Global societal challenges together with growing public interest in science present both opportunities as well challenges for the research world. Open Science is a way to ensure that citizens are involved in research, and that the views of different stakeholders are taken into consideration when shaping science agendas and research projects. How can science communication practitioners, researchers, policy makers and research funding bodies successfully engage with the public, and ensure that their values and interests are taken into account?

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This year’s online PCST conference provided VA with an opportunity to showcase the results of a number of its studies and public engagement and open science projects. VA’s contributions included visual presentations, insight talks and a roundtable discussion to delegates participating from numerous time zones across the globe.  

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Interest in research has soared and the need for effective science communication has never been greater. This year’s Forum for Science Communication (FFF) on 14 April 2021 took place under the umbrella of a tumultuous year full of challenges and opportunities. Participation was at a record high: over 600 science communicators, communication managers, journalists and others working with science communication took part in FFF 2021, representing more than 15 different countries. The Forum’s Facebook group also attracted nearly 1,000 members.

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The aim of the Falling Walls International hubs is to connect the local and regional Science Engagement networks with the global Falling Walls community. In connection to the Swedish Forum for Science Communication on 14 April, some 50 international science engagers gathered for an hour of “Eftersnack”, an informal networking and knowledge exchange organised by Hub Sweden.

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This year’s Engage Festival, organised by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) in the UK, offered a week-long smorgasbord of discussions, workshops, inspiring examples of practice and networking for those working with public engagement. VA contributed to two sessions and gained lots of inspiration throughout the event held online from 30 November – 4 December.

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Test on fruits and plants! Use new technology and artificial intelligence! Which animals are most common in testing and do we test make-up on animals? The questions and reflections were many when we met high school students at Researcher’s Night – ForskarFredag in Swedish.

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A mind-blowing science show from Umeå, exciting geological adventures with Minecraft from Uppsala, a rare chance to peek into an Olympic test centre for winter sports from Östersund, were just a few of hundreds of creative digital activities held during 23 – 29 of November all over Sweden as part of ForskarFredag, the Swedish branch of European Researchers’ Night.

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As universities seek to strengthen their connections with their local communities, concepts like ’civic universities’ and ’public engagement’ can play a key role. To help inspire their members, the Swedish non-profit organisations VA (Public & Science) and Unilink jointly ran an online conference on 12 November, to gain a better understanding of these concepts in practice. 

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If you had not heard of Open Science and wondered what it was, or wished there was an Open Science topic you knew more about, then the ORION Open Science Cafe on 4 November during Berlin Science Week was the perfect event.

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In October and November, the Swedish Rethinkerspace, part of the EU RETHINK project, met for the second time. The workshop, which due to the Covid-19 pandemic was divided into two digital meetings, aimed to dive deeper into how people make sense of science communication, and how to assess quality in digital science communication.  Läs mer