The Cambridge Science Festival extended its reach to Brussels last week, as a team took part in the 2WAYS project, involving science communicators from 15 countries in Europe.
The Cambridge Science Festival extended its reach to Brussels last week, as a team took part in the 2WAYS project, involving science communicators from 15 countries in Europe.
As the name suggests, the project aimed to communicate the science behind 17 different initiatives in two ways at once – both in presentations at a science festival and in a youth science parliament.
The first Cambridge youth science parliament took place in August 2010, and two delegates from that gathering, Jacob Pearce from West Hatch High School in Chigwell and Stephanie Soyombo from King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, made the trip to Brussels to take part in the first Young Europeans’ Science Parliament as well.
A total of 58 youth parliamentarians from 15 countries formed committees to hear evidence from scientists on genetic testing, personalised medicine and stem cell research. The resolutions were handed to the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Silvana Koch-Mehrin MEP, at a ceremony on December 1. They will also be released shortly at www.twoways.eu.
One of the Cambridge youth science parliament representatives, Stephanie Soyombo, said: “I found it an incredible experience to meet so many other young people interested in science and political issues from across Europe. I would like to get involved in future youth science parliaments to mentor other young people in developing their awareness of the legal and ethical dimensions of scientific advances.”
The Cambridge scientists making their presentations in Brussels this week were Dr Jim Haseloff and Tim Rudge from the Department of Plant Sciences. As part of the project, they formed a communication partnership based on an existing research collaboration with three computer scientists, Dr Christophe Godin, Dr Etienne Farcot and Dr Frederic Boudon from the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA) in Montpellier, France.
The Cambridge / INRIA project is called “Hands-on synthetic biology” and illustrates the bio-bricks concept which is used in the field of synthetic biology.
A touch-screen interface was created using software which allowed young visitors to change sections of genetic code which altered the colour and number of petals and sepals on virtual flowers. This allowed for conversations with visitors of all ages about why scientists are seeking to understand the genetic coding of plant development.
The presentation also reached more than 1,000 members of the public when shown at both the Cambridge Science Festival and the Montpellier Science Festival earlier in 2010.
The 2WAYS project was funded under the Science and Society stream of Framework Programme 7, by the European Commission. It was co-ordinated by EUSCEA, the European Science Communication Events Association. The Cambridge Science Festival participation was co-ordinated by Nicola Buckley, acting Head of Community Affairs, and Sue Long, Festivals and Outreach Officer.
Video of the 2WAYS project will soon be available here: www.twoways.eu
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