How Conferences help sharing Native Scientists' Innovative Concepts
In the past school year, Native Scientists team presented Same Migrant Community and Same Home Town programmes at six different conferences around Europe to exchange information and knowledge about science communication and outreach.
In the past school year, Native Scientists team displayed the work that has been connecting children and scientists through their programmes, and had a chance to get to know different educational programmes and science communicators around Europe. Attending conferences was a chance to engage in networking and build valuable professional relationships..
The Engage Conference took place In May in Bristol, United Kingdom, and it was led by researchers, engagement professionals, communities, charities and organisations acting as agents for societal change. Our Applications and Fundraising Manager for Native Scientist, Beatriz Amado, had the opportunity to attend this conference and learn how to make science communication more inclusive to everyone through new and different practices. On behalf of Native Scientists, Beatriz Amado presented the Same Home Town (SHT) programme in an innovative way: a 3 minutes short story. “Together with my team, we prepared a story about Rodrigo, a 9 year old from the Azores who participated in the programme and won our annual contest, which made him and his dad come to Lisbon together to get it. Everyone was fascinated by the programme and I left with great feedback and new ideas.”, says Beatriz Amado. The SHT programme, running for over three years, was also presented in Georgia at EUSEA2024 conference by its co-founder Joana Bordalo.
Still in May, Beatriz Amado, Catarina Miranda, Francesco Guarracino, Joana Bordalo, Joana Moscoso and Mariana Ferreira gathered at SciComPt, in Braga, Portugal. Once again, the topic of inclusivity and accessibility for all people was discussed along with various new challenges of science communication and how to have a brighter future for the field. Our Programme Lead for Arabic and the UK, Hania Tayara, also attended the SciComm South West Conference, to present the Same Migrant Community (SMC) programme and to talk about the importance of doing science communication in heritage languages for migrant children. Hania also attended the SEB Conference, in Prague Czech Republic, in July. “I spoke about the SMC programme and presented our new partnership with Society of Experimental Biology (SEB), Experimental Biology across Boundaries.”, says Hania. Moreover, the results of the SMC programme for the past school year was also showcased by our former Programme Manager for Italian in Europe, Francesco Guarracino, in the Scuola Democratica Conference, Italy. The main topic of this international conference was education for social justice, leading to the participation of educators, researchers and professionals in the sector. Francesco helped establish “important contacts that can help further Native Scientists mission”, says our Co-founder and Director Joana Moscoso.
Last but not least, Catarina Miranda, Strategic Communications Lead and Camões Partnership Manager for Native Scientists, went to ESOF2024, in Poland, one of the most notable international conferences in the world for gathering scientists, entrepreneurs, politicians, journalists, among others, to talk about the latest achievements in science and how those impact on society nowadays. “Native was represented within the RAISE consortium - Researchers in Action for Inclusion in Science and Education. I was the project manager of this consortium for 1.5 years and went to present the work we carried out over the 2 years in the consortium.”, says Catarina.
“Our presence at the sector's conferences give visibility to Native innovative concepts and provide more opportunities of professional development to programme leads and managers," states Joana Moscoso. Our core team is already working to present Native’s successful initiatives in more conferences for next school year. If you are aware or involved in any communication conference and would like Native Scientists to showcase our work, please contact joana.moscoso at nativescientists.org.
Comments