What if engagement in science starts with belonging?
Connecting people with science through the Relational Engagement Model.
What makes someone feel that science is “for me”? Is it having access to more information? Meeting a scientist? Being invited to participate in an experiment?
Or perhaps it starts somewhere deeper: recognising yourself in the person, place or story through which science reaches you.
At Native Scientists, we have spent years creating opportunities for children and scientists to meet. Through programmes such as the Same Home Town and the Same Migrant Community, we have seen how a seemingly simple encounter can change the way a child sees science — and themselves in relation to it.
Now, we have put some of these ideas into a scientific framework. Our latest peer-reviewed article, When People See Themselves in Science: A New Relational Model of Science Engagement, published in Science Communication in July 2026, introduces the Relational Engagement Model: an approach to science engagement that places connection, belonging and shared backgrounds at the heart of the interaction.
Beyond sharing knowledge
Science communication has evolved considerably over the years. Traditionally, the Deficit Model described science communication largely as a one-way process: experts have knowledge, audiences do not, and the role of communication is to fill that gap.
More recent approaches have moved towards dialogue and participation, recognising that audiences bring their own knowledge, experiences and perspectives in the interactions with science.
These shifts are important. But we argue that there is still another question worth asking:
What makes people want to connect with science in the first place?
Our paper proposes that engagement can become more meaningful when people find something of themselves in the person, context or experience through which they encounter science.
A child from a rural community meeting a scientist who grew up in the same town, may see possibilities that previously felt distant. A migrant child meeting a scientist who speaks their heritage language may feel that their language and identity have a place in science.
In these moments, the interaction is not simply about transferring knowledge or even participating in an activity. It is about recognition. The message becomes: people like me can belong here too.
From connection to engagement
The Relational Engagement Model builds on the idea that science engagement can be strengthened by shared cultural, emotional and social ground.
The concept is not that scientists and audiences need to be identical. But meaningful points of connection can help to create the conditions for trust, curiosity and belonging.
The main point of the model is that engagement is not only about what happens during an encounter between participants. When children encounter relatable scientists, they may begin to imagine themselves differently. Science can become less abstract, less distant and less associated with a stereotypical type of person.
The relationship can also be reciprocal. Scientists are not simply “delivering” science to children. They are learning from the communities they engage with, and to which they somehow belong, developing new communication skills and seeing their own work through different perspectives.
This creates the possibility of a cycle: connection can lead to engagement, engagement can lead to inspiration, and inspiration can create new connections.
What does circularity have to do with science communication?
The model emerged from another idea that has been central to our work: Circular Education.
Inspired by principles of the circular economy, Circular Education asks us to move away from linear approaches where knowledge is created, delivered and then left behind. Instead, resources, experiences and knowledge can be continuously reused, adapted and connected to new contexts.
In science communication, this means asking different questions:What knowledge does a learner already have?
How can their experiences become part of the learning process?
How can what happens during an engagement activity influence what comes next?
And how can the relationships created through science engagement continue beyond a single interaction?
This perspective changes how we design science engagement interventions. Rather than seeing an outreach activity as a one-off transfer of knowledge, we can see it as one moment in a longer learning cycle.
Learning from Native Scientists' programmes
The Relational Engagement Model is grounded in practice. Native Scientists’ Same Home Town programme connects children with scientists who grew up in their own communities. The scientists return to the schools they once attended and share their journeys into science.
For a child, meeting someone who once sat in the same classroom can make a scientific career feel more imaginable. The scientist is no longer an abstract figure from a textbook or television screen. They are someone with a story, a place and experiences that children can relate to.
The Same Migrant Community programme applies a similar principle through heritage language and cultural identity. Children meet scientists who share their heritage language and, often, aspects of their or their parents migration experience. Here, language becomes more than a tool for communication. It becomes a bridge between identity, community and science.
These programmes illustrate how relational approaches can challenge the feeling that science is something that belongs to other people. Instead, science becomes something children can recognise themselves within.
From individual encounters to systemic change
A single interaction may seem small. A scientist walks into a classroom. Children ask questions. An experiment takes place. Someone discovers something new.
But these moments can have effects that extend beyond the classroom.
A child may become more curious about science. A teacher may discover a new way of approaching a topic. A scientist may gain confidence in communicating their research. A community may see itself represented in spaces where it has historically been absent.
Over time, these connections can accumulate. This is why we believe science engagement should ask: Do people see themselves in science?; Do they feel that they belong?; Can they connect scientific knowledge with their own experiences, identities and communities?
These questions are particularly important when working towards greater equity as providing the same opportunity to everyone does not necessarily mean that everyone will experience that opportunity in the same way.
Sometimes, creating more equitable engagement means designing experiences that recognise where people come from — and using those experiences as a starting point for connecting with science.
A different way forward
Deficit, dialogue and participatory approaches have each contributed important insights to the field. With the Relational Engagement Model, we propose relational engagement as an additional lens for thinking about how meaningful connections with science are created and sustained.
For Native Scientists, this research represents an important step in something we have been exploring through practice for years. Our programmes began with a simple belief: every child should have the opportunity to meet a scientist.
Our research is helping us articulate how the interaction design matters just as much as the science being communicated.
Because sometimes the most powerful science engagement does not begin with a scientific fact. It begins with recognition. With a familiar language. A shared place. A similar story. A feeling of belonging.
And perhaps, with the realisation that “science is for people like me”.
Read the full paper: When People See Themselves in Science: A New Relational Model of Science Engagement, by Joana M. Bordalo, Matilde Gonçalves and Joana A. Moscoso, published in Science Communication (2026).
