Science Engagement Reports
Falling Walls Engage Success Stories
At Falling Walls Engage we build and support a global network of Science Engagement practitioners who are committed to sharing knowledge, elevating impact, and sharing best practices for engaging the public in and with science. We aim to foster exchange, co-learning, and co-production that can lead to more effective engagement practices, inspiration, and societal impact in the long term.
We see the value in connecting practitioners from different fields and regions around the world. We consider it a great success to see community members engaging, supporting and even shaping new projects and the development in professional work and project, or visibility, after their involvement with Falling Walls Engage. Some of these stories we would like to tell.
Falling Walls Engage Tools & Reports
A selection of free tools and useful documents and other external sources for your daily work in Science Engagement. This includes tools to measure your Science Engagement project's impact, resources to help you structure your project strategically and help you engage various audiences.
Would you like to post a report, white paper or similar resource on this page?
Then contact us at [email protected].
Our Tools & Reports
On 8 November 2023, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Falling Walls Engage co-hosted an interactive workshop on ‘Effective Ecosystems for Science Communication’ with selected guests attending the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin. During the workshop, participants exchanged experiences and discussed international best practices for vibrant and effective ecosystems for science communication and engagement to inspire each other. The following report summarises the presentations and group discussions.
In collaboration with the esteemed Hannover Re Foundation, Falling Walls Engage and Falling Walls Lab introduced the Hannover Re Foundation Summer School, that took place from 27-30 September 2023 in Hannover, Germany.
The 4-day intensive programme on Global Solutions for Water Security brought together 40 innovators and Science Engagers from 21 countries fostering knowledge sharing, idea exchange, and collaborative project development.
The course was filled with informative presentations from prestigious speakers and experts, as well as intensive group work. The programme culminated in the presentation of their seven distinct project proposals aimed at improving global water security.
The Falling Walls Foundation, together with the Hannover Re Foundation, is proud to spearhead this ambitious programme that strives to address climate change challenges, particularly in the realm of water security. By empowering innovators and researchers to create impactful projects, we envision a future where scientific solutions transcend borders, creating a more resilient and sustainable world.
Under The Microscope has published its preliminary report on Science Engagement and Funding, a research project that was commissioned to investigate and determine underlying reasons for underfunding Science Engagement programs and projects.
The Impact Planning Tool considers the following aspects:
- Type of project/activity
STEM podcast vs. STEM workshop at the school - Goals (Why?)
Learn about climate change vs. reduce plastic consumption vs. improve regional air pollution - Target group/s (To whom?)
Teachers vs. rural communities vs. policymakers - Format (What?)
Budget, size, online, hybrid/physical, time frame - Content
Tailored workshop for students on pollution and its environmental impact vs. local citizen science on native species vs. science café on climate science
A Theory of Change is an impact strategy and evaluation framework which allows us to formulate the results and long-term societal changes that a project aims to achieve:
- Challenges - the societal problems IYSE wants
to tackle with its activities. - Outputs - the direct results from the activities
IYSE develops or promotes. - Outcomes - the changes in skills, knowledge,
behaviour, and actions of IYSE’s target groups. - Impact - the significant, lasting, and sustained
change that occurs on people’s lives as a result
of IYSE’s activities.
The Impact & Sustainability Canvas (ISC) contemplates the following aspects:
- Value proposition (outcomes & impact), challenge, vision/solution (work towards a better world and SDGs)
- Results (outputs), activities, resources
- Actors (beneficiaries, partners, influencers), relations and channels, key obstacles
- External Conditions, Impact, Side effects
- Cost structure
- Flow revenues
The Evaluation Decision Tree shows the following aspects for projects:
- Interest / motives
- Goals (consider target group/s, communication channels, format)
- Activity design (size, setting, time frame)
- Evaluation design (summative; formative; hybrid)
- Study design (data collection, timing)
- Quantitative or qualitative methods; suitable methods
- Data to be collected (numerical, textual); which data sources
With many impressions, new Engage community members and inputs for the new year, we close the year 2022.
Our Engage community has grown again and thrives as various networks are formed, and multiple barriers to Science Engagement and innovation are broken through collaboration.
In 2022, one of the areas we have focused on at Falling Walls Engage is the challenges of Planetary Health – especially with the formats Falling Walls Engage Hubs and Cascading Debates.
Read the recap of Falling Walls Engage activities and achievements from 2022 here. The main aspects are:
- Falling Walls Engage 2022 Achievements & Journey
- Project Scouting
- Cascading Debates
- Falling Walls Engage Hubs
- Falling Walls Engage Pitches
- Communications
- Outlook 2023
A perspective review on how to better reach and engage with excluded communities
Where are we today when it comes to engaging excluded communities, often referred to as “underserved”, “underprivileged” or “marginalized”?
This timely question is the topic of “Engaging the Excluded”, a perspective review mapping out the current state of inclusive Science Engagement in academic debates and through five exemplary case-studies. This publication, commissioned by Falling Walls Engage, was developed and written by Rokia Ballo, researcher in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the University College London (UCL).
To accompany the launch of the review, we have produced “Engaging the Excluded”, a short film and resource for practitioners presenting key learnings and featuring the five projects cited in the review (see below).
Following a launch webinar in August 2021 with Rokia Ballo, we brought this discussion to Berlin Science Week 2021 during online webinar to discuss key learnings and challenges around inclusion. Both events provided a space for participants to exchange and engage with some of the contributors involved in the review.
The need for scientists to effectively communicate and engage the public with science has never been clearer. However, ensuring communication and engagement are delivered equitably remains a challenge for practitioners.
This perspective review begins by revisiting some of the history of public engagement and science communication, to offer a contextual understanding of where we are today and how the relationship between science and society has changed over time. This initial overview illustrates that historic global inequalities are embedded in and continue to influence modern science, meaning that many communities remain excluded from the construction, communication and use of scientific knowledge.
The literature suggests that despite calls to democratise science and much theorising on how this might be achieved from those within science communication and public engagement, in practice their activities are often criticized for reinforcing patterns of exclusion found in wider society which particularly impact marginalized groups at risk of other forms of social exclusion.
However, as the world continues to turn its attention to issues of inequality, so has the scientific community, with many already attempting to break down barriers to accessing science and foster inclusive engagement. This review concludes by providing examples of how inclusive practice is being employed across a range of geographies and cultural contexts: sharing key learnings from each to suggest how we might better engage the excluded with science moving forward.
The people involved in this project
- Rokia Ballo
- Mohamed Daoud
- Chandrakant Redican
- Maria Vicente
- Saeeda Bhatti
- Nicolas Bonne
Science Engagement aims to involve individuals that are not part of the scientific community in science initiatives. Ana I. Faustino has published a report on the Institutionalization of Science Engagement as part of the Commitments to Action.
Bernard Appiah and Julian Ferreras have published a report on "Report: Engaging Hard-to-Reach and Vulnerable Populations" as part of the Commitments to Action. The objective is to identify elements of innovative and successful Science Engagement projects involving hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations, and create a guide for Science Engagement practitioners to plan, implement and evaluate similar projects.
After three years of existence, we have published our first Evaluation Report reflecting on achievements, lessons learned and possible ways forward (October 2021).
Key Results
- In almost three years of existence, close to 1300 Science Engagement practitioners, projects and organisations were included in our global platform.
- We gave visibility to over 500 Science Engagement projects and more than 250 Science Engagement practitioners, as well as over 450 organisations.
- In total, four initiatives received the prestigious international “Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year” award at the Falling Walls Engage Finale. A total of 382 applications from 138 countries have been submitted as part this annual pitch competition.
- 5 Falling Walls Engage Hubs were launched on 5 continents, with the aim of connecting regional Science Engagement communities with the global Falling Walls Engage platform.
- We have been able to foster and empower a growing community of Science Engagement practitioners through more than 30 activities of community building and Science Engagement promotion.
- The networking promoted by the Hubs and the Falling Walls Engage Finale led to 32 collaborations established among community members, on the development of existing/new Science Engagement initiatives and exchange of ideas.
Thinking about the impact of COVID-19 in Science Engagement, in order to derive better support approaches to Science Engagement practitioners
The COVID-19 pandemic further increased the relevance of the dialogue between science and society. On one hand, both mistrust in scientific evidence and vaccine hesitancy are obvious reasons why scientific literacy and trust in science are needed. On the other hand, the pandemic also deepened inequalities worldwide, making it crucial to further develop Science Engagement programs that can help educate and empower communities worldwide.
However, also due to the pandemic, the majority of Science Engagement initiatives were forced to shift from physical to online formats, as well as to adapt tools and content to the virtual reality. To have a better insight into the impact of the pandemic in the Science Engagement landscape, as well as to foster the field according to the current challenges and needs, we prepared an open survey that was answered by Science Engagement practitioners from all corners of the world, from diverse Science Engagement areas.
These are the outstanding findings of the survey:
- Practitioners identified more interest from the public in science topics in general, but mostly in pandemic-related topics. They observed an increased involvement from doctors and scientists of all career levels in Science Engagement activities.
- The pandemic made very clear, for scientists, the relevance and need of speaking about science to the public.
- Online initiatives led to worldwide reach, connectivity and collaboration.
Science Engagement practitioners gained more knowledge on interactive media tools. - Online work led to the creation of new Science Engagement initiatives and formats, and enabled reaching out to new target groups.
If we want to know more about the detailed results of the survey, as well as lessons learned and its integration into future activities, click on the button below.