Briefly analyzed
“Pause, Reflect, Engage” was the motto of the Collaborative Futures Academy. It took place last year in November. The academy expanded the public engagement skills of scientists in an interactive and diverse way. The diversity of topics and speakers was particularly important. Their openness to share ideas and feelings was adopted by the participants. CFA inspired not only them, but also the organizing team in many ways. In the end, it was clear to all: the community that was created will result in a network for mutual support and future exchange.
Continuing Education An academy that “exceeded expectations” – that was the Collaborative Futures Academy. Why the participants were enthusiastic about it and what lessons we draw from it for future public engagement projects is analyzed in this field report.
Part two is about the special structure of the sessions offered. In which networking played a major role.
Different formats & different topics
Each day had a different topic: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Personal Skills; Challenging Content; Digital Identity; and Collaboration. Doing public engagement requires reflection on many things: One’s own privileges, the impact on the public, the communication of difficult research topics or how real dialogue with citizens is created. Together with experts, the participants worked on these topics in various formats. These included networking and creative sessions as well as workshops and panels. The variety was well received: “The sessions were complementing very well with each other,” said participant Luis Miguel Benavides Cabrejo.
Diversity should also be reflected in the science system, according to Susan Wallace (Participant Support for Wellcomme researchers): “To reach out to different communities, impacted by current research, making sure different voices are included in research and research design.” Different perspectives bring inspiration and new ways of looking at things. It improves research and so does public engagement.
Inspiring & productive mentoring sessions
The experts shared their knowledge and exchanged ideas with the participants. They came from academia, practice or media. In addition to theoretical knowledge, they provided practical tips. Sessions in which the researchers apply the suggestions and try them out under guidance could expand the offering in the future. On the last day, we offered mentoring sessions. These were stimulating for both the team and the participants: “It was the most productive and inspiring 15 minutes I had.(…) in producing a strategy for a public engagement project” explained Yehuda.
Networking with an interactive tool
Another important component of the CFA was networking. During the sessions, as well as in the networking sessions in Wonder, participants exchanged ideas. The platform is more interactive than Zoom. Participants come together in bubbles – groups. Wonder was open the whole week. This made it possible to exchange ideas before and after the sessions. The participants appreciated this very much. They especially used wonder for a free exchange. “There were a lot of people I’ve spoken to in wonder, who were quite interested in pursuing science communication,” said Aishwarya Viswamitra. They not only exchanged ideas, but also shared experiential knowledge and resources. We collected them on the EngagementHQ platform. This gives participants the opportunity to access the resources after the academy and stay in touch.
In the third part we devote ourselves to the open atmosphere, through which methods we created it and what resulted from it. You will also find an overview of all the tools used.