CCRD participation in “Science communication and community engagement” during 1-3 Feb 2023

COMSTECH organized a workshop on science communication and community engagement during 1-3 Feb 2023 in COMSTECH auditorium. Speakers and experts from different backgrounds and sectors chaired the sessions. Participants from academia, public sector, civil society organizations, NGOs, were present at the event.

The Day 1 of the event started with the Introduction to Workshop given by Dr. Syed Javaid Khurshid, Associate Coordinator, Conference, and welcome address by Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary Coordinator General, COMSTECH. A brief lecture was delivered on “Issue of West Indian Ocean”, by the Chief Guest, Honorable Mr. Justice Dr. Syed Muhammad Anwer,

Acting Chief Justice, Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan. Furthermore, the day 1 was divided into different sessions.

Mahalectchumy Arujanan chaired the session 1 who is a Malaysian scientist of Malaysian Indian origin. She works as the Global Coordinator of International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications and is executive director of Malaysian Biotechnology Information Center. She explained the role of science communication as an approach to future health crisis; and the topic really got appreciation from the audience. Mr. Kamran Akhtar threw light on the role of science communication in international diplomacy.  Michael Wadleigh, the Oscar winner explained the benefits of open data to stop global social economic collapse. After that John Dudley arranged a discussion session on communicating science worldwide with the UNESCO. Mahalectchumy Arujanan chaired the session 2, in which Dr. Najam Abbas Naqvi engaged the audience on how to build the Knowledge Base for Effective Science, while Mr. Aleem Ahmed explained bringing Scientists and Journalists Closer: A Brief/ Practical Guide. Mr. Faisal Raza Khan chaired session 3. Saad Lotfey, who is a science Journalist involved the participants on Green Impact: Communicating Sustainability and Environmental Science.

The day 2 started with session 4 chaired by Mr. Ehsan Masood. Two other lectures were delivered by Brooke Smith and Sabieh Anwar on connecting the public to discovery science; gaps and opportunities and strategic communication inside and outside of academia respectively. Prof. Dr. Javaid Khurshid chaired session 5. Other topics that were included in session 5 were did the COVID-19 pandemic change science communication by Mr. Ehsan Masood, communicating the climate crisis, by Raina Saeed and How scientists can talk to the media, by Mohammed Yahia. The session which got a lot of public attention was chaired by Wadleigh. Mr. Fabio Turone explained why isn't the media covering climate change all day, every day? Dr. Syed Javaid Khurshid interacted with audience on Communicating Facts about Climate Change, while Ehsan Masood engaged the audience on essential skills in science communication.

The day 3 involved more of practical activities and approach towards the science and community involvement such as how a scientist can be connected to the media, motivating Journalist for Science News Writing (How to write Science News Story) delivered by Mr. Almas Haider Naqvi, effective science communication, media relationship and coverage, by Mr. Murtaza Noor, broadcasting science by Mr. Faisal Raza Khan and how to fact check fake science stories by yourself by Mr. Zeeshan Siddiqui.

Topic “Social media and visual media for science communication” was given to the audience. The audience had to write a tweet about the topic, summarize the main points in 2200 characters approx. The second exercise was on “science storytelling.” by using the 5 W’s — what is happening, who is the focus of the story, when and where is the story taking place, and why is it important to the listener or reader? The experts Mr. Ehsan Masood, Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan, Dr. Najam Abbas Naqvi, Mr. Zeeshan Siddiqui, Sayyed Paras Ali, Dr. Javaid Khurshid, Ikram Abbasi conducted the exercise. Three participants were asked to share their experiences from the workshop. In the end, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman, standing committee on Foreign Affairs of Pakistan presented his remarks. Vote of Thanks were given by Coordinator General COMSTECH.