Bringing Science to Bars: A Strategy for Effective Science Communication

Abstract

It is well accepted that it is part of a scientist’s duty to communicate science, yet most practicing scientists lack the training and opportunity to do so. In this article, we use the framework of science talks in bars to highlight the importance of locality and environment. We propose that science communication programs should be developed around the locales of the target community as an effective strategy to counter the rising mistrust in science and scientists.

Evaluation of the Pint of Science festival in Thailand

“…Both the survey and qualitative component of the evaluation showed that audience members attended PoST because of their interest in science, its entertainment value and their desire to learn; our study shows that audience members indeed enjoyed the event and perceived that they have increased their knowledge. These findings were consistent with evaluations of similar initiatives as the science café-like programs in Cambodia [6], Hong Kong [8], USA [26, 27], the Netherlands [28] and participation in science festivals in the UK [29, 30].…”

“…It was held on a Saturday afternoon and a different part of the city from the English language events. Location and environment have been identified as determinants for high or low attendance figures [8]. For example, “Nerd Nite” events in Hong Kong have been very well attended due to the location of the events—a bar right in the heart of the business and finance district [8].…”

“…Other suggestions were related to the practicalities and logistics of holding the events, for example many wanted bigger venues that are easily accessible by public transport (BTS in the case of Bangkok), and longer break-time for interactions between scientists and audience members. Events with longer break time with venues accessible to the general population were found to be conducive factors to enhance the participation in Hong Kong [8]. These suggestions will be incorporated into the planning of subsequent years’ events.…”

“…“a place where for a price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can meet to discuss the latest ideas of science that are impacting society” [5]. In recent years, science cafés and events of similar nature such as “Nerd Nite” have increased in number around the globe including in Southeast Asia such as in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Hong Kong [6–8].…”

Foregrounding Backgrounds: How Scientists Conceive Art to Express the Invisible

“…Scientists have also used stand-up comedy (Pinto et al, 2015), theater (Dowell & Weitkamp, 2012;Halpern, 2012), and visual art (Ede, 2002) to communicate their ideas to lay people. Others have used scientific information in movies (Valenti, 2011;Valenti, 2016), music videos (Allgaier, 2013), popular music (Huang & Allgaier, 2015), and local bars (Tan & Perucho, 2018). Organizers see such events as ways to inspire trust in scientists, who at times appear aloof and use ambiguous terms that have different meanings in nonacademic settings (Tan & Perucho, 2018).…”