HOT AND BOTHERED

HOT AND BOTHERED: Science Gallery Youth Symposium 2022

A Hybrid-Online Event

Dates: 7th July - 10th July, 2022 (24/7, across time zones)

Submit your application to the Youth Symposium Open Call at: https://sciencegallery.submittable.com/submit

The Youth Symposium is a four-day event that brings together young people across the globe to connect, exchange ideas and share knowledge. We are looking for proposals for workshops and sessions to contribute to the event.

Past events have focused on boredomtrust and co-creation — this year, we focus on climate action.

The Earth has long been quietly grappling with supporting humanity’s footprint. As its silence wanes, we are experiencing our natural systems change and falter. Climate change is here. Its urgency, its bleakness, its complexity cannot be overstated. But nor can we underestimate the power, the ambition and the ingenuity of young people willing to take action and embrace our environmental responsibility.

This year’s Youth Symposium aims to create optimistic spaces where we can celebrate our efforts and learn from one another. We want to foster a hopeful sense of mutual motivation, a contagious aspiration. We want people to tell their stories, inspire others, and share actionable solutions. If you are doing something to address climate change, no matter how small, we want to hear from you.

*The Youth Symposium is expected to be delivered online, given continued Covid-related restrictions. Although it is possible to propose in-person events, preference will be given to events designed for a virtual environment or that can easily be transposed to an online environment.

We are especially looking for projects that match Science Gallery’s three core aims: to Connect, Participate, and Surprise. Some tips for strong proposals:

  • We love sessions that invite the visitor to participate, create and discuss.
  • Great projects bring together art and science in a creative way. One should not be used in service to the other.
  • Relevance to our core audience of 15-25 year olds is a factor in our decisions.
  • Defying categories is good (“it’s kind of a hybrid event, treasure hunt, with a crowdsourced edible citizen-science archive, plus a performance component that will portray a speculative future organism…”)
  • A true connection to the theme is a must — avoid shoehorning an unrelated project.
  • Collaborations are great! Are you a cryptographer working with a cellist? Maybe you’re a comic book illustrator artist thinking of submitting a proposal with an immunologist? If you’re a marine geologist looking for a cheesemonger to work with, we might know just the person — get in touch and we might be able to help
  • Ask questions! If you’re unsure about an aspect of your proposal, email us.

 

KEYWORDS

Climate change; climate justice; interdisciplinarity; systems; corporate responsibility; humanitarian challenges; indigenous practices; intergenerational equity; extreme weather; innovation; policy change; youth agency; action; positive stories; optimism; speculative design; intimacy; sharing; relationships with non-human and non-living matter; activism and artivism; empowerment.

 

WHAT DO WE WANT?

  • Participatory Workshops that have clear learning objectives or takeaways
  • Unexpected, surprising
  • A celebration of action and agency
  • Workshops that create a sense of community, trust, intimacy and inclusion
  • Ideas that can have a life beyond the Youth Symposium, might be further developed for exhibition , research or a more expansive global festival
  • Practical tools and skills, tangible things to do
  • Clever, dark, tongue-in-cheek, unusual twists — we like to look at things from many perspectives
  • Ideas that might still require some development, will benefit from Science Gallery mentorship

 

WHAT DO WE NOT WANT?

  • Complex or difficult to understand jargon
  • Doom, panic, discouraging or anxiety-inducing content
  • Barriers to participation cause by requirements of the workshop
  • A typical approach to talking about climate change
  • Not overly lengthy (ideally 90 minutes or less)

 

AIMS OF THE YOUTH SYMPOSIUM

  • Connect young people globally
  • Have fun, create joy
  • Explore issues important to youth
  • Reaching broader publics
  • Strengthening bonds with other community organisations
  • Empowering young people to implement new, sustainable ways of working in the world
  • Create new open research tools and resources
  • Give young people a platform to co-create together

 

RATES

  • Workshop rate should be included (cost per hour for facilitators/contributors) in your proposal.
  • Prep time can be included in these costs.
  • Our workshop budgets generally range from 150 - 400 Euros, depending on the complexity and number of people involved. If your workshop budget is higher than this range, please provide a detailed breakdown of costs.

 

QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER

  • Workshop format: What is the audience experience?
  • What are the biggest challenges facing young people today?
  • How do you engage with the biggest challenges facing young people today?
  • How does your workshop explore climate action?

 

FORMAT

  • Proposed session length should be 30-90 minutes
  • Existing & new projects are welcome
  • All successful applicants will be paired with a Science Gallery mentor
  • Successful applicants will be paired with a Science Gallery mentor
  • This will include a group session, “The 1-2-3 of SG” (intro & initial meet/ breakout rooms)

 

SCHEDULE

  • January 2022: Open Call goes live
  • February 2022: Open Call applications reviewed, and final sessions selected
  • March 2022: Successful applicants paired with mentors; intro session hosted with all
  • April 2022: All marketing materials finalised
  • May 2022: Registration goes live
  • July 2022: Youth Symposium is live (7th — 10th July, 2022)