Sharing research insights by storytelling
The Sustainable Agroecosystems group has received funding for the new science communication project “Edible research goes storytelling: Participative design of an interactive art-science exhibition on food value chains.” The Swiss National Science Foundation Agora project will start in February 2021.
Stories can help us to personally make sense of complex issues, as they enable us to better identify with the topics addressed. In relation to the food system, stories can also help to raise our awareness on the roles and challenges of different actors within this system, such as farmers, processors, retailers, and consumers. The dialogue that is part of the process of storytelling can foster insight, respect, inclusion, and engagement.
The goal of new “Edible research goes storytelling” project will be to jointly design and implement an interactive exhibition on food system stories by Swiss secondary school students and scientists. The exhibition will be an installation that consists of large displays with photographs representing the main components of the food value chain, i.e. agricultural production, processing, retailing, and consumption – from field to fork. The stories behind these photographs will be brought to life through augmented reality features such as videos, audio, and illustrations.
In order to develop this interactive exhibition, the WFSC member group of Sustainable Agroecosystems will collaborate with a professional writer, a media artist, four pilot classes (approx. 100 Swiss secondary school students), and the ETH Game Technology Center. The project starts with a series of storytelling workshops for scientists and secondary school students, in which the participants draft storyboards related to the research conducted by the Sustainable Agroecosystems group.
“Edible research goes storytelling” is a continuation of the SNSF Agora project, “Edible Research: Hands-on learning for Sustainability in Agroecosystems” (2016-2018). The Sustainable Agroecosystems group worked with teenagers and teachers to raising awareness about the environmental and socio-economic implications of food production. More on project