Parallel Sessions V – 5.2 Horizon Talks

Rony Ben Chaim, Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem, Israel
Communicating without words- bridging language and culture

The modern world and globalization bring on many opportunities but also create complex challenges. Israel is no exception with its various conflicts that add complexity to life, and Jerusalem might be the most complex city of all.

We are using the MAKE methodology to bridge between communities by initiating conversations in after-school programs for school students from many different communities.

In my 8 minutes talk, I will demonstrate 4 different ways that help bring together kids from very different backgrounds, (such as Jewish, Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox) sometimes with no common language.

The MAKE approach turns abstract ideas into various kinds of reality by enabling brainstorming, experimenting (and sometimes failing), and collaborating. During this process, the kids overcome the obvious obstacles (language, religion, etc.) and their communication leads to deeper understanding and higher engagement. Learning by making is a great way to bridge languages.

Emma Clarke, University of Malta: Equal By Nature
Science and Arts as a tool for Integration of Refugee Communities

Humans love boundaries. They help them control resources, concentrate them and develop the land, sea and air. Borders have pushed innovation but also wars. What can humans learn from their own DNA to co-exist with each other and rea­lise that in the end, we are all human? Stopping that bloodshed is paramount to our progress.

The project Equal by Nature explored these issues by bringing together diverse communities around Malta to play with genetics and arts leading to a concrete output: the participants collectively deciding how to address the challenges their community faces. The project reached out to refugee communities and local citizen groups.

The project successfully ran workshops and developed artworks that the refugees presented during an exhibition in Science in the City, Malta’s largest science and arts festival. The workshop attendees are also developing a fashion and science show, with several other activities in other to engage refugees and other communities in Malta.

Isabella Riccò, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain and Adele de Stefani,ISRAA, Italy
AGORAge: Ageing in a Caring Community

The talk will present AGORAge: Ageing in a Caring Community project (2022/2023) (pilot of the H2020-COESOproject) coordinated by University Rovira I Virgili and Istituto per Servizi di Ricovero e Assistenza agli Anziani (ISRAA). AGORAge is a citizens science project that promotes a process of social intervention to encourage the inclusion in their neighbourhoods of older people who live in nursing homes and cohousing. By levering on relationships and actions of mutual aid and support as a vehicle of reciprocal responsibility and social safeness, the focus is on creating a sense of belonging to a neighbourhood, which plays a significant role in favouring psychological well-being. Therefore, emphasis has been placed on relationships as privileged channels for creating a community that is not only inclusive but also caring. The expected outcome is the co-creation of a toolkit containing theoretical information, operational tools and methodologies for generating a caring community.

Rosana Sanahuja, Universitat Jaume I, Spain
Boosting public engagement from the Ethical Governance of Science: The ETHNA System case

Achieving greater involvement of citizens and stakeholders requires a push from the epicentre of Higher Education, Funding and Research Centres. The ETHNA System project has designed and implemented an ethical science governance system that includes public engagement as a key factor in achieving more open and accountable science. The ETHNA governance system, designed through a reflective and collaborative process that included consultation with 1,300 European stakeholders, is being piloted in six European centres. The presentation discusses how public engagement has been integrated into the three mechanisms that articulate the governance system: codes of ethics and good practice, ethical guidelines and research and innovation ethics committees. The analysis of the implementation of this flexible system, which can be adapted to each of the centres, provides keys and proposals for promoting public engagement through governance.

Claire Riordan, CÚRAM, SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices, Ireland
Science Gets Cinematic

Science on Screen’ is a collaborative public engagement programme established in 2015 through partnership between CÚRAM, a Science Foundation Ireland medical device research centre and Ardán, a non-profit organisation supporting creatives within the audio-visual industry in Ireland. The seven half-hour documentaries produced through the programme to date have reached over 1.3 million viewers worldwide, had 11 national broadcasts, been screened at 31 different film festivals in 17 countries and won six international awards. Participants will learn how the Science on Screen model was developed, about funding and budget allowances for filmmakers and the impact that participation in the programme has had on all contributors. The session will speak to the importance of building trust within these partnerships to create engaging, emotive films that speak to public audiences about the importance of current research and how it affects our quality of life.