Public Engagement

1. Public Engagement Dr Iona Beange

2. ICONZ Communications Officer Science Communicator PhD Neuroscience Bsc Hons in Biomedical Science Dr Iona Beange

3. Welcome To ILW • Monday – Intro & sign-up for sessions • Tuesday – Performance Skills • Wednesday – Science Journalism • Thursday- Preparing a story for Film or TV • Showcase – Thursday Afternoon

4. Plan for Today • What is Public Engagement? • Jargon – technical words • Structure – building a narrative • Evaluation • Sign Up for the rest of the week

5. What is Public Engagement? Buzz: Discuss with person next to you

6. What is Public Engagement? “Public engagement describes the many ways in which higher education institutions and their staff and students can connect and share their work with the public.” Beltane Beacon for Public Engagement

7. What is Public Engagement? The imparting or exchange of information or ideas in: • any format (writing, speaking, drama, art) • any medium (book, TV, radio, schools) • to any level of audience

8. .... at the heart of it, public engagement is a good conversation…

9. Reasons to communicate science Honourable Economic Societal Selfish

10. Honourable reasons • Research money = taxes • Funders say you should • Role model to young people • Challenge attitudes & stereotypes • ‘Science is to be shared’

11. Economic reasons • Science Workforce. • Next Generation • Science is relevant to everyday life

12. Societal reasons • Confident consumers • Engage voters • Encourage public acceptance of emerging science & creation of informed opinions

13. Selfish reasons • Skills for CV • Promote Biology It’s fun!

14. Who will I speak to?

15. Aim of Public Engagement

16. Jargon

17. Jargon • Words that people won’t know i.e. scientific terms like Zoonoses • Abbreviations / acronyms are STMA So ten minutes ago

18. Jargon • Words that have a different meaning in common use e.g. Gas: • a state of matter • fuel for car • flatulence (fart)

19. Jargon • Phrases that may not cross cultures “raining cats and dogs”

20. Find the Jargon The re-writing of the vocabulary of intemporal Irish heritage is a possible vector for submissions on the condition that this transposition is resolutely anchored in the 21st century through a contemporary lens that absolutely avoids drifting into the vernacular.‘ Crafts Council of Ireland circular letter From Plain English Campaign Website

21. Find the Jargon The re-writing of the vocabulary of intemporal Irish heritage is a possible vector for submissions on the condition that this transposition is resolutely anchored in the 21st century through a contemporary lens that absolutely avoids drifting into the vernacular. Crafts Council of Ireland circular letter From Plain English Campaign Website

23. Brown Group http://brown.bio.ed.ac.uk/ Work in the group centres on two themes: the ecological/evolutionary dynamics of sociality and of virulence. These two themes combine strongly when applied to microbial pathogens, as microbes must often cooperate, communicate and coordinate in order to successfully exploit their hosts. The major challenges in our current research focus on understanding the complex multi-agent dynamics that shape microbial social interactions. Our recent research has revealed the vital role that mobile genetic elements (molecular parasites of bacteria, such as plasmids and temperate phages) play in driving the evolution of microbial cooperative behaviours and consequent virulence. .......... ...........We address these challenges using a mix of analytical modeling, simulations, genomics and experimental evolution.

24. Brown Group http://brown.bio.ed.ac.uk/ Work in the group centres on two themes: the ecological/evolutionary dynamics of sociality and of virulence. These two themes combine strongly when applied to microbial pathogens, as microbes must often cooperate, communicate and coordinate in order to successfully exploit their hosts. The major challenges in our current research focus on understanding the complex multi-agent dynamics that shape microbial social interactions. Our recent research has revealed the vital role that mobile genetic elements (molecular parasites of bacteria, such as plasmids and temperate phages) play in driving the evolution of microbial cooperative behaviours and consequent virulence. .......... ...........We address these challenges using a mix of analytical modeling, simulations, genomics and experimental evolution.

25. Sam Brown

26. Avoid Jargon…… OR……

27. Explain Jargon • Use simple definitions Zoonotic disease - Any disease spreads between animals and people. • Use analogies A cell is like a factory – it has different areas where small parts of the finished item is built.

28. Write a new intro paragraph Work in the group centres on two themes: the ecological/evolutionary dynamics of sociality and of virulence. These two themes combine strongly when applied to microbial pathogens, as microbes must often cooperate, communicate and coordinate in order to successfully exploit their hosts.

29. My Try!! The people in this group are interested in microbes (small living creatures like bacteria). They investigate how they live and how they breed. Some microbes are cheats; they use more than their fair share of food and space, and produce very little. Others are co-operative and continually communicate and coordinate their actions with those of their neighbours. But which group is the most successful and why? This is what the researchers want to find out.

30. Structure Building a story

31. Building a narrative

32. Tell them 3 times!!! • Tell them what you are going to tell them • Tell them • Remind them what you told them

33. Example

34. Wedge Start with the big picture Narrow it down Get specific

35. Example - Work

36. Your Turn Use the 2 techniques to tell the person next to you about your degree course. • You will have: • 2 mins to plan • 2 mins for Person 1 to speak • 2 mins for Person 2 to speak

37. Provoke, Relate, Reveal Provoke – something to catch the imagination, exciting, controversial Relate – make it relevant, familiar, something to care about(the story) Reveal – explain the secret, show that they can understand this too (what is new or different) Or do it in a different order!

38. UNICEFCommunity Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)

39. Provoke Philip contaminates water with shit before offering it to community members to drink.(Tanzania) Photo: Samuel Musyoki, Plan Kenya.

40. Relate With the people from UNICEF, the people draw a map of their village and put yellow powder to show where they last defecated. The UNICEF staff then pretend to be people and animals, spreading the yellow powder with their feet and showing how the pooh gets into the water.

41. Reveal UNICEF then educate the people on how illness and infection spread. At the end of the session the people take a vote on building toilets (latrines) The people then build these themselves with local materials and some equipment borrowed from UNICEF

42. Reporting on CLTS Provoking Headline – Shit matters Relate - 2.5 million people worldwide do not have access to sanitation. Despite growing attention and efforts, many top-down approaches to sanitation have failed. Reveal – CLTS focuses on facilitating a profound change in people’s behaviour through participatory techniques. The approach has proven immensely successful and is being implemented in at least 40 countries,

43. Provoke, Relate, Reveal • Sam Brown’s Research Within-Host Competition Drives Selection for the Capsule Virulence Determinant of Streptococcus pneumoniae Curr Biol. 2010 July 13; 20(13): 1222–1226.

44. Sam Brown

45. Construct a Provoke, Relate, Reveal for Sam Brown’s Research (1-2 sentences for each section) Provoke – something to catch the imagination, exciting, controversial (like a headline). Relate – make it relevant, familiar, something to care about(the story) Reveal – explain the secret, show that they can understand this too (what is new or different) Or do it in a different order!

48. Examples of Public Engagement Activities

49. Super bugs A challenge for 21st century scientists

50. Superbugs • Schools outreach (mainly 12-15 year olds) • Science Festivals • Teacher Packs / Teacher Training • Edinburgh Fringe Festival (outside a theatre)