Participatory Communication of Science (ParCos)

The main objective of ParCos is to improve science communication by creating participatory science stories that link to source evidence that the public can interpret for themselves to scaffold new science activities, and to deliver them through popular media forms of broadcast media and VR/AR technologies. The project will adopt a participatory approach in the creation of tools and methods to support citizens to take part in conducting, communicating and discussing science. Supported through the Bristol Approach, a framework that supports a people and issue-led process for citizen science and engagement, the project will explore issues such as a) ensuring diversity and inclusion in science participation and communication b) creating engaging stories for the public that both communicate and include the public in undertaking science activities and interpreting outcomes, and which account for different interpretations c). To support this, the project outcomes will be as follows. The ParCos Curator will support Open Science practices via methods for curation and re-use of science data. The ParCos Data Explorer and Storyteller will work together with arts-based methods to support participatory sense-making, interpretation and storytelling from data that can reveal a diversity of views and interpretations of the meaning in local contexts. The communication of stories alongside evidence will support the audience to judge the validity of evidence and interpretations, to find their own evidence and tell their own stories, using ParCos tools and methods to support them. ParCos outcomes will be evaluated through three distinct case studies, supported by the ParCos Trainer that supports learning of the methods and tools. Fostering an environment where evidence can be included and promoting the idea that it should be expected will make it harder for the voices of people who make unsubstantiated claims to dominate in public science discourse.