DisTerrMem in European Researchers’ Night & Futures2020
DisTerrMem researchers took part in a Festival of Discovery that showcases and engages people with European research and innovation.
European Researchers' Night, funded under the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), is an annual Europe-wide event that brings researchers closer to the public. The Night gives researchers the opportunity to showcase the diversity of science and its impact on citizens’ daily lives, and to stimulate interest in research careers – especially among young people.
Futures2020: a unique collaboration
In 2020, researchers from universities across the south-west of England once again came together to curate a collective event, Futures2020. Futures is a unique public engagement collaboration between the University of Bath, Bath Spa University, University of Bristol, University of Exeter and University of Plymouth. It aims to create links between researchers and society, enhancing public recognition of researchers and their work in an inclusive, entertaining and inspiring way. Each partner works with organisations such as museums, libraries, sports centres and cultural venues to develop opportunities for researchers to engage people in their city and region.
This festival of discovery took place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November 2020. Originally planned a series of live events across Bath, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth, the event was redesigned and delivered via a range of online platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic. Researchers from the participating universities worked together to bring research to life in new and exciting ways, staging a host of events ranging from storytelling to panel discussions, comedy, quizzes and a virtual knowledge fair.
EU Corner: a DisTerrMem ‘takeover’
The University of Bath’s ‘EU Corner’ activity took the form of a takeover of Futures’ social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by the DisTerrMem project team.
The takeover sought to share the project’s aims and case studies with a wider public audience. A variety of content shared over the period included: pointers and questions on contemporary issues around memorialisation and personal responsibility; short opinion polls to encourage engagement with contemporary debates; signposts to ‘must read’ news articles to help to deconstruct ongoing debates in the public sphere; snapshots of project outputs, articles and videos produced to date, aiming to present the project and key theories to a lay audience, and selected travel photos taken by project researchers during secondments in partner countries.
Feedback shared via the University of Bath’s public engagement team noted that it was “a fantastic way to begin Futures and helped kick-start a huge amount of social media engagement over the weekend. You touched on some really fascinating topics and it was great to see the variety of content you were able to share.”
Since 2018, 11,000 people have participated in Futures activities meeting around 500 researchers exploring diverse research topics including medieval manuscripts, artificial intelligence, microplastics, climate change, and microbial resistance.
Discover more about the wide range of research showcased throughout the event at https://Futures2020.co.uk
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