Outreach & Dissemination
Communication and public engagement strategy
Communication and public engagement activities form a significant part of the network trainees’ activities. These include provisions of expert advice to government committees, dissemination of knowledge and expertise through the media and relevant policy formation bodies. Trainees utilise participants’ existing public platforms such as websites, e-communications and existing international interdisciplinary outreach projects in Africa and Asia on children and war as well as PO’s seminar and conference-based dissemination channels.
Outreach activities
Theatrical outreach project on CBOW
In 2021, the Ralf Dahrendorf Prize for the European research area was awarded to the CHIBOW network by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Funding from this prize will go towards supporting the development of theatre performances aimed at deepening public understandings of the experiences of Children Born Of War (CBOW). It is hoped that through theatre, broader attention will also be brought to research findings on the issues faced by CBOW.
The University of Leipzig and the University of Birmingham, in cooperation with the regional association for the independent performing arts in Saxony (Landesverband der Freien Theater in Sachsen e.V. / LFTS), invited independent European artists to develop performative works about CBOW. Potential productions were imagined as public events that would include audience interaction and participation. These creative processes were to engage the perspectives of CBOW, as well as the knowledge garnered through research.
Three artists/companies have recently been selected to realize their project ideas and present their work at LOFFT – Das Theater in Leipzig on 4th of May 2023. Their productions will be complemented by a symposium focused on the value of performing arts for communicating the results of scientific research to the public. These creatives include theatre director, performer and writer, Abigail Akavia, currently living in Leipzig, percussive dance artist and social scientist, Natasa Chanta-Martin, from Greece, and a group of scientists and artists called Just Monkeys z.s. from the Czech Republic.
Documenting the creative processes that constitute these activities will provide an opportunity for reflection and provide inspiration for the development of recommendations for future outreach projects.
Community outreach
Trainees have played a prominent role in fostering dialogue with local communities through institutional outreach networks. These include dedicated research showcasing at institutional Open Days (UG, UL, UoB, UKLA, UR, UP, ASUL, BIK), specific events at secondary schools with pupils in their final years; RAISE [Raising Aspirations in Secondary Education] programme; subject taster workshops (UL, UUNL, UG, UoB, UKLA, UP, ASUL). ESRs have also contributed to their institutional public engagement through public lectures and seminar series.
Network Open Days
Coinciding with ITN participation in Child and War Conference in Salzburg,(2016) and at the final Network Conference – to download the network open day brochure click here.
Outreach with interested stakeholders inside and outside academia
This network consists of members well beyond academia, including governmental and non-governmental agencies, support groups and charities (GI Trace, War Babes, UNICEF, UN/OCHA, PRIO) within Europe and beyond. Trainees have shared their research results with the academic and non-academic communities, such as the above-mentioned charities and NGOs through the Birmingham-based open-access website linked to the network as well as, CHIBOW’s own website. In addition, a website-based virtual mailing list, linking academics, practitioners, governmental and non-governmental stakeholders facilitates communications and dissemination of research outcomes.
Specific outreach projects with Partner organisations
These include the BBC, FAPAD and INTERPERFORM, working with ESRs on projects that culminate in multimedia outputs, including a musical with CBOW / refugee children and accessible online guides on various aspects of CBOW.
Newspaper articles
Trainees have developed and published articles on progress, especially the post-conflict recovery actors in relevant regions.
Podcasts recorded by all ESRs about their research and research outcomes and published both through institutional and network websites, including the network’s YouTube channel.
Dissemination of research results
The results are disseminated by a combination of conventional scientific methods, as well as via routes that seek to raise awareness of the relevant outcomes and issues.
These include:
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publication of results in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.
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Oral and poster contributions by ESRs and supervisors in conferences and workshops
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participation in collaborations aimed at bridging scientific enquire in the humanities and social scientists and policy-making (e.g. History and Policy)
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engagement in discourse on platforms aimed at utilisation of research and programming and humanitarian intervention (e.g. Institute for Government). All ITN-generated research will be open access (OA); authors will deposit manuscripts with the UoB Research Archive (UBIRA) through which OA will be administered.
Case Studies
Discussing the topic of children born of war at international conferences and on the media
Article by Oskars Gruzins
