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The Drum Beat 563 – Public Engagement in Science Research
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October 18 2010
Trouble reading this edition? View it online – http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_563.html
- A DISCUSSION FORUM on public engagement in science.
- HEALTH EXCHANGE focused on public engagement with health research.
- A focus on PARTICIPATION AND POWER dynamics in research.
- Examining the role of SCIENCE IN POLICY realms.
- Examples of the RESEARCH/PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT CONNECTION.
- Initiatives and resources that address research and THE MEDIA.
- MORE available research resources.
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This issue of The Drum Beat looks at various facets of science research, its impact on the public, and how the data itself gains power and momentum through public engagement with and understanding of the inquiry and its results. What follows are examples of articles and initiatives in the fields of health, education, and science that explore the opportunities and challenges of research within the public sphere.
1. Public Engagement in Science
This is a social networking space for the discussion of ideas, strategies, and programmes related to advancing public engagement in science. It has its roots in the ‘Telling Stories’ Wellcome Trust International Public Engagement workshop held in Bengaluru (Bangalore), December 2009. Membership is open to anyone interested in the conference theme of public engagement with science. Archived posts/comments include reflections from the 2009 workshop, discussion of contextual issues related to public engagement with science research, and shared resources and tools for use in engaging the public. Click here to join and contribute.
2. Health Exchange – Summer 2010
This issue of Health Exchange, from Healthlink Worldwide, was sponsored by Wellcome Trust and focuses specifically on «Engaging the Public in Health Research». The issue begins with an introduction by Sian Aggett of Wellcome Trust, and is grounded in the premise that, without engaging with the social, political, and cultural fabric in which research is conducted and its results are to be implemented, health research can be misunderstood and mistrusted. Several of the articles within this issue are also highlighted in The Drum Beat below.
RESEARCH, PARTICIPATION, and POWER
3. Health Research in Suriname: Where Science and Indigenous Knowledge Meet
by Daniel Peplow, Sarah Augustine, and Leon Eric Wijngaarde
Using the case of research within mining-affected communities in Suriname, this June 2010 article studies a new approach to participatory research within indigenous communities, which combines scientific and traditional knowledge systems and sees scientists and indigenous peoples as equals.
4. The Need for Public Participation in the Governance of Science Centers
by Andrea Bandelli, Elly A. Konijn, and Jaap W. Willems
This article, from October 2008, discusses science centres’ and museums’ new strategies to increase inclusiveness, to engage the public more actively, and to respond to the need to present contemporary science and research as part of their public programmes. As stated here, «[i]n order to do so, they need to increase the level of public participation not only to inform the development of specific exhibitions and programs, but also to share authority in their interpretive and decision-making process. However, existing models of governance do not allow for a formal role of the public in the decision making process.»
5. Power in Communities: Why Does Analysis Matter for Health Research?
by Gerry Mshana and Richard Walker
Through discussion of health-focused research in Tanzania, this June 2010 article examines the interaction and influence of community and researcher-researchee power dynamics on the engagement within and results of research studies.
6. Research Makes the News: Strengthening Media Engagement with Research to Influence Policy
by Joanne Carpenter and Ingrid Yngstrom
This brief begins from the premise that: «If knowledge created by researchers is shared and debated publicly, it is more likely to be adopted by policymakers and practitioners.» It examines media capacity to generate public debate by using research to influence policy outcomes. It provides insights on how to strengthen that capacity, drawing on commissioned case-study research from Uganda and Jamaica.
by Harry Jones, Nicola Jones, and Cora Walsh
This August 2008 paper describes research that systematically examines the science-policy interface in developing countries. It focuses on three broad questions: What is the patterning of relationships between scientific researchers, policy decision-makers and intermediaries in developing country contexts? What are the challenges and opportunities for strengthening these linkages? What types of strategies exist or could potentially be adopted to improve evidence-informed policy processes?
by Harry Jones, Nicola Jones, Cora Walsh, and David Walker
This December 2009 paper describes the increased importance of incorporating scientific knowledge into policy, particularly on climate change adaptation (CCA) in developing country policy processes. This background note focuses, in particular, on the role of knowledge intermediaries in brokering understanding between researcher and policy communities, but also among the general public, in advancing effective and context-sensitive CCA policy strategies.
9. Scientists Must Not Be Muzzled
by David Dickson
In this June 2010 SciDev.Net editorial, David Dickson makes the case that some scientists and those speaking on their behalf are being persecuted for expressing opinions based on their scientific expertise. He argues that scientists «have a responsibility to speak out about topics on which they hold expert knowledge, particularly if this knowledge can better inform a political debate. But society, in turn, has a responsibility to protect scientists when they do.»
10. Linking Evidence with Policy and Practice
by Andrew Chetley
This February 2008 article looks at strengthening the links between research, policy, and practice, examining Healthlink Worldwide’s work in this area along with insights and lessons learned from the United Kingdom (UK)’s Department for International Development (DFID), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and Panos Institute, among others. The article highlights challenges in assessing the impact of research on development and concludes with practical action steps related to the use of research to influence and impact policy.
Also see:
11. Sexual Health and HIV Evidence into Practice Group (SHHEP Group)
The SHHEP Group is a collaboration between United Kingdom (UK), African, and Asian research organisations using research to influence government policy on sexual health and HIV in developing countries.
DEMYSTIFYING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE
12. Telling Stories: How the Public Can Engage with Science – Bangalore 2009 Conference Report
This report summarises the activities and discussions that took place during the December 2009 Bangalore, India, conference «Telling Stories: Why Narrative Matters in Public Engagement with Science» (see item #1, above). The programme allowed delegates to explore the following questions: When and how can we use storytelling properly in public engagement? What are the potential dangers of misusing it? The points raised touched upon the practical and theoretical challenges involved in translating science to diverse audiences, using creative methodologies in public engagement and working with diverse and vulnerable groups.
13. Life-Saving Learning around the Drinking Pot
by Sarah Cumberland
This October 2010 article reports on a grassroots initiative in Uganda – a gathering of educated scientists in science cafes, informal meeting places of the science community and interested friends held in local languages at the local malwa (millet beer) joint. The first talk given in the local language was on the topic: «How can I live longer with HIV?» According to the article, this event was the catalyst for many participants to declare their HIV status and talk more openly on the subject. Demand for these cafes has spread to church communities.
14. Promoting Science in Schools: Research Institutes Play their Part
by Alun Davies, Bibi Mbete, Dickson Ole Keis, and Samson Kinyanjui
Focusing on the work of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)-Wellcome Trust programme (KEMRI-WTP) in Kilifi, Kenya, this June 2010 article discusses the potential role of research institutes to enrich school science, demystify health research in the communities in which they work, and encourage future generations of scientists and health workers.
15. Casting a Finer Net: Involving Fishing Communities in HIV Research
by William Kidega
Published in June 2010, this article focuses on the field-testing of a number of community engagement approaches to distribute information on HIV and sustain the interest of Lake Victoria, Uganda, fishing communities in HIV prevention research. «The initiative has…shed light on the expectations and needs that are likely to feed into any HIV research conducted in fishing communities…. By establishing strategic partnerships with health care service providers, the team has supported the provision of…basic services and that has widened the reach of HIV prevention messages and the acceptance of HIV prevention research.»
16. RELAY: Communicating Research
The intention of this Panos London initiative is to help build the capacity of the media to effectively communicate development research in southern countries. RELAY is exploring new ways of linking the media with academic research communities. In this context, RELAY aims to (a) popularise academic research on critical development issues facing the south; and (b) build the capacity of southern journalists to identify and cover research related stories in a stimulating and accessible manner.
17. Getting into the Kitchen: Media Strategies for Research
From Panos London in 2006, this paper explores the linkages between policy, research and media. It considers some of the dilemmas faced, and the options and approaches available when a research programme, institute, or researcher is constructing a media strategy. It lays out some of the main steps in developing a strategy.
18. Practical Guides to Science Communication
Published by SciDev.Net, this online series of practical guides aims to provide recent articles on science communication and how to report on research and data so that it the information is engaging and effective.
Also see:
19. Towards a Better Map: Science, the Public and the Media
by Ian Hargreaves, Justin Lewis, and Tammy Speers
This report, from 2003, provides an in-depth contemporary assessment of the media’s role in the public understanding of science.
For MORE on research within archived issues of The Drum Beat, please see:
The Drum Beat 553 – Research into Practice
The Drum Beat 520 – Media, Research, and Impact
and for more strategic thinking focused on research, click here.
This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Deborah Heimann.
The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – ANDI, BBC World Service Trust, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Calandria, CFSC Consortium, CIDA, DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano, Ford Foundation,Healthlink Worldwide, Inter-American Development Bank, International Institute for Communication and Development, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, PAHO, The Panos Institute, The Rockefeller Foundation,SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, WHO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
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The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries.
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