The festival programme itself looks great - and it claims that "With a theme of Heresy, the festival will challenge your thinking, whatever your age, on all things science". And there'll be a real who's who of science-related celebrities at it from Dara O'Briain to Carol Vorderman. The festival runs from 3-7 June 2009.
The slideshow is worth watching if only for the slightly menacing picture of UK Science Minister Paul Drayson they've chosen:
Are you at the festival? E-mail me or leave a comment to let me know how you're getting on and what the best things are! Thanks, Diarmaid
"A science shop is a facility, often attached to a specific department of a university or an NGO, that provides independent participatory research support in response to concerns experienced by civil society. It's a demand-driven and bottom-up approach to research. Their work can be described as community-based research (CBR)."
And here's an overview of the conference itself...
Living Knowledge Conference 2009
Engaged Communities, Engaged Universities
Developing policy and practice in participatory research
Queen’s University Belfast27 – 29 August 2009
This conference will provide an opportunity for policy makers, academics and civil society organisations to consider current practice and future opportunities in the field of research partnerships.
Living Knowledge 2009 will bring together some of the key thinkers and practitioners in the area of community based research, university/community partnerships and Science Shops. The conference aims to provide opportunities for collaborations and to ensure that this area of work is prioritised on policy agendas both nationally and internationally.
Themes
·Engaging students in community based research
·Planning for demographic change
·Science shops, sustainable development and climate change
·Knowledge exchange, transfer or exploitation?
·Sustaining Community Based Research practice through arts and cultural forms
·Critical reflections on community engagement in the natural sciences,
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