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This workshop will explore the roles and responsibilities of chemical scientists in communicating climate change with different groups. We will consider how emotions like anxiety, frustration, hope, and guilt complicate this task – both for scientists and the public – and how we might navigate them. Participants will work together to develop actionable engagement plans for a range of experts involved in climate-related research and communication.

About Stephen:

Stephen Hughes is a lecturer in Science, Technology, and Society at UCL. His research explores difficult and uncomfortable forms of public engagement, such as conspiracy theories, vaccine hesitancy, and climate change denial. He is interested in novel and experimental forms of communication that foreground the emotional aspects of public engagement with science.

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Date: 26 May 2023
Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm
Location: Online and in-person at Burlington House

In this workshop, three RSC Outreach Fund grant holders shared their public engagement and outreach journeys, their experiences with the fund and the pivotal role their grants played. Visit this page to learn more about the RSC Outreach Fund.

About the speakers

Victoria Hatchett from Big Ideas: a community engagement organisation that specialises in developing innovative youth programmes. In 2022, Big Ideas partnered with the Royal Society of Chemistry to deliver Chemistry4Change. Chemistry4Change connected social action with chemistry to broaden the horizons and aspirations of Key Stage 2 children in the area of Teesside. It aimed to demonstrate the way in which chemists are changing the world by connecting young people with role models and challenging them to imagine how they could change the world using chemistry.

Xanthe Pitt from Discovery Planet: Discovery Planet is a small grassroots organisation which was set up in Ramsgate, on the East Kent Coast, to weave enriching educational experiences into the lives of an underserved audience. We have used a series of small grants to build a brand and a local following, by popping up in unexpected places like empty commercial units and market stalls. Having welcomed over 16,000 people to our events over the past 9 years, we now deliver science workshops from a permanent High Street Shop space.

Chris Hamlett, Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry: As the Discover Materials National Outreach Officer Chris coordinates the nationwide Discover Materials group (a group from ten UK universities whose aim is to promote Materials Science and Engineering). Over the past six years, Chris has been awarded funding from the RSC’s ‘Outreach Grant Small Fund’ scheme to promote the chemical sciences at a local family-friendly festival and schools in South Birmingham. He will discuss his journey in outreach and public engagement and how this led to him applying to the RSC’s Outreach scheme and how this, in turn, has led to him having a career in public engagement.”

This online workshop discussed and reflected on what inclusion and equity mean in science engagement contexts. Led by Vanessa Mignan Jenkins, we explored the key challenges of reaching diverse audiences and looked critically at our practice.

Vanessa used a peer-consultation approach to identify practical actions for change.

About Vanessa:

Vanessa Mignan Jenkins is an independent trainer and social inclusion consultant for public engagement organisations. She uses her cross-cultural expertise to support institutions working outside their comfort zone. Over the past ten years, she has developed, implemented and evaluated educational and training programmes on science engagement, creativity and social justice at both French and European levels. Since 2021, she has been an Honorary Research Associate of the STS department at UCL.

This was a workshop on engaging public audiences with your work in novel and creative ways and widening your reach in science communication.

Eve Barro from Chelsea Physic Garden hosted an online workshop on how to engage the public with chemistry through plants and botanical gardens.

About Eve:

Eve Barro is the Assistant Project Curator at Chelsea Physic Garden. She has a background in biochemistry from Imperial College London and a postgraduate degree in ‘Science, Technology and Society’ from University College London. Her current work and research interests revolve around ethnobotanical knowledge and emotional engagement with the natural world.

This was a workshop for those interested in widening their reach when engaging public audiences with science. The RSC’s Joanna Buckley hosted a workshop on how to use TikTok for creative forms of science communication.

The Royal Society of Chemistry were the first learned society to post educational content on TikTok, back in October 2020, and the #LearnOnTikTok movement has seen huge growth since then.

If you missed it, here are some Top Tips from Joanna on using TikTok for science outreach!

This workshop was for those interested in public engagement that tackles challenging topics. Stephen Hughes from the Science and Technology Studies (STS) department at UCL hosted an interactive workshop that explored some of the tensions and conflicts which can emerge when chemists engage the public with their research.

The session explored the idea of trust as an obstacle to be overcome versus a relationship to be developed between scientists and the public.

About Stephen:

Stephen Hughes is a lecturer in Science, Technology, and Society at UCL. His research explores difficult and uncomfortable forms of public engagement, such as conspiracy theories, vaccine hesitancy, and climate change denial. He is interested in novel and experimental forms of communication that foreground the emotional aspects of public engagement with science.

This workshop was for those that are passionate about science communication that addresses social inequalities in STEM. Sara Marques from Native Scientists hosted a workshop on inclusion and diversity in public engagement with science.

Native Scientists bridges the gap between science and society by connecting children and scientists with a shared cultural background: About | Native Scientist

About Sara:

Sara Marques has 15+ years of experience in science communication and outreach. Sara has been responsible for developing, coordinating, delivering, and evaluating a wide variety of outreach activities that have Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion values in mind.

You've got a great topic, but how do you make people care? Sam Langford hosted a two-part series of 1-hour interactive online workshops that explored storytelling and engagement techniques that hook your audience and make them want to learn more! Whether it's tips on how to use volunteers, figuring out your audience or discovering that you definitely are a funny presenter, these two sessions were wide-ranging and highly interactive (no death by PowerPoint here!). Attendees had the chance to participate in a number of activities that helped build engagement skills with a range of audience types.

About Sam:

These sessions were delivered by Sam Langford (he/him), a science communicator, event producer and all-around performing science monkey. With almost 10 years of experience in science communication, he has delivered science content in the rainforest, up mountains, at music festivals and even by sending objects to the edge of space.

Through a series of three 1-hour workshops, award-winning freelance communicator and engagement professional Jamie Gallagher explored how to create the perfect public engagement tailored to your skills and subject. This series had something for everyone, whether you are new to engagement or looking to get new perspectives on what you can do to improve this workshop is packed with tips, tricks and strategies for making the most of your engagement.