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i.e. specific research outcomes or the nature of science and research processes 

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i.e. specific research outcomes or the nature of science and research processes 

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Dedicated spaces:  museums, galleries, libraries, schools

Daily life: in public places - on streets, in communities, on transport, in shopping malls

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i.e. building relationships or an encounter/ one-off event

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i.e. building relationships or an encounter/ one-off event

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Do you want to reach lots of people or make a deeper impact on a smaller group?

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i.e. the role of the audience or participant

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i.e. the role of the audience or participant

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Do they have agency (an active role/ a voice) or are they observing?

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i.e. a conversation or one-way sharing information

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i.e. a conversation or one-way sharing information

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Inspiring, consulting, collaborating?

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CASCADING DEBATES

PRESENTING THE FORMAT

Building on the yearly Falling Walls Science Summit and Falling Walls Circle - where scientists and Science Engagement practitioners meet with entrepreneurs, funders and policymakers -, we aim to establish the Cascading Debates as a format to enmesh communities in original ways and integrate global and diverse perspectives (challenges, insights, knowledge, questions and recommendations for action) into discussions taking place at the Falling Walls Science Summit. The format is an opportunity to facilitate discourse around global challenges and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With the Cascading Debates, we want to create cycles of debate by cascading perspectives from local communities into structured discussions with multiple stakeholders. Those perspectives are then transported into higher-level discussions at the Falling Walls Science Summit. Integrating local perspectives and other stakeholder groups into these debates, while still creating manageable and productive discussions, is seen as a way of engaging society in science, through a process with meaning and impact. Afterwards, feedback loops take expert thoughts back into communities and create calls for action on global challenges.

CASCADING DEBATES PROCESS

Until September 2022, several debates will be hosted in different parts of the globe (Kenya, Switzerland, Canada, India, United States, Australia, Mexico, South Africa, Japan, Greece, Argentina), bringing together multiple stakeholders and areas of expertise, to discuss challenges and their local to global presence. Transdisciplinary perspectives on associated topics and recommendations for action on how to tackle those global challenges will be developed. These debates will be either hosted by Cascading Debates external partners or hosted during the Falling Walls Engage Hubs (co-organised by the Falling Walls Engage team and the Hub Managers). External partners are collaborators with expertise in multistakeholders discussion formats and/or Planetary Heath. The Falling Walls Engage Hubs offer a space for practitioners to share expertise and best practices, discuss challenges of local-global relevance and envision new international collaborations.

The debates happening throughout 2022 will follow different deliberative discussion formats and will be documented in a structured way to make the content accessible for all subsequent debates. With this, we ensure the integration of diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives into the debates, the efficacy of solutions designed, and boost faster and global-reaching changes needed to tackle the most pressing global challenges of our time. Further, the Cascading Debates format can be easily replicated globally, enabling its scalability while ensuring the iteration between diverse publics and stakeholders around the world. We think that this format is an effective manner of promoting further engagement of different audiences into tackling global challenges, as well as facilitating and supporting policy decisions informed by diverse expertise.

The perspectives, knowledge, questions and recommendations for action resulting from all the debates will be summarised and documented into online articles (like the ones above), that one can learn from and comment on. In October of 2022, the Cascading Debates project will take part in two conferences/forums (more information in the section below - Representation and Co-Design Events) that will enable the presentation of the format to different stakeholders and further co-design the format, both in terms of approach and discussion topics. Later, in November 2022, all of the inputs from the debates will feed into the content of a Plenary Table integrated in the Falling Walls Science Summit 2022 - a higher-level discussion format with top scientists, industry and funding representatives, as well as decision makers -, thereby making global and diverse voices, perspectives and expertises heard, which not often get a place in the spotlight. Hosts and participants of the Cascading Debates happening during 2022 will be invited to join this Plenary Table.

All perspectives collected through the debates, as well as the insights collected through the conferences/forum and Plenary Table, will be integrated into a report to be published in the beginning of 2023, that will serve multiple purposes:

disseminate an overview on 2022's process and perspectives;

make available several recommendations for action to tackle global challenges;

be a starting point to further define how to transform those recommendations to action into effective action plans, involving the local communities.

TOPIC FOR 2022: PLANETARY HEALTH

During 2022, the Cascading Debates will focus on the Planetary Health topic. Planetary Health is a transdisciplinary field and movement that addresses connections between human and environmental health, as well as the climate crisis, and is tightly linked to sustainability and the SDGs. Planetary Health uses a solution-oriented approach, seeking ways to promote action into tackling global challenges, and addressing human-caused changes in Earth's natural systems and their consequences on human health and wellbeing.

Environmental impact areas addressed by the Planetary Health field:

Changes in biogeochemical flows

Changes in species abundance, composition, distribution (e.g., species extinction, overfishing)

Changing food systems (e.g., crop production changes)

Changing land use and land cover (e.g., deforestation)

Climate change (e.g., fossil fuels, coral reefs acidification, storms frequency, rainfall patterns, wildfires, heat waves)

Global pollution (e.g., water, land and air pollution)

Natural disasters

Urbanisation

Water scarcity

Public health impact areas addressed by the Planetary Health field:

Body growth and development (e.g., changes in brain development)

Civil strife and displacement

Infectious diseases (e.g., zoonoses)

Mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety)

Non-communicable diseases (e.g., allergies, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, diabetes, mental and neurological conditions)

Nutrition (e.g., changes in food nutrients, processes foods, diet)

Physical health (e.g., mobility)

The Planetary Health field calls for urgent attention to the impact areas above and for collaborative efforts among multiple stakeholders and disciplines, to reverse the trend of Planetary Health degradation, safeguard our health and the future of our planet.

REPRESENTATION AND CO-DESIGN EVENTS

5th INSIST Conference 2022: Communicating Science and Technology - Controversy, Dialogue and Participation (October 06-07, Berlin). In this conference, several formats that aim to communicate science and technology will be presented and discussed. We will be presenting the Cascading Debates in an interactive session, with the goal to disseminate and co-design the format with experts from similar methodological fields.

World Health Summit 2022 (October 16-18, Berlin). The World Health Summit strengthens exchange, stimulates innovative solutions to health challenges, fosters global health as a key political issue and promotes the global health debate in the spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 17 "Partnership for the Goals". We will be presenting the Cascading Debates in an inspiration session, with the goal to engage multiple stakeholders with stories, ideas and experiences on the Planetary Health topic, and create a space to brainstorm on innovative and co-creational joint endeavors to address the topic.

COMMENT

If you would like to get in touch and leave comments regarding the Cascading Debates format, click on the button below. We would really appreciate your thoughts and feedback.

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Building on the yearly Falling Walls Science Summit and Falling Walls Circle - where scientists and Science Engagement practitioners meet with entrepreneurs, funders and policymakers -, we aim to establish the Cascading Debates as a format to enmesh communities in original ways and integrate global and diverse perspectives (challenges, insights, knowledge, questions and recommendations for action) into discussions taking place at the Falling Walls Science Summit.

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Are there any circumstances under which the UK Government should consider changing the law to allow intentional genome editing of human embryos to prevent serious genetic conditions?

If the law were changed, what should the role of the private sector be? And, what type of governance and accountability should be put in place?

These are some of the challenging questions that will be put to 24 members of a jury who have lived experiences of a genetic condition.

Genome editing of human embryos has been hailed as a game changer for potentially curing some hereditary genetic disorder, however it is currently illegal in the UK and many other countries around the world. Stopping disease-causing genes from being passed on to future generations has the potential to eliminate these conditions from all future children and grandchildren. Some believe these potential benefits outweigh ethical reservations around the technology and that the law should be changed to allow families with serious and life-limiting conditions to be able to access the technology. However, others consider that in light of existing alternatives, the risks of embryo editing are not justified and that the existing regulation, that draws a line here, should be maintained.

Either for religious, cultural or personal reasons, some have a strong belief that the human embryo is not ours to manipulate. Further, some fear that the possibility of correcting disease-causing genes could lead society to be less accepting of disease and disability in general. Finally, there are concerns that, due to costs, the technology would be out of reach for many, meaning only wealthier countries or individuals could benefit from it.

The UK Citizens' Jury

The UK Citizens' Jury on Genome Editing will take place on the Wellcome Genome Campus between 13-16 September. The four day event is being hosted by Wellcome Connecting Science and Genetic Alliance UK, who have partnered with Involve, recognised experts in delivering and facilitating citizens' juries around the UK.

The jury will have access to some of the leading experts on genome editing and the complex issues raised by this technology. They will reflect and engage in a series of group deliberations with trained facilitators. Through the process they will have the opportunity to collectively decide their recommendations on how genome editing technologies should be used for inherited conditions. These will be shared with the UK's Department of Health and Social Care as well as the wider genetics, policy and academic communities, so that they can inform future decisions about the technology.

Professor Anna Middleton has commissioned the Citizens' Jury on behalf of Wellcome Connecting Science and partners.

Some of the topic areas might feel challenging, and raise strong and difficult emotions for the jury. We will be creating a safe space where all perspectives and opinions are valid. By bringing together leading experts and jury members with lived experience of inherited conditions, we seek to allow thoughtful deliberation about what it means to be human and whether the manipulation of DNA has a place in our collective future.

Prof Anna Middleton, Wellcome Connecting Science

But what is a citizens' jury?

Citizens' juries have emerged as a public engagement and dialogue tool (often referred to as 'deliberative democracy') and are taken very seriously by governments around the world. They are used as a benchmark of public opinion, particularly on contentious policy issues. For example, citizens' juries have been commissioned by governments to support their policies on gay marriage, abortion and climate change.

Why this, why now?

Scientists can now edit the human genome with relative ease and precision. However, the idea of changing the code of life (the genome) creates strong opinions. In the UK, as in most countries worldwide, it is illegal to perform genome editing on embryos that lead to a pregnancy. In fact, there is no clear proof that this has ever been done.

In 2018, a Chinese researcher, Jiankui He, announced the birth of the first babies whose genome he claimed to have edited. The news provoked immediate global condemnation. Jiankui He was later prosecuted and sentenced to prison in China, and to this date there is no clarity about the outcome of the experiment. The global consensus is that, at present, it would be irresponsible to proceed with genome editing of human embryos for reproductive purposes. Safety aside, the technology raises profound social and ethical issues. Public debate will be essential in order to decide whether or not genome editing should be allowed in the future.

The field of genomic technology, including genome editing, is advancing rapidly and people living with genetic conditions are likely to be the first to be affected by, or benefit from, these developments. It is crucial to understand the views of this community alongside those of the wider public. This is why the UK jury is particularly significant as it is made up of people with a lived experience of genetic conditions, either being directly affected themselves, parents, carers or family members of people living with a genetic condition.

Sophie Peet, Genetic Alliance UK

The UK Citizens' Jury on Genome Editing is part of a series of national juries taking place around the world. These juries are designed to lead to the Global Citizens' Assembly on Genome Editing. This will be led by a group of researchers from the University of Tasmania and the University of Canberra, and is being planned for delivery in Athens in the next few years. The aim is to contribute to shaping the public conversation and decision-making about genome editing technologies around the world.

The UK Citizens' Jury as a creative project

The UK Citizens' Jury on Genome Editing is also a creative project that seeks to visually tell the story of how the jury reached its conclusions. The entire event will be filmed by Green Eyed Monster Films in collaboration with Lambda Films, and released as a short documentary which we will share on our channels and via film festivals.

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UK citizens' jury to bring a patient voice to decisions about human embryos - Connecting Science

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Are there any circumstances under which the UK Government should consider changing the law to allow intentional genome editing of human embryos to prevent serious genetic conditions? If the law were changed, what should the role of the private sector be? And, what type of governance and accountability should be put in place?

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Bringing scientists to your local pub to present their latest discoveries & make you fall in love with science.

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Bestimmen Sie vom 16. Juni bis 14. Juli 2022 mit, welche Themen für zukünftige Forschung relevant sein können!
Im bisherigen Verlauf des Wissenschaftsjahres 2022 wurden die Fragen der Bevölkerung zu Fragensammlungen sortiert und diese wiederum zu Clusterpapieren ausformuliert. Cluster, englisch für Gruppe, sind Sammlungen von Fragen innerhalb eines Themenfeldes, die inhaltlich zusammenpassen. Nun können Sie diese Clusterpapiere kommentieren und außerdem interdisziplinäre Überschneidungen, sogenannte ZukunftsRäume, identifizieren.

Haben Sie Rückmeldungen zu den Clusterpapieren? Auf der Clusterkonferenz im Mai 2022 wurde eine Auswahl der 14.000 Fragen von drei Gremien aus Wissenschaftler*innen und Bürger*innen diskutiert und zu Clustern zusammengefasst. Hier können Sie die Clusterpapiere vom 16. Juni bis 14. Juli 2022 kommentieren.
Jetzt Clusterpapiere kommentieren!

Finden Sie Überschneidungen in den Clusterpapieren? Dann können Sie sogenannte ZukunftsRäume erstellen. So könnte beispielsweise aus einem Cluster zur "Mobilität der Zukunft" und einem zur "Gesundheit" ein ZukunftsRaum zum Thema "Gesundheitsfördernde Mobilität" entstehen.
Jetzt ZukunftsRäume erstellen und diskutieren!

Der Ideenlauf

Der IdeenLauf ist die zentrale Mitmachaktion im Wissenschaftsjahr 2022 - Nachgefragt!. Ziel ist es, einen Dialog zwischen Bevölkerung und Wissenschaft anzustoßen, neue Impulse zu setzen und gemeinsam neue Ideen für Forschung und Forschungspolitik zu erarbeiten.Unter dem Motto #MeineFragefürdieWissenschaft waren alle Bürgerinnen und Bürger dazu eingeladen, Fragen zu wichtigen Themen der Wissenschaft einzubringen. Mehr als 14.000 Fragen wurden von den Bürgerinnen und Bürgern gestellt. Doch das Einreichen war nur der erste Schritt. Im Rahmen der Clusterkonferenz und der Onlinekonsultation werden die Fragen der Bürgerinnen und Bürger nun gebündelt und verdichtet. Im Herbst 2022 wird das Ergebnispapier des Prozesses an Wissenschaft und Politik übergeben.
Weitere informationen zum Prozess

Die Clusterkonferenz

Bei der Clusterkonferenz vom 20. bis 22. Mai 2022 diskutierten drei Gremien aus Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern sowie Bürgerinnen und Bürgern die am besten bewerteten bzw. per Zufallsgenerator ausgewählten Fragen und fassten sie zu Clustern zusammen. Cluster sind Sammlungen von Fragen innerhalb eines Themenfeldes, die inhaltlich zusammenpassen. Ausgewählte Gremienmitglieder verfassten zudem Clusterpapiere, die die Cluster in ihren fachlichen Kontext setzen. Zudem wählten die Gremien Highlight-Fragen aus. Das sind besonders relevante Fragen der einzelnen Cluster.
Zu den Häufigen Fragen

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Bestimmen Sie vom 16. Juni bis 14. Juli 2022 mit, welche Themen für zukünftige Forschung relevant sein können! Im bisherigen Verlauf des Wissenschaftsjahres 2022 wurden die Fragen der Bevölkerung zu Fragensammlungen sortiert und diese wiederum zu Clusterpapieren ausformuliert. Cluster, englisch für Gruppe, sind Sammlungen von Fragen innerhalb eines Themenfeldes, die inhaltlich zusammenpassen.

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Started in 2016 as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the City Nature Challenge (CNC) has grown into an international event, motivating people around the world to find and document wildlife in their own cities. Run by the Community Science teams at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM), the CNC is an annual four-day global bioblitz at the end of April, where cities are in a collaboration-meets-friendly-competition to see what can be accomplished when we all work toward a common goal.

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Started in 2016 as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the City Nature Challenge (CNC) has grown into an international event, motivating people around the world to find and document wildlife in their own cities.

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The Heart and Lung Repair Shop was a pop-up science shop in Hammersmith's Kings Mall, open for two weeks in Summer 2014 from 7-20 July.

NHLI scientists collaborated with four designers to develop the content for the shop, including interactive exhibits, activities and installations.

We imagined what a repair shop for the heart and lungs might look like, and what products and services it would sell.

Products in The Heart and Lung Repair Shop included Canned Fresh Air, Oxygenated and Deoxygenated Blood, Vasculature on a Roll and Extracted Mucus!

The centre-piece of the shop was a Heart and Lung Machine, with handles to inflate the lungs.

...and a creeper board to roll underneath and discover fascinating facts about the heart and lungs.

The shop had a work bench where people could try out laboratory activities like pipetting and have a go looking down a microscope at lung tissue or beating heart cells.

Activities included the Lung Capacity Competition, where visitors had their lung capacity measured to try and make it onto our top ten leaderboard.

The audience were asked to vote on The Heart and Lung Repair Future Challenges. The winning challenge, receiving 699 votes, was 'Repair Your Own Organs' which was a challenge to develop drugs to stimulate the body's own stem cells to heal itself. The other challenges were 'Build a Heart' receiving 184 votes, 'Make Cigarettes Healthy' receiving 278 votes and 'Better Treatment for Lung Cancer' receiving 408 votes.

18 NHLI scientists developed Shop Demos. You can watch some of the Shop Demos on our Heart and Lung Repair Shopping Channel playlist on YouTube.

We ran special events including debates about the future of heart and lung repair, facilitated by Y Touring Theatre Company.

And a debate workshop with students from Hammersmith Academy.

2750 people visited The Heart and Lung Repair Shop during the two weeks it was open.
The Heart and Lung Repair Shop was funded by the Wellcome Trust, supported by Kings Mall, Hammersmith and Hammersmith Business Improvement District, sponsored by Novotel London West with special events delivered in partnership with Y Touring Theatre Company
Design Collaborators: Annie Bowers (Designer), Chris Faulds (Designer and Production Manager), Andrew Friend (Installation Designer), Joe Pochciol (Installation Designer)

Science Collaborators & Shop Facilitators: Marta Abreu Paiva, Sarah Amis, Craig Batista, Kylie Belchamber, Sarah Bowling, Lidia Cammack, Ivan Carubelli, Rasheda Chowdhury, Julia Coffey, Ilaria Conti, Ceri Davies, Amy Day, Charlotte Dean, Neil Dufton, Stephen Durham, Gabor Foldes, Uta Griesenbach, Tank Guney, Sian Harding, Nicola Hellen, Rebecca Holloway, Jill Johnson, Meinir Jones, Chris Kane, Adam Loveridge, Evie Maifoshie, Catherine Mansfield, Maryam Mehrabi, Michelle Metcalf, Jane Mitchell, Caroline Morran, Claire Morgan, Michela Noseda, Clare O'Malley, Lourdes Osuna Almagro, Mike Paul-Smith, Luke Payne, Richard Perryman, Dina Pospori, Sara Rankin, Andia Redpath, Jo Rhodes, Ryan Robinson, Tristan Rodriguez, Duncan Rogers, Jess Rowley, Juan Sanchez Nieto, Sophie Schobesberger, Francisca Schultz, Anusha Seneviratne, Aarti Shah, Mohamed Shamji, Amelia Shoemark, Jennifer Simonotto, Koval Smith, Najwa Soussi, Cesare Terracciano, Andrew Thorley, Jess Tilman, Matt Tranter, Mike Waller, Sophie Welch, Suet-Ping Wong

Shop Assistants: Will Hunter, Janine Myszka, Ros Pearce

Graphic Designer: Helen Davison

Photographer: Ellie Pinney

Filmmakers: Anand Jagatia, Jessica Rosa

Creative Producer: Ellen Dowell

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The Heart and Lung Repair Shop was a pop-up science shop in Hammersmith's Kings Mall, open for two weeks in Summer 2014 from 7-20 July. NHLI scientists collaborated with four designers to develop the content for the shop, including interactive exhibits, activities and installations.

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Melbourne gave 70,000 trees email addresses so people could report on their condition. But instead people are writing love letters, existential queries and sometimes just bad puns.

Hi Tree,

You are just outside my work and you make me happy :)

Keep growing and keep on treeing!

Dear Magnificent River Red Gum,

I admire you every day as I walk past you on my way to and from work. You seem to have been around for some time. Is there any chance that you were here for longer than the time of white settlement?

You look to me to be substantially older than any of the other trees around Princes Park. Is this true? Does this entitle you to any special treatment? How old might you be? Hopefully you will outlast me in the land of the living. I am very interested to know more of your history.

Regards and hope you enjoyed the rain this weekend after such a long dry month.

Babe

I am sorry that you're so sick. Can I climb you one last time? Strip down that bark for me baby, it'll make you feel better.

Dear Smooth-barked Apple Myrtle,

I am your biggest admirer. I have always wanted to meet you, but tragically, I'm stuck in New York.

I think you are the most handsome tree of them all, tall with an inviting open canopy. I love to just dream of you, the smell of your clusters of white flowers, the sight of your lush, dark green foliage, and feel of your patterned bark.

You inspire me to live life to the fullest, and pursue my dreams; you keep growing despite the terrible tragedies in this world. You are loved and deserve the world.

Love, some person in New York

Dear Moreton Bay Fig,

You are beautiful. Sometimes I sit or walk under you and feel happier.

I love the way the light looks through your leaves and how your branches come down so low and wide it is almost as if you are trying to hug me. It is nice to have you so close, I should try to visit more often.

You are my favourite tree because you are a native, standing proud in a cultivated English garden of colonising trees, imported to remind settlers of a home they may never return to. You remind me to be as strong and beautiful as you are.

Dear English Oak,

I have chosen to write to you given your proximity to the Shrine of Remembrance and that your status is 'unknown'.

I write about a friend of mine ... someone who has reached an intersection in life. To the outside world he has control, but within it can feel like a labyrinth with too many possible pathways, all without much clarity or light.

How can I help him during this time of decision and indecision?

Thank you wise old tree.

Dear Syzygium Lilly-Pilly,

This is not a report on your wellbeing, in case someone reading this is looking for issues they need to fix. This is simply a letter to a tree, because I would like someone new to talk to, a stranger, and what better stranger to pick than a tree who lives across the world?

I do not live in Australia, I live in America, and have my whole life. I have not even left this country, although I would like to, someday. I would like to travel the world.

But right now, I am a teenager, going into their sophomore year in high school, and I am not a world traveller. It is late, and I should be asleep. I have been working today. I'm with my dad, working at an art fair in Colorado for the weekend. He's an artist, and makes pottery, full time. I like helping out at fairs with him; artists are actually super great people to be around. I'd like to be an artist when I'm older. I draw, now, just for me. And I take art classes at school. But one day, I would like to be an artist, as a job.

People always talk about the "starving artist", and I can guarantee, it won't be easy, being an artist, for a job. But that's my dream. And what are dreams if you're not just a little bit afraid of them?

Well, I should sleep. It's past midnight, which normally wouldn't be so bad for me, but I have to get up early tomorrow and work. I'll write again, soon, I think. I would quite like to have a tree as a friend.

And maybe, someday, I'll travel across the world and visit you.

Sincerely, a friend

Dear 1517937,

I am confessing something very dear to me. I have fallen in love with 1583182. I also feel guilty for cheating on 1023379 but yet I justified it on the fact that 1023379 is expected to die in under a year.

I honestly feel really bad and I don't know what to do, it would be really great if you could give me some advice. Should I wait for 1023379 to die or should I leave 1023379 for 1583182.

Regards, A Tree Lover <3

Hi Tree 1022794,

How's it going? I walk past you each day at uni, it's really great to see you out in the sun now that the scaffolding is down around Building 100. Hope it all goes well with the photosynthesis.

All the best.

Hi Tree,

How do you feel about those trees who are hugged by koalas all day?

Regards, Not-a-koala

Dear beautiful grassland gum,

I know things may get a little glume-y when you only have grasses for company, but today is your day to shine! Happy National Eucalypt Day!

Your friend.

Hey tree 1656502,

How is life tree ting you? Hate to love and leaf you but I gotta go. How was your day?

Hope to hear from you, maybe we'll hug one day.

Hello tree.

I don't actually know you, but recently I've been wondering what trees say.

A friend of mine gave me your contact information, so I thought I would go straight to the source.

So here is my question: what would you tell people if you could speak?

Dear Nettle,

I just moved in three months ago and I'm very glad that I can talk to you through this system. I live in the first floor and I can actually see you through my window!

I'm having trouble sleeping at night because of the noise of cars and ambulances at night, hope you're not suffering that much and be able to have a good sleep.

Thank you for blocking the noises from the street and wish the birds don't do harm to you. Pleasant to meet you and have a nice day!

Cheers!

hey,

how ya doing?

- me

p.s would you consider your fingers to be your branches or your roots?

Hi tree

You live outside my window....I love you

Tree lover

Dear Mr/Mrs Eucalyptus

Thank you for cleaning and producing our air. I was wondering, what animal spreads your seeds? Is it an animal?

I would love if you replied.

Dear Rose Gum,

Over the past year I have cycled by you each day and want you to know how much joy you give me.

No matter the weather or what is happening around you, you are strong, elegant and beautiful. I wanted you to know.

Love.

These emails were sent as part of Melbourne City Council's Urban Forest Visual, an interactive map that allows the public to find out more about any tree in the council area.

"The idea of incorporating the facility to email the trees was literally set up so that people could report issues about a particular tree and we could quickly identify a tree that needed attention," the council's environment portfolio chair, Cathy Oke, says.

But the response was completely unexpected.

Since the project started it's received more than 4,000 emails from around the world.

"That quickly turned into something quite unexpected when people were using this to send fan mail and love letters," Cr Oke says.

"I think one of the great things about it is that people often think technology removes us from nature but actually the opposite can be true. It shows that technology can actually help you engage with nature. We want people to know we're looking after our trees, we want the community to help us look after them, and if it also brings them some joy in a busy world, that's great too."

Credits
Reporter, photographer: Margaret Burin; Designer: Ben Spraggon; Developer: Colin Gourlay; Editor: Matt Liddy

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People from all over the world are sending emails to Melbourne's trees

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Melbourne gave 70,000 trees email addresses so people could report on their condition. But instead people are writing love letters, existential queries and sometimes just bad puns. Hi Tree, You are just outside my work and you make me happy :) Keep growing and keep on treeing!

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Quantum physics pop up in financial district

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Quantum physics pop up in financial district

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The University of Sussex won both gold and silver at the national HEIST Awards for education marketing in Manchester on Thursday 12 July.

In the category of 'best community/business engagement campaign', the University's delivery of a powerful public engagement event for Quantum Technology received a gold award.

In August 2017, Sussex staff invited members of the public to join them in an innovative pop-up lab in London's Spitalfields Market to learn about the University's cutting-edge work to build the world's first large-scale practical quantum computer..

The project was led by Head of Campaigns, Sarah Ross, in conjunction with Professor of Quantum Technologies, Winfried Hensinger.

Sarah said: "This project was a brilliant creative collaboration with Professor Hensinger and his team, as well as many other colleagues from across the University. I'm really pleased that everyone's work on the project has been recognised at the HEIST Awards."

Judges cited the 'innovative and creative' project as a 'fantastic example of how research can be commercialised and a great project to get the subject of Quantum Physics to the heart of the financial centre.'

Sussex's community festival project was also shortlisted in this category.

The University's 'Let's change things' campaign won silver in the category of 'best undergraduate student recruitment initiative'.

The 'powerful and effective marketing campaign' incorporated new confident messaging, distinctive design and photography, and more focused targeting of potential students - including on public transport and at competitor open days. It received praise from judges for demonstrating real results and a wider impact beyond recruitment.

The campaign was led by Head of Marketing, Katy Hiles. Katy said: ""These awards are a reflection of what we are already capable of as a division. It makes me feel immensely proud of us all, and really ambitious for our future."

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University wins national awards for recruitment and public engagement work

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The University of Sussex won both gold and silver at the national HEIST Awards for education marketing in Manchester on Thursday 12 July. In the category of 'best community/business engagement campaign', the University's delivery of a powerful public engagement event for Quantum Technology received a gold award.

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The AccessLab project is about broadening access to scientific evidence. We do this through pairing scientific researchers with people who are seeking reliable information for their work or personal lives. Our focus is on developing skills for finding scientific information and judging its reliability, rather than just transferring subject-specific knowledge.

During the workshops we:

Look at how scientific research is funded and published, and how you can access it.

Cover basic fact-checking for media stories that relate to science.

Have time to co-research a science-related topic of your choice one-to-one with a paired researcher. This can be anything you like and is not necessarily limited to the theme of each workshop.

Past participants have used AccessLabs to enact policy change (e.g. a councillor who looked into carbon dioxide emissions from idling coaches and achieved a ban), gather evidence for a court case (e.g. a Government agency official who looked into the impact of net sizes on fisheries catches), research content for books and films (e.g. an illustrator who looked into the menstrual cycle for a children's book), and do their jobs more sustainably (e.g. a professional gardener who looked into whether harvesting seaweed as a fertiliser was environmentally problematic). In total, 148 people have now taken part in an AccessLab.

Through iterating pilot events with different audiences, we have developed a robust workshop model that can be rolled out nationally and led by others. The format has been published in PLoS Biology.

" It's brilliant... it's a long time since I was part of a workshop that gave me so much in just one day. I feel I have fundamentally shifted the bounds of possibility."-Policy sector participant, Plymouth 2018.

Why?

Recent world events have highlighted how difficult it can be to find trustworthy sources of information. Difficulties in accessing and judging information can have profound effects on our lives, and when some people have access to less or poorer quality information than others, inequalities are born.

Luckily, the ability to find information and judge its reliability is a skill that be learned. The AccessLab project is about improving access to and the judgement of scientific information, through direct citizen-scientist pairings.

Scientific research impacts on many important aspects of people's lives. Farmers need to know how to encourage biodiversity and how to protect their livestock from disease, shoppers could want to know whether the latest 'superfood' really does provide health benefits, policy makers might want to know how climate change will affect their local area, parents need access to trustworthy information on childhood vaccinations, and those who get ill will be more likely to seek the right treatment given access to reliable information. Helping people understand how to access and use scientific research gives an extra form of information that they can use to make this type of decision.

From a scientific researcher's perspective, finding information and then critically asking 'why should I believe this?' are arguably the most fundamental skills required to do their job, and it's easy to forget how valuable and unusual this skill is. There are remarkably few opportunities for junior scientific researchers to come into working contact with those who want to understand and use their research, and this has direct consequences for how accessible scientists make their work.

" I want to interact much more with local organisations/government. I realise we have much we could accomplish together, even if not directly related to my research." -Researcher participant, Plymouth 2018.

AccessLab workshop participants request help with a topic that is related to science and is of interest personally or for their work - for example regarding a medical issue, renewable energy, farming or fishing, robotics or artificial intelligence. Through one-to-one working with the science researchers, we provide an opportunity for the participants to learn how to find sources of scientific information, and how to judge the reliability of these sources. Instead of giving subject-specific answers to the questions/topics that the participants come with, the aim is to support participants in understanding how they can find reliable information on topics that are relevant to them. This approach means that the participants are empowered to extend their learning to other issues of interest, and are themselves able to pass on the skills learned.

" I found the AccessLab workshop really useful-it has helped me search for fisheries related projects/research, which I have then taken forward as examples to support investigations which I am currently working on. Delighted to be able to pull a more scientific strand into my investigations"-Marine sector participant, Penzance 2018

Who's Involved?

In 2017 we ran two workshops, first partnering artists with science researchers (funded by FEAST Cornwall), and second partnering council members and community group leaders with science researchers (funded by the British Science Association). In 2018 we formed a new partnership between FoAM Kernow (now Then Try This), the British Science Association, and the Natural Environment Research Council - we ran three AccessLab events in the South West UK, first in Penzance for the marine sector, then in Exeter for media/journalists (led by the BSA), and finally in Plymouth for policy makers (funded by the Natural Environment Research Council). In 2019 we adapted the model for Extinction Rebellion - our most successful workshop to date, with queues out the door an hour before it began. Based on this experience, we then worked with Falmouth Library and the European Centre for Environment and Human Health and completed a new series of three online AccessLabs in 2020/2021 focused on Climate, Environment and Health, funded by the Carnegie Trust, Wellcome Trust and Wolfson Foundation's Engaging Libraries scheme.

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The AccessLab project is about broadening access to scientific evidence. We do this through pairing scientific researchers with people who are seeking reliable information for their work or personal lives. Our focus is on developing skills for finding scientific information and judging its reliability, rather than just transferring subject-specific knowledge.

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Investigate at home, scientific process for young people

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Investigate at home, scientific process for young people

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Transform your classroom into an investigation centre! Collect your own objects or discover real Museum specimens online. Develop and use scientific skills by making observations, asking questions and looking for evidence.

These resources support four stages of a classroom scientific investigation as inspired by the work of our Museum scientists. The resources are flexible and can be tailored in many ways to suit your class.

Guidance for educators

This activity focuses on the 'working scientifically' aspects of the curriculum and promotes understanding of 'what science is'.

A good starting place for all abilities is to focus on making observations and recording these in a way that suits the learner (drawing, writing or telling someone else about them).

Pupils, teachers and parents can increase the complexity of the task by asking questions about the specimen, coming up with ideas for answers to their question, and looking for evidence to back them up.

If you'd like some ideas on how to run your session, you can download our activity plan suggestions (21KB DOCX).

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Transform your classroom into an investigation centre! Collect your own objects or discover real Museum specimens online. Develop and use scientific skills by making observations, asking questions and looking for evidence. These resources support four stages of a classroom scientific investigation as inspired by the work of our Museum scientists.

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Öffentliche Wissenschaft / Public Science Lab

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Öffentliche Wissenschaft / Public Science Lab

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Public Science Lab | Öffentliche Wissenschaft

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Das Public Science Lab unterstützt alle, die öffentliche Wissenschaft systematisch in Forschung, Lehre oder Transfer integrieren möchten. Die Arbeitsbereiche sind Forschungsberatung, Methodenentwicklung, Forschung & Wissenstransfer.

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Hopes and Fears Lab, by Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public 

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Hopes and Fears Lab, by Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public 

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Following the presentation 'What kind of future do we want? And who gets to decide?' by the Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public come and find us in The Hopes and Fears Lab.

Sit down with the scientists working on the developments that will shape our future. Hear what excites them, and what makes them pause. And share your hopes and fears with them in return.

Booking information

£5 - add on to 'What Kind of Future do we want' lecture ticket

£10 - without 'What Kind of Future do we want' lecture ticket

Booking for this event is now closed.

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Following the presentation 'What kind of future do we want? And who gets to decide?' by the Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public come and find us in The Hopes and Fears Lab. Sit down with the scientists working on the developments that will shape our future.

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Unjudge someone - The Human Library Organization

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The Human Library® is, a library of people. We host events where readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations.

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Science Outreach Opportunities | Native Scientist

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A network of scientists who do outreach to tackle educational disadvantages and promote science literacy.

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science royal society research funding charity mathematics "science communication" "science events" scientists technology

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The Royal Society is a Fellowship of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. We aim to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

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Investigate Centre, Natural History Musuem London

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Investigate Centre, Natural History Musuem London

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Drop in to Investigate, our science centre where children and adults can get hands-on with the Museum’s collections.

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The Public Science Lab, North Carolina State University 

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The Public Science Lab, North Carolina State University 

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Patients understand their condition and needs better than many medical professionals do.

They may also have ideas about what research would be most beneficial to their lives. However, due to the complexity and cost involved in running clinical trials, the majority of research originates with the pharmaceutical industry or academic researchers. The Cambridge PLRH supports patient-centred (patient led or co-produced) research, working in partnership with patient groups to deliver clinical studies based on their own research questions.

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They may also have ideas about what research would be most beneficial to their lives. However, due to the complexity and cost involved in running clinical trials, the majority of research originates with the pharmaceutical industry or academic researchers.

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A good death? | Exploring the culture of dying well.

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Exploring the culture of dying well.

Is a "good death" something to be valued and aspired to? Is it achievable, manageable - or is it something best left undefined?

This interdisciplinary public impact project explores cultures of dying well, in the past and in the present.

By bringing historical and contemporary ideas about the good death into conversation with each other, we tackle head on the challenge of talking openly and positively about death, and aim to augment our 21st century understanding of what it means to die well.
Check out our Collaborations, Workshops and Events to see the work we do and how you can be involved. Or if you would benefit from some time to read and reflect click you can browse our collection of inspiring literature in Words.
Find out more
Death and Life by Gustav Klimt

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Exploring the culture of dying well. Is a "good death" something to be valued and aspired to? Is it achievable, manageable - or is it something best left undefined? This interdisciplinary public impact project explores cultures of dying well, in the past and in the present.

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Berlin Science Week | The International Science Festival

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Between 1 - 10 November Berlin Science Week presents over 200 events, bringing together people from science, business, politics, the arts, and society at large.