Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BigPicnic (Big Picnic:Big Questions - engaging the public with Responsible Research and Innovation on FoodSecurity)
Reporting period: 2017-08-01 to 2019-04-30
Food security is one of the greatest challenges facing society today, in 2014 55 million people in Europe were not able to afford a regular quality meal every second day (Eurostat 2015). Major food production and consumption in Europe is currently based on a few plant crops, from a small number of plant families. People therefore rely heavily on a handful of crops –all of which are susceptible to disease, climate change, and require ever evolving technology and research to maintain crop improvement/quality in the face of a massive population rise.
Much of the conservation and research botanic gardens conduct is related to food security, from seed banking to research into Nutrigenomics (the study of how nutrition and genetics are linked). Therefore, each botanic garden Partner in BigPicnic brought their own expertise to the project. As well as this, botanic gardens have expertise in connecting people to plants, empowering their visitors to be responsible for their own food choices.
BigPicnic aimed to host an international discussion, to discover how people in different countries and social groups understand and interpret food security, to exchange ideas and solutions, and to gather public opinions to encourage Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) for the future of our food.
BigPicnic's objectives were:
1. Improve the understanding and realization of RRI through the provision of best practice case studies for the RRI toolkit.
2. Increase engagement with local and global food security issues through outreach exhibitions and science cafes among diverse audiences.
3. Co-create with diverse audiences accessible and novel mechanisms to facilitate interaction and bridge the gap between the public, policy makers and researchers.
4. Utilise the findings of the EU funded INQUIRE, PLACES and VOICES projects.
5. Build the capacity of botanic gardens across Europe to develop and deliver co-creation approaches with their local and regional audiences.
6. Develop botanic gardens as centres that promote dialogue between public, researchers and policy makers.
7. Co-develop the tools for measuring the engagement of the consortium partnership and the members of the co-creation teams with RRI and the benefits of the co-creation participatory approach adopted in the project.
Much of the conservation and research botanic gardens conduct is related to food security, from seed banking to research into Nutrigenomics (the study of how nutrition and genetics are linked). Therefore, each botanic garden Partner in BigPicnic brought their own expertise to the project. As well as this, botanic gardens have expertise in connecting people to plants, empowering their visitors to be responsible for their own food choices.
BigPicnic aimed to host an international discussion, to discover how people in different countries and social groups understand and interpret food security, to exchange ideas and solutions, and to gather public opinions to encourage Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) for the future of our food.
BigPicnic's objectives were:
1. Improve the understanding and realization of RRI through the provision of best practice case studies for the RRI toolkit.
2. Increase engagement with local and global food security issues through outreach exhibitions and science cafes among diverse audiences.
3. Co-create with diverse audiences accessible and novel mechanisms to facilitate interaction and bridge the gap between the public, policy makers and researchers.
4. Utilise the findings of the EU funded INQUIRE, PLACES and VOICES projects.
5. Build the capacity of botanic gardens across Europe to develop and deliver co-creation approaches with their local and regional audiences.
6. Develop botanic gardens as centres that promote dialogue between public, researchers and policy makers.
7. Co-develop the tools for measuring the engagement of the consortium partnership and the members of the co-creation teams with RRI and the benefits of the co-creation participatory approach adopted in the project.
Key outputs of the project include:
• A set of 7 policy briefs produced and disseminated to X individuals/organisations.
• Production of online open access toolkits in co-creation (Co-creation Navigator) and science cafés (the science café toolkit)
• Delivery of 103 exhibitions, reaching 180,000 participants
• Delivery of 102 science cafés to 6052 participants
• A total of 4,500 European and Ugandan citizens involved in Team-Based Inquiry evaluation activities
• At least 266,676 people reached through dissemination activities at conferences, workshops and events
• Over 320,000 people reached online through social media, websites, videos, podcasts, newsletters and blogs
• At least 12 different hard to reach groups involved in the project’s co-creation and exhibition activities
• 17 different target groups reached through science café delivery
• 15 botanic garden Partners trained in new and innovative participatory approaches (co-creation and team-based inquiry)
• 923 additional individuals (non-project) trained in participatory approaches which will lead to over 90,000 individuals being engaged through these techniques used over the next 2 years.
• A set of 7 policy briefs produced and disseminated to X individuals/organisations.
• Production of online open access toolkits in co-creation (Co-creation Navigator) and science cafés (the science café toolkit)
• Delivery of 103 exhibitions, reaching 180,000 participants
• Delivery of 102 science cafés to 6052 participants
• A total of 4,500 European and Ugandan citizens involved in Team-Based Inquiry evaluation activities
• At least 266,676 people reached through dissemination activities at conferences, workshops and events
• Over 320,000 people reached online through social media, websites, videos, podcasts, newsletters and blogs
• At least 12 different hard to reach groups involved in the project’s co-creation and exhibition activities
• 17 different target groups reached through science café delivery
• 15 botanic garden Partners trained in new and innovative participatory approaches (co-creation and team-based inquiry)
• 923 additional individuals (non-project) trained in participatory approaches which will lead to over 90,000 individuals being engaged through these techniques used over the next 2 years.
The project has developed and run BigPicnic exhibitions utilising 15 co-creation teams across 13 countries.
The impact of BigPicnic is visible on the organisational, the regional and the international level. One of BigPicnic's key impacts refers to the botanic garden professionals themselves and their organisations. This is achieved through a series of practice-based actions where practitioners engage in co-creation and practitioner-led evaluation practices with the aim being to adopt RRI procedures and approaches. So far, all partners have received TBI training which has enabled them to take control of their own evaluation questions and investigations; reflect on the evaluation process and findings; and implement changes to activities that benefit their audiences and to internal processes and work practices. Partners have already noted important impacts at the organisational level. All partners ran co- creation events in their own organisations. They engaged not only the public but in-house staff. They brought together people from different professions and hierarchy levels in their organisation. All Partners value these co-creation activities as very rewarding for not only designing, implementing and evaluating their activities but also for broadening their own individual and organisational horizon.
Many BigPicnic exhibitions and dissemination activities developed though co-creation have been displayed across Europe, in places heavily frequented by botanic garden visitors or the local public such as regional festivals and food shows. Thus, the BigPicnic concept has already become visible at the local and regional level. Partners report frequent questions and ideas raised by visitors highlighting that the audiences are actively engaged in BigPicnic exhibitions and workshops or other outreach activities.
BigPicnic’s Partners have provided evidence for the creation of a huge number of engaging activities which are very likely to trigger at least a situational interest and other activities which have led to participants getting directly involved with the project. Leaflets and posters and informal meetings, etc. have reached a wide range of special interest groups such as politicians, key stakeholders as well as pupils, student, parents, teachers, researchers, etc. All partners have reported evidence that food is a topic that everybody is interested in, no matter the socio-economic background or their personal interests and motivations. Thus this ‘hook’ is effective at getting the public interested in RRI. At the 2nd Partner meeting at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, all botanic gardens presented innovative examples of how they stimulate people to engage in a friendly, non-threatening yet authentic context and environment and how they have managed to engage participants in thoughtful debate on regional and local issues of food security and possible solutions to problems.
The Big Picnic Consortium has now evolved into a large community of practice and established a unique network of expertise across the EU and in one African country.
The impact of BigPicnic is visible on the organisational, the regional and the international level. One of BigPicnic's key impacts refers to the botanic garden professionals themselves and their organisations. This is achieved through a series of practice-based actions where practitioners engage in co-creation and practitioner-led evaluation practices with the aim being to adopt RRI procedures and approaches. So far, all partners have received TBI training which has enabled them to take control of their own evaluation questions and investigations; reflect on the evaluation process and findings; and implement changes to activities that benefit their audiences and to internal processes and work practices. Partners have already noted important impacts at the organisational level. All partners ran co- creation events in their own organisations. They engaged not only the public but in-house staff. They brought together people from different professions and hierarchy levels in their organisation. All Partners value these co-creation activities as very rewarding for not only designing, implementing and evaluating their activities but also for broadening their own individual and organisational horizon.
Many BigPicnic exhibitions and dissemination activities developed though co-creation have been displayed across Europe, in places heavily frequented by botanic garden visitors or the local public such as regional festivals and food shows. Thus, the BigPicnic concept has already become visible at the local and regional level. Partners report frequent questions and ideas raised by visitors highlighting that the audiences are actively engaged in BigPicnic exhibitions and workshops or other outreach activities.
BigPicnic’s Partners have provided evidence for the creation of a huge number of engaging activities which are very likely to trigger at least a situational interest and other activities which have led to participants getting directly involved with the project. Leaflets and posters and informal meetings, etc. have reached a wide range of special interest groups such as politicians, key stakeholders as well as pupils, student, parents, teachers, researchers, etc. All partners have reported evidence that food is a topic that everybody is interested in, no matter the socio-economic background or their personal interests and motivations. Thus this ‘hook’ is effective at getting the public interested in RRI. At the 2nd Partner meeting at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, all botanic gardens presented innovative examples of how they stimulate people to engage in a friendly, non-threatening yet authentic context and environment and how they have managed to engage participants in thoughtful debate on regional and local issues of food security and possible solutions to problems.
The Big Picnic Consortium has now evolved into a large community of practice and established a unique network of expertise across the EU and in one African country.