Bournemouth University is a partner of the Festival and has contributed events and activities every year since 2011. For researchers, the Festival is a fantastic opportunity for funded support towards engaging specific audiences in research and generating research impact.

The Festival of November 2020 was unlike any other. When we began preparations in April 2020, no one knew what situation we would be in by the Festival week in November. Luckily, we requested that all applicants propose online events, events with an online backup plan, or activities that could still happen within restrictions. In response, our academics proposed an impressive variety of innovative events to share their research with public audiences. We whittled applications down and worked with the event leaders to support and develop their plans as we moved through the changing world of summer and autumn 2020.

In the end, this approach paid off well, the Festival was held as a digital-first event and we held five live online events and an online exhibition, engaging a wide variety of public audiences with our varied research.

▸ See what events took place

Picturing and voicing responsible online gambling
The stereotype of the problem gambler no longer holds true – digital connectivity means we are all now exposed to online gambling and the risk of addiction.

This virtual exhibition looks behind the scenes of the online gambling industry – discover how platforms use artificial intelligence, targeted advertising and behavioural science to keep gamblers hooked – and how you can avoid falling prey to these tools. We’ll also share the diverse stories and voices of those affected by online gambling, through specially commissioned works of art.

This online exhibition was established in 2019, but 2020 saw the addition of new material commissioned from another artist.

Visit exhibition

Reading the room: how your brain judges the mood of a crowd
From speaking in front of an audience to policing a riot, the human brain has to judge the mood of a crowd in an instant. We shared what the latest research methods, including virtual reality and human electroencephalography (EEG, which measures “brain waves”), can tell us about face perception provided opportunities to test your own abilities.

Female political leadership at a time of crisis
During the recent pandemic, female political leaders have received widespread praise for their handling of this crisis. New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has been lauded as the figurehead of empathetic leadership, Nicola Sturgeon’s measured approach to the crisis has earned her praise from the news media, and Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen has kept deaths from Covid-19 in single figures. Female leaders have challenged stereotypes of strong leadership and how we think and feel about women in positions of authority.

This discussion focused on how women in positions of political leadership make us feel in our anxious times. With attention to intersectionality, it combined presentations from experts on the psychodynamics of female political leadership, with a reflective group discussion led by a psychotherapist, to explore how social, psychological and political factors interact to shape attitudes and feelings about gender and political leadership at times of social and political crisis.

Dorset Unlocked: Special spots of Dorset for heritage and nature
This open chat with experts in archaeology, heritage and ecology looked at why getting out into the special spots that Dorset has to offer means so much to us. Together with students, they chose a few of their favourite places.

Professional decision making in health and social care
This interactive workshop explored how social care professionals at different stages of their careers make decisions regarding people who are unable to make their own decisions – due to their mental capacity, developmental stage or substance use. These are high stakes and complex decisions often made in conditions of uncertainty where risk to an individual’s health and wellbeing is a significant concern.

Using decision-making games, simulations and experiments, the participants explored the processes of decision making.

Comics and COVID-19: Communicating Public Health and Wellbeing
From the fear of getting sick to the chaos of working at home, from the struggles of full-time parenting to the threat of economic upheaval, this brief masterclass looked at how recent data comics on COVID-19 explore the complexities and potential of presenting data in more humanising ways.

Despite having developed skills in online teaching for several months, our event organisers’ plans challenged them to new levels in hosting their online events. All of the events juggled multiple contributors and presentations, some using video and interactive engagement tools. These elements provided a lot to consider, as event organiser Dr Xun He described in a blog post;

“This was the first public event I did online. To be honest, I was a bit anxious because there could be so many potential technical glitches during the event, not to mention that it would feel so different without being able to talk face-to-face to the audience in this unusual time. There were also technical considerations to take on board to run an engaging public event.”

Paying attention to the details of how you present yourself on video can often be an afterthought, so it was impressive to see how event holders handled multiple high-quality webcams, microphones and lighting to provide to provide the clearest link between themselves and their audience as they shared their research.

Despite online events providing unique difficulties and opportunities, it is important that these do not distract from the principles of high quality public engagement with research. We supported event-holders to be clear on what they wanted to achieve with their events, the audience they wanted to engage with and the best methods for doing so. In addition, our academics evaluated how the audience engaged with their research through observation, small group discussions, polls, quizzes, surveys and note boards such as padlet.

Once again, it is difficult to know for sure what the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2021 will look like – what restrictions we may be working within and what new opportunities may be presented. Our call for proposals will launch soon (watch this blog and the Public Engagement with Research Network for updates) and I’m looking forward to seeing the innovative plans developed by BU to share our diverse and fascinating research.

May 12, 2021

Engaging online: a research film premiere and Q&A

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Adam Morris

This is part of our series on using online environments and platforms in engaging public audiences with research. You can read more about how BU has adapted to online engagement over the past year in a previous post.

Below, Dr Oliver Gingrich describes running an online engagement event, the logistics and support received from BU’s Public Engagement with Research (PER) team – and most importantly, the impact of sharing research.

Oliver also spoke at a recent meeting of the BU Public Engagement with Research Network and has shared slides from the presentation.

My experience running an online event – KIMA: Noise

For me, as for many others, the new realities in the early days of the Covid-19 health crisis resulted in all new challenges in continuing research practice and dissemination. To help tackle these challenges I thought I’d share our experience developing and running an online event earlier this year, in case you find it useful.

KIMA: Noise by Analema Group. Tate Modern 2019. www.analemagroup.com Image by Sophie le Roux. www.sophielerouxdocu.com

I am a researcher and creative practitioner, and artist with the collective Analema Group, recipients of an Arts Council England project grant for the art and research project KIMA Noise; an investigation into the effect of urban noise on health and wellbeing that we conducted for over three years with one of the leading experts in the field Prof. Stephen Stansfeld (Queen Mary University of London). Over the years Prof. Stansfeld has worked on the effect of noise specifically on learning and spearheaded the European Network on Noise and Health (ENNAH) and is currently working on a RANCH study on the effect of air traffic noise across 4 different countries. The Analema Group is a collective of four people founded by my colleague, the artist Evgenia Emets, Dr. Alain Renaud (Research Fellow at Bournemouth University) and the visual developer David Negrao.

KIMA: Noise by Analema Group. Tate Modern 2019. www.analemagroup.com Image by Sophie le Roux. www.sophielerouxdocu.com

With the Analema Group, we were looking at effective strategies to communicate the known impact of noise on health to wider audiences, including local communities. Having been appointed Tate Exchange Associate, we brought this project to Tate Modern, with support of the Arts Council, resulting in several installations, talks, workshops, the publication of a monograph and ultimately a film. The success of the exhibition, talks and workshops not only transcended through the audience numbers, visitors and participants, but moreover the type of discussions we were able to have with local communities, policymakers, and other artists and activists. The art film KIMA: Noise captured this effort, but with the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19 we needed to find new ways to present this work to the public.

Thanks to Adam Morris and Brian McNulty from Bournemouth University’s world-class Knowledge Exchange & Impact Team (KEIT), we were able to communicate these research outputs to a wider public including BU’s academics: Initially being unfamiliar with the logistics of organising an online screening, I was more than grateful for the handholding and support by Adam in promoting and positioning the screening of the art film, but also for his and his team’s support in orchestrating the event. In the case of our event, online literally meant connected, as speakers from 3 countries (The UK, Portugal and Switzerland) came together.

At the screening of ‘KIMA: Noise – The Film’, we were honoured to welcome Prof. Stansfeld as one of our panelists, as well as Camilla Yavas (Film maker), Paola D’Albore (community engagement), Evgenia Emets (artist) and myself as researcher. The success of the event was highlighted through the wide networks we were able to activate including researchers at Bournemouth, interested artists, activists, and the wider BCP publics. The initial world premiere of the film via Bournemouth University was followed by a vibrant Q&A and discussion on the effect of noise on health and wellbeing that worked as well online as it would have in the space of the Tate. Thanks to the success of this world premiere, the film has since been seen by hundreds of people, with further screenings being planned nationally and internationally. The big benefit of an online event is that audiences and speakers can come together from all corners of the world, and the barrier to entry is so low, which makes it much easier to reach a critical mass. I want to express my sincere feelings of gratitude to BU’s outstanding Public Engagement team, who held our hand every step of the way, and assured the success of KIMA: Noise.

More information on the project can be found here:

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/tate-exchange/workshop/kima-noise

https://analemagroup.com/projects/kima-noise-at-tate-exchange/

Watch the Film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIXo5xt0_pw&t=32s

May 11, 2021

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

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.

We will re-share this form once a month.

May 11, 2021

Engaging online: Café Scientifique

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Adam Morris

This is part of our series on using online environments and platforms in engaging public audiences with research. You can read more about how BU has adapted to online engagement over the past year in a previous post.

Café Scientifique is an international event format that hosts a talk from a researcher followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion, all in an informal and friendly environment.

For several years, Café Scientifique has been held in Boscombe’s Café Boscanova, a cosy café capable of holding 20 to 40 people at a push. Holding events in this space, privately opened for the evening and offering food and drink, encourages a laid-back and conversational atmosphere.

This posed a challenge when restrictions meant that gatherings and cafes were both off-limits. Since September 2020 we have held these events online, which has demonstrated the positives and negatives of online public engagement.

We’ve kept familiarity where possible, sticking to the same schedule of events held on the evening of the first Tuesday of every month (bar August and December). The events are hosted and promoted under the banner of BU, following the same format and with our regular host Dr Sharon Docherty.

We hold these events over Zoom allowing Sharon, our guest speaker and the audience to all see each other on video, and for the speaker to be able to present slides. Using the standard meeting platform does mean enforced muting of the audience though, to minimise additional noise.

With the ability to join from anywhere, and without the audience limit of a physical space, we’ve seen much higher attendance for our online events. Despite marketing these events only within the UK, we’ve welcomed attendees from around the world to hear about BU research and pose questions to our academics.

Our speaker for December 2020, Dr Sarah Elliott, shares some thoughts on the experience;

“I recently participated in Café Scientifique which, because of the current pandemic, has moved on-line. I think this is a great opportunity to be involved in and for viewers across the country to engage in scientific research.

Academics spend a lot of time presenting their research to each other and publishing their data, but through Café Sci as a platform you are able to reach a wider audience and facilitate discussions about your research in an informal and friendly environment.

The event had a good turn out and very positive feedback, the questions asked in the discussion were all thought provoking and important points were highlighted upon which I could expand my explanations. Academics always have so much to say, and not enough time to say it, so the ample time given for discussion at a Café Sci event provides a real opportunity to focus on the aspects of the talk which the public were most interested in.”

Hosting these events online has also made them easy to record, where guest academics chose to do so, and so we are able to share past events through our YouTube channel.

Catch up on other Café Scientifique events.

Translating Café Scientifique online didn’t all go as expected, though. To begin with, we tried as much as possible to encourage the same convivial, conversational atmosphere as in-person events, inviting audience members to chat amongst themselves in the chat section and ask their questions live over video. However, we soon found that attendees were generally reluctant to talk on video in front of a large virtual audience and asked instead that questions be posted in the chat, where host Sharon could read them to our speaker.

This encapsulates the importance of challenging your assumptions about engaging online and being willing to adapt. While there are certainly advantages to be had in audience size, diversity and types of accessibility, it can be difficult to foster a sense of interpersonal connection. Whether this is a relevant factor will vary between projects.

Despite the advantages we’ve seen with holding Café Scientifique online, we plan to resume in-person events when possible, as the café atmosphere and surroundings are the essence of what makes the format special. However, the experience of holding these events online has been, and will continue to be valuable in advising on activities that thrive in an online environment.

May 10, 2021

Engaging online: a year of online public engagement with research

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Adam Morris

There’s no doubt that the past year has presented a huge challenge to public engagement with research, but it’s one to which the BU research community has risen brilliantly.

With an increased national awareness of the role HEIs play in research, and vice versa, comes a stronger imperative to engage public audiences in the exciting research carried out at BU. In a series of posts this week we’ll be taking a refreshed look at public engagement with research in the context of the past year, some inspirational examples of projects by BU academics and advice on how to develop public engagement work.

Engaging online

The start of restrictions on events last year saw a mass pivot to online engagement with research, adapting familiar formats for online delivery and developing new techniques too.

We’ll take a closer look at some of these examples in future posts, but here’s just a flavour of the activities carried out over the past year to engage the public in research;

Café Scientifique has been held online since September last year, drawing in record numbers from around the globe. Find out more about how we’ve delivered these events online and an academic’s experience of being involved.
Dr Oliver Gingrich; researcher, creative practitioner, and artist with the collective Analema Group, held an online research film premiere and Q&A on urban noise and wellbeing. Oliver’s experiences and advice are covered in more detail in another post.
The ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020 was held almost entirely online across the national festival. BU held five live online events, as well as an online exhibition, covering topics as diverse as online gambling, communicating public health data, visual perception, social care decisions, Dorset heritage and nature, and female political leadership. Take a closer look at these events in another post.
Dr Catalin Brylla screened his film on blindness, wellbeing and stigma in the virtual world of Second Life, where his public group have their own ‘island’.
The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre hosted informal coffee mornings to chat about their research and empower relevant audiences to feed back on ongoing and future research.
Dr Sarah Collard shared interviews, personal experience and hosted discussion on the topic of exercising with epilepsy.
The Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (LES) translated their fledgling Family Science Festival to an online format, and were invited by leading environmental science funder NERC to share their experience.
The SURE 2021 conference highlighted excellent research from over 100 undergraduates in a full day conference for audiences inside and outside of BU.

The future of online engagement

It has been really impressive to see how academics have adapted and reformulated their plans for public engagement with research. We’ve seen people use this situation as an opportunity to refresh their thinking and explore the opportunities presented by online engagement, rather than be limited by it. There are a number of advantages that mean it should remain an option to consider;

Online engagement with research is more accessible for many people and can reach entirely new audiences as a result
It is often cheaper, avoiding venue, travel and catering costs
Being open to attendees at a national or international level means your audience can be very specific, but much larger than a local event. In the right context, this can be an effective pathway to achieving research impact.

However, we can’t just move everything online and call it a success. There are potential downsides to engaging online that can vary depending on your context;

Increased accessibility for some means decreased accessibility for others; limited IT skills, confidence and equipment exclude many from joining
It is more difficult to foster a sense of interpersonal connection when engaging online, compared to in-person experiences

Looking ahead, we need to find a balanced approach, in which online engagement is just one highly effective option among many others that might work for engaging the public with research. Later this week we’ll look at what support is available at BU for developing strategies and activities to engage the public in research.

April 22, 2021

Cafe Scientifique – Tuesday 4 May: Are the world’s ecosystems about to collapse?

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

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 Professor Adrian Newton on Tuesday 4 May, from 7.00pm until 8:30pm.

Figures including David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg have recently drawn attention to the risks of ecosystem collapse. But what do we know about this process? What might cause an ecosystem to collapse, and what are the consequences? Join us to review our current understanding of ecosystem collapse, and how it relates to subsequent ecological recovery, drawing on examples from throughout Earth’s history.

Attendance is free but booking is necessary.

April 21, 2021

BU undergrads present at National BCUR 2021 Conference hosted by University of Leeds

Public engagement mgouthro

Last week during the Easter break close to twenty BU students across all 4 faculties took part in the virtual version of the British Conference for Undergraduate Research (BCUR) hosted by the University of Leeds on April 12-13. Last year’s event was cancelled so those due to attend last year along with new BU registrations meant that a bigger number of students could take part this year. It was a very full programme with over 600 participating over the 2 days. Students presented their research along with taking in keynote addresses, online socials including murder mysteries, a welcome event and PhD info sessions. Abbie Williams, a BA (Hons) Sports Psychology and Coaching Sciences 2020 graduate who did a presentation on ‘Investigating Coaches’ and Practitioners’ Experiences of Performance Blocks in Sport’ found participating worthwhile: “I learned so much – overall I thought it was great and I really enjoyed presenting as well”.

Will Priddis is a BA (Hons) Film student and did a presentation on ‘Shooting the Stage: Using filmmaking techniques to enhance the recording of live theatre’. He shared: “It was really nice to see so many presentations from so many disciplines…I presented about media but had a really fun time attending some great maths and physics presentations too. It was really nice to connect with some like-minded people in that sense”.

SciTech student Morven Smith BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences presented on ‘Assessing Dominance Hierarchies and Food Preferences in Garden Birds’. She shares these observations: “I had a really really fantastic time at BCUR, I feel like it was such a good experience and definitely made me work on my presentation and public speaking skills. Which is an opportunity I never would’ve had if I hadn’t put myself out my comfort zone a little bit!”

And Amy Preece, BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing presented on ‘What are the Impacts of Drama-based interventions when used in Forensic Settings?’ She provides this feedback: “BCUR was a really positive experience. It further piqued my interest for further education and made me consider future research career options for myself. The format worked well online, although I would have preferred a physical conference to attend. You’ll get out of it what you put in, and if you go in willing to listen and network you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Finally, we can see in the image here Finlay Brown, a BA (Hons) Politics student has his session captivated with his presentation on ‘To What Extent has the dissemination of an anti-elite syle of populism affected public trust in a Covid-19 vaccination in the UK’.

Presentations and content presented by all BU students taking part can be found in the programme here. BU Students who get involved in SURE have the opportunity to be considered to take part in BCUR as well. Special thanks to all staff and faculties who have supported students to get involved in SURE and BCUR. Future hosts of the national conference include Warwick, Exeter and Newcastle.

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We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Engaging online: Café Scientifique

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Engaging online: a year of online public engagement with research

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Cafe Scientifique – Tuesday 4 May: Are the world’s ecosystems about to collapse?

BU undergrads present at National BCUR 2021 Conference hosted by University of Leeds

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