Social science festival success

The University held events ranging from cooking to the sand crisis at the ESRC Festival of Social Science

Mrs Amy King

Internal Communications Manager

Corporate Communications (Marketing and Communications)

19 December 2024

From engaging kids with sustainable cooking to exploring the global sand crisis, the University of Plymouth opened its doors for the annual Festival of Social Science.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival takes place every autumn and encourages research institutions to engage the public in the work they undertake.

Supported by the University’s Public Engagement and Events Teams, academics from across the institution tackled some of society’s most pressing issues for all ages, with some great feedback received.

See full list of events

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2024

The event was extremely informative, well resourced and all the adults were kind, supportive and knowledgeable enabling the children to have the best experience, which will last for a long time in their future.

The children all participated in the workshop, and all learnt something new – sharing their new knowledge or skills with children and adults.

Teacher from Salisbury Road Primary School

It was great to put on an event at the Festival and see so many children getting involved.

The feedback shows the impact we’ve made and how children can get enthused by social science while understanding the nexus of the digital world of food, especially the ways in which the digital domain may be influencing children’s understanding around food including what is local, diverse, healthy and sustainable produce.

In collaboration with Tamar Grow Local and students from the School of Art, Design and Architecture, the event featured a hands-on cooking workshop which led to the development of a digital animation created by Oliver Li.

I’d definitely encourage other researchers to get involved in future events.

Dr Nikolina Bobic
Event lead, and Lecturer in Architecture

Saving sand to save the planet

Dr Minchul Sohn , Dr Boksun Kim and Dr Jonathan Moizer organised the event Beyond the Beach: Uncovering the Global Sand Crisis to raise awareness about the global sand crisis and foster a network of concerned individuals and stakeholders.

Our research

Saving sand to save the planet

Through this research, we are working to raise awareness about sand – a resource that is essential to modern life yet often overlooked.

It can often be challenging to share the complexities of governance and sustainability of sand as a critical resource, so the ESRC Festival is a great way for us to help people understand why sand matters and also for anyone in the field of social science to highlight the impact of what they do.

Dr Minchul Sohn
Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management

More feedback about the festival

From 'Pieces of Us' – Objects of Matrescence , a baby and child-friendly creative workshop for new mums:

“Beautiful session, thank you for this rare opportunity for reflection on motherhood in a space where little ones are welcome. Feel inspired and supported to explore more.”

Another researcher added:

“I really valued the experience of designing a session for the Festival of Social Science. The Festival provided a valuable 'framework' for designing and holding an event that I would not normally have time for/get around to in my day-to-day work.”

Mrs Amy King

Saving sand to save the planet

More feedback about the festival

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