Storytelling and other arts
Stories can activate people and invite them to be protagonists of the changes they want. And there are so many stories in the universe of citizen science. Arguments and facts are often not effective ways to get people to listen and connect. However, we can weave them into stories and make communication more effective.
The purpose of this working group is to explore and gain knowledge and confidence in the way stories are an ally in science communication, specifically in citizen science.
Chairs
Working group
members
- Alexandra Czeglédi
- Baiba Prüse
- Blanca Guasch
- Cristina Flora
- David Kocman
- Egle Butkeviciene
- Jimlea Nadezhda
- Lourdes López
- Maya Fedeli
- Olivia Catchpole
- Viola Nyakato
Activity plan
- 1. Explore the power of storytelling and use it for the benefit of communicating citizen science.
- 2. Learn how to craft stories that matter and that communicate effectively, and gain confidence to be the ones sharing these new learnings.
- 3. Provide a safe and open space for interaction between researchers, explorers and storytellers, where they can learn from each other and interact.
Past achievements
- Sketchnoting for Citizen Science workshop, October 2023
- In November 2023, the Storytelling Working Group sent out a call for the community to submit “Elfchen” poems about citizen science, poems composed of 11 words on the topic of citizen science. Over 50 poems were submitted and developed into the Citizen science through poetry booklet, which you can download in poster and booklet form below. Printed copies will be shared at the ECSA 2024 conference in Vienna, 3-6 April 2024.
- Citizen science through poetry – A3 poster
- Citizen science through poetry – Foldable booklet
- Video guide on how to fold the booklet
- This working group has created the Storytelling for citizen science training module. This free course is hosted on the EU-Citizen.Science Moodle platform. The course will give you the foundation and tools to look in a different way at how you can communicate your citizen science project and how to craft a story that matters and connects to different audiences. If you are logged in to your EU-Citizen.Science account, you can access the training module here.
- Once SciComm a Time: Using Storytelling Techniques in Science Talks. Join us for a 1-hour webinar with Affelia Wibisono! Affelia has over 10 years’ experience in science communication and has worked with several museums and science centres to educate, enthuse, and engage school groups and the public on physics and astronomy and many more areas of science.
- Organised by ECSA’s Storytelling and other Arts working group, we aim to bring our community together through stories.
How to get involved
To join this working group, please contact the chairs by email, outlining your experience and which activities you are interested in.
