By Ramdas Iyer
From Dimensions
November/December 2011

In India, immunization against infectious diseases has been practiced, knowingly or unknowingly, for at least 4,000 years. Every village in ancient India had a temple to a certain goddess—for example, in southern India, the temple was to Mariamma, the epidemic goddess, while in northern India, the temple was to Sheetla Devi, the cool goddess who counteracted the wrath of hot-headed gods believed to cause smallpox. The temple was usually outside the village limits, possibly to limit infection, and was open air, exposing it to the harsh sun and rains.

When smallpox broke out in a village and a patient was cured of the disease, he or she was made to tap his or her head on a stone called the bali peetham outside the temple. Several rituals were then practiced during which all villagers tapped their heads lightly on the same stone. This practice—called variolation and done in various ways around the world—introduced a weakened strain of the virus into healthy people to guard them against smallpox.

Despite the long history of immunization practices in India, certain sectors of today’s population have religious reasons for rejecting modern vaccinations or hold superstitions about vaccines. For example, a study in the early 1990s concluded that more than half of all Indian children ages 12 months to five years had not been fully immunized, and in rural areas over one-third had received no vaccinations at all. The situation is improving, but it’s still necessary to promote immunization.

The challenge of explaining immunology

In 2008, India’s National Council of Science Museums, a network of 27 science museums across the country, wanted an interactive traveling exhibition on the human immune system and asked me to curate it. The exhibition’s objectives would be to create an understanding of how the immune system works and to allay hesitations and fears about vaccinations. Its audience was to include India’s children and adults, educated and functionally illiterate, rural and urban. The exhibition was also to travel nationwide, be displayed in 27 cities and towns, and be seen by potentially millions of people.

India is a global hotspot for emerging infectious diseases, as reported in a 2008 study in the journal Nature, so the idea for the exhibition was timely. However, creating a popular exhibition to present such a difficult subject to such a wideranging audience required deep thought. The challenge was how to present immunology in a fun way so that average people, some with low levels of literacy, could understand it and also respond positively to the concept of immunization.

Gods and heroes, demons and villains

India is a country where many people, though functionally illiterate, are highly informed about traditional knowledge systems and have a rich cultural tradition that includes exposure to many mythical stories with morals. Sometimes, however, the traditions and stories act as impediments to delivering healthcare. Many people, especially in rural areas, tend to take religious myths literally and look to divine intervention, seek non-scientific medical solutions, or simply resign themselves to their fate rather than accept scientific medical care.

Considering the power of these cultural traditions, we hit upon the idea of using them to overcome the impediments. We focused on creating an exhibition using the traditions and stories themselves to explain immunology concepts and counter misinformation.

India has two great mythological epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, both dealing with the ongoing fight between good and evil and the ultimate triumph of good. Often, the forces of good are given special weapons by the gods to aid their fight. Although these stories are notionally from the Hindu religion, all Indians, regardless of religious denomination, know these epics well.

Therefore, we created an exhibition called Our Bodyguards using an approach that portrays pathogens as demons or villains from Indian mythology and immune cells as gods or heroes. An infection inside the body is depicted as an epic battle between the two sides, and vaccination is shown as a divine weapon empowering the good over the evil.

The exhibition explains how, much of the time, the “good” side wins, sometimes with outside help like antibiotics or vaccinations. If the “good” side loses the battle, though, the “bad” side takes over. The exhibition portrays this end with a mannequin of a seated man who dissolves into a skeleton, thanks to mirrors and lights. This exhibit is accompanied by a description of what happens to the body at death, when the immune system stops working.

Making a connection

Using the events in the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata as metaphors for the fight between pathogens and the immune system creates an immediate connection in the minds of visitors and maximizes understanding. The exhibition also depicts other stories that are instantly recognized by Indians, such as the story of smallpox variolation, to help explain immunization.

To attract children, among whom cartoon characters are popular, the exhibition also shows pathogens as evil characters and immune cells as superheroes. For example, the exhibition opens with a lifesize fiberglass Superman holding a bacterium (Doomsday, a villain that Superman battles) and a virus (Eradicator, another supervillain) on leashes.

To connect with a diverse audience that speaks many languages and has varying levels of literacy, the exhibition includes a lot of visuals— including cartoon graphics and three-dimensional fiberglass characters—and several interactive audiovisual displays. A particularly popular exhibit has a touch screen for visitors to select an immunology question, which an expert answers in Hindi. Exhibit labels are multilingual, in English and the local languages of each region the exhibition visits. Publications with images from the exhibition are also available in local languages.

In addition, the science museums that host the exhibition organize events, including lectures for a lay audience by renowned immunologists, film showings, and open-house quizzes where educators ask immunology questions to visitors on the exhibition floor and give away prizes for correct answers.

Response and effectiveness

The exhibition opened at the National Science Centre in New Delhi and remained there for 45 days, during which over 150,000 people visited. At least 500,000 more visitors saw the exhibition at its next eight venues.

Though formal visitor surveys have not been conducted, informal interaction with visitors, especially schoolchildren, shows that the information is well understood and the importance of immunization is realized. For example, one 11-year-old student told an educator, “I thought only important people had bodyguards. Now I know I also have a lot of bodyguards.”

Our Bodyguards is the first exhibition of the National Council of Science Museums, and likely the first in India, to use the approach of relating modern scientific concepts to traditional mythology and cultural iconography. We believe this approach has helped visitors understand and appreciate the concepts more than they would have from a conventional exhibition.

Ramdas Iyer is curator and head of education at the National Science Centre, New Delhi, India. The National Science Centre is part of the National Council of Science Museums.

About the image: In order to appeal to children, Our Bodyguards depicts immune cells as superheroes. Photo courtesy National Science Centre, Delhi

Interviewed by Joelle Seligson

The director of the Blackfeet Native Science Field Center on traditional knowledge, Western science, and understanding our place in the world

In high school, she took an interest in science; at the University of Montana, she pursued business. Today, Helen Augare utilizes her modern studies while staying true to her roots. As director of the Blackfeet Native Science Field Center in Browning, Montana, she helps youth learn both Western science and traditional knowledge while connecting to the natural world. As a Native American, she emphasizes respecting the land and beings around us, recognizing that—even as we continue to pursue knowledge—humans can’t control everything.

Read the full transcript, or listen to the podcast.

This interview appears in the November/December 2011 issue of Dimensions magazine.

Image courtesy the Blackfeet Native Science Field Center

This is an extended discussion of the question that appears in the Viewpoints department of the November/December 2011 issue of Dimensions magazine.



Yes, we should. Science and technology raise controversial topics, and as institutions that promote civil engagement, we should present these topics as part of our responsibility to society. (Pictured: Bloomfield’s Peace Labyrinth exhibition.)

Maya Halevy, director
Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem, Israel

I don’t think that there’s any question that we should be presenting the science behind issues that might be socially or politically controversial (e.g., stem cells, climate change, evolution), but we should not portray them as scientifically controversial. The science is what the science is, mostly settled, with little disagreement based on evidence.

I think that the question is not whether, but how; in particular, should science centers teach the science and let people make up their own minds, or should we advocate for action on a particular social or political point of view?

Elizabeth Stage, director
Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley

We have a role for sharing the genuine debates and disagreements between scientists on the interpretation of the data or evidence that they obtain. The route from information to knowledge-with-understanding can be a long and contentious one, and scientists would be the last to make claims of certainty when research evidence and methodologies are open to challenge or reinterpretation.

Certainly we should not go down the route of advocating (or even giving space to) some kind of “balanced” approach which has—to take an extreme example—a creationist exhibit on one page and an evolution one on the next. The Ecsite position statement (PDF, 57 KB) on this issue is worth noting.

Colin Johnson, recipient of the 2011 ASTC Fellow Award for Outstanding Contribution
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

Yes. I think science centers have a very important role in developing exhibits and other kinds of educational strategies on controversial topics. Science is a social practice, and as educational institutions, we have a strong responsibility in helping citizens understand the relationship between science and technology and social, ethical, and political issues. This will enable them to develop their own criteria to make personal decisions and also to participate in political scenarios, where science has a role that will affect their lives.

Sigrid Falla, director of research and development
Maloka, Bogota, Colombia

There are many reasons for museums to exhibit controversial themes: to attract visitors, to help educate them, to raise issues on the international and local agenda, and more.

MadaTech’s experience with the Body Worlds exhibition demonstrated that controversy creates media coverage and stimulates public discussion, putting the subject on the local agenda; increases visitor numbers; and draws new and varied audiences, of all ages and backgrounds, to the museum.

Moreover, preparations for the controversial exhibition forged new ties with diverse elements in the community, strengthened existing ones with local and national authorities, and stimulated new collaborations with senior members of the medical profession.

The after-effects of Body Worlds persist, as we build on the brand name created and heightened regard, by both community and decision makers.

Irit Wertheim, director of education and visitor services
MadaTech, Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space, Daniel and Matilde Recanati Center, Haifa

Yes, we have a very strong role, I’d say a mission, to play in both developing and hosting exhibitions on “controversial” topics. One problem is that not all issues are controversial to everyone. There may be just be a lack of understanding of the science. For developers and museum directors, there may also be trepidation about responses to these exhibitions.

For example in the early 1990s, there was a consortium of museums formed to develop an exhibition on HIV/AIDS (What About AIDS?). We developed the exhibition and ASTC began to travel it with some concerns about how it would be received outside of New York City and Philadelphia, its inaugural sites. To our surprise and relief, there were no overt problems. Sure, probably some visitors with children avoided the area about sexual transmission of the virus, and others may have pointedly avoided the exhibition entirely, but on the whole there were no real issues. The “controversial” exhibition was well received and traveled in three copies. I know that we at the New York Hall of Science took our experience as a lesson that exhibitions on “controversial” issues are OK and necessary.

Museum visitors look to us as authorities for exhibitions and programs on real science, science behind the news, science behind the issues. How else with the decline in newspaper coverage of science and the sparse coverage on nightly news shows is the public going to get to understand issues in science that are challenging or challenged? And enjoy themselves while learning!

We can provide the means for understanding and appreciating the science behind issues like evolution, climate change, stem cell research, genetic control of plants and animals for foods, and understanding of human diseases and HIV/AIDS. I would encourage us to push, and push hard, on these and other “controversial” issues. I also argue that it is in our individual missions and ASTC’s mission to confront the attacks on the integrity of science by presenting the very science under attack. No comments about the naysayers necessary. As the old beef advert said, “Where’s the controversy?”

Martin Weiss, science interpretation consultant
New York Hall of Science, Queens

I like to think that science centers are like the cafés in the main squares of Spanish villages: places where citizens meet the mayor, the physician, or the pharmacist, and chat with them more frankly than in the city council, the hospital, or the pharmacy. In this sense, I am quite sure that science centers and museums are suitable places in which to speak about controversial scientific matters. In fact, one of our more successful programs consists of presenting to the public the science behind the news.

Francisco J. Franco del Amo, technical manager
Aquarium Finisterrae-Museos Científicos Coruñeses, A Coruña, Spain

I think science centers and museums play an important role in helping our audiences understand controversy by understanding good science. As scientific research and knowledge continues to grow, our many publics need the skills and confidence to question the science in a way that leads to greater understanding.

During my early years in the museum profession and as a public school educator, I was a teacher of Human Sexuality and Growth and Development. I found that by being aware and respectful of different viewpoints, I was able to share current knowledge with a scientific base to both children and adults in a meaningful way. Exhibits can do the same thing; present accurate, scientific information; demonstrate the dynamic nature of scientific discovery; and provide the information and interactions in a respectful and meaningful way so that the museum visitor develops an informed opinion.

Bev Sanford, president/CEO
SciWorks, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Yes, we have an important role. We are an essential part of cultural change. Controversial topics should be approached seriously so that the population will be able to make informed decisions. Explora developed an exhibition about HIV/AIDS a little more than 10 years ago, and it has been very successful.

Gerardo Ibarra Aranda, director of educational services/project director
Centro de Ciencias Explora, León, Mexico

From our Facebook page:

Absolutely. We have such a unique opportunity to present such topics, and it is our responsibility to take advantage of that opportunity.

Damon Gibbs, youth program manager
Connecticut Science Center, Hartford

Of course! These topics give visitors a conversation piece and encourage discussion.

Monae Verbeke, seminar series support officer
Public Engagement in Science Education, University of Warwick, England, United Kingdom

IN THIS ISSUE
September/October 2011

How can science centers and museums become valued by their local leaders and citizens as essential elements of vibrant, livable, growth-oriented communities? Science centers are taking a central role in helping their local communities address key challenges and priorities—from environmental sustainability and support for underserved populations to economic development and quality of life. Through partnerships with local governments, community organizations, and businesses, science centers are demonstrating that they are not just “nice to have,” but necessary players in helping communities achieve their goals.

Contents:
• PLACES: Helping Science, Politics, and Communities Interact, by Emma Wadland
• Supporting Science and Culture One Penny at a Time, by Peg Long
• A Productive Partnership with Local Government, by Joanna Haas
• Making a Science Center Relevant to its Local Community and Businesses, by Victoria Scalise
• Why Do Local Government Officials Value Their Communities’ Science Centers and Museums?
• The Regeneration of a City, by Linda Conlon
• Helping Youth Transition to the Future, by Debra Moroff and Charlotte Zolotor
• An Asset to the Community, by Phelan R. Fretz

Subscribe/order back issues

By Emma Wadland
From Dimensions
September/October 2011

“PLACES is ensuring that science centers and museums are quickly becoming the ideal forums for politicians to easily access reliable scientific information and for citizens to engage in two-way dialogue about science. This will allow people to exercise full citizenship in science and technology issues.”
—Antonio Gomes da Costa, coordinator of the PLACES project

Launched in June 2010, the four-year Platform of Local Authorities and Communicators Engaged in Science (PLACES) project is guiding science centers and museums to play the role of facilitator in providing information and helping local leaders and communities address local challenges. These challenges may include environmental sustainability, health care, transportation, education, or any number of other areas where science and society are inextricably linked.

PLACES is coordinated by Ecsite—The European Network of Science Centres and Museums and has three project partners.

• The European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) is running Science Cities Workshops throughout the course of the project. These workshops help focus the concept of European science culture, whereby science becomes integrated into a city’s culture of addressing local challenges.
• European Science Events Association (EUSCEA) oversees pilot activities that are connected to City Partnerships’ Local Action Plans (described below).
• The Observatory of Science Communication, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, is conducting research and an impact assessment for the project.

How PLACES works

PLACES takes the unconventional approach of being a science communication policies project rather than an activities project. The project mobilizes participating science communication institutions to form alliances with local policymakers in the form of City Partnerships.

The City Partnerships are mandated to develop a Local Action Plan (LAP) for science communication policy addressing science- and technology-related issues relevant to their city or region. LAPs must be developed in consultation with citizens. The intent is for a LAP to be a strategic vision that informs science communication policy at the local level for the next five to 10 years.

Any science communication institution can become a PLACES participant, and as of July 2011, institutions from over 70 European cities are involved in the project. Cities from outside Europe are also participating. Although each City Partnership focuses on its local city or region, the participating institutions can share ideas and information with each other via the Open PLACES website.

Meet three PLACES cities—Trento, Italy; Glasgow, Scotland; and Jerusalem, Israel—as they embark on this ambitious project.

Trento, Italy

Museo Tridentino di Scienzi Naturali (MTSN), founded in 1964, has made a name in the northern Italian town of Trento as an authority on environmental preservation. MTSN’s director, Michele Lanzinger, plans to go a step further under the PLACES project to help the town embrace the notion of sustainability and its relationship to science. Lanzinger wants to draw the community’s attention to the environmental challenges of urban growth. He believes that MTSN can do so in a positive way that helps to provide substantial guidelines for the community.

MTSN intends to draw on PLACES to strengthen the relationships it has built in bringing science to the community and in providing policy advice to Trento’s city council. Within the community, for example, the museum hosts an annual biodiversity week, organizes events for scientists and the public to meet, and brings science to children in the city’s main square on weekends. With the city council, the museum has advised on sustainable planning of the city’s public spaces.

The city clearly values the museum’s contributions and its involvement in an international project, since it has agreed to fund a new building for the museum. The new MUseum of SciencEs (MUSE), scheduled to open in June 2013, will be the epicenter of Trento’s nature conservancy policymaking, dialogue, research, and learning, and will also form the nucleus of Trento’s PLACES City Partnership work.

Lanzinger believes that being involved in PLACES has increased the museum’s profile and bolstered its credibility when it presents proposals as part of a wider European project to the city council. He also embraces the novel and unconventional approach of PLACES. He explains that although most initiatives work toward developing activities, “PLACES is different and much more open-minded. It relies on exchange. It gives people the opportunity to meet and discuss and reach a diversity of approaches. Tell me your idea, and I will tell you mine.”

Glasgow, Scotland

Glasgow is about to complete a commission on the city’s economic future, and “the PLACES project allows us to ensure that science, technology, and engineering will have a place here,” says Robin Hoyle, director of Glasgow Science Centre (GSC).

The city and GSC began conceptualizing their PLACES plans through involvement in the U.K.-based Science Cities project, which involves colleges, universities, health boards, museums, art schools, and industrial partners. The thrust of this project is to make science, technology, and innovation an engine of economic growth in U.K. cities.

Knowing that PLACES was coming along helped generate ideas and bring momentum to Glasgow’s scientific culture development, says Hoyle. Science Cities also established an important network of stakeholders in anticipation of PLACES.

 “Improving lives” is the broad banner of GSC’s City Partnership work in PLACES. Using a broad theme has a distinct advantage when working with local authorities, because they deal with such a wide range of issues. Hoyle explains that the banner of “improving lives,” which focuses on themes like local renewable energy and health, allows the City Partnership to integrate many issues in which science plays an important role.

Also, PLACES’ European perspective will enrich Scotland, says Hoyle, who adds that European development historically depended on a multicultural approach—an outward-looking system of using ideas from different cultures.

Though PLACES is still in its early stages, Hoyle is optimistic that the LAP developed by the Glasgow City Partnership will energize the city and provide a vehicle for advancing a science-in-society agenda in Glasgow’s economic future.

Jerusalem, Israel

Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem has a longstanding relationship with its municipality, although creating those ties is tricky, according to Maya Halevy, the museum’s director. “We have had dramatic change with mayors in the last years, from having a very labor-oriented mayor, to a right-wing mayor, to a Jewish Orthodox mayor, and then back to a right-wing mayor,” she says.

Bloomfield has navigated the shifting political ideologies by remaining committed to a belief that science “disregards physical borders and cultural and religious differences,” as its website states, and is using its PLACES involvement to help it focus its partnership with the municipality. Halevy hopes to bring the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, who is a dedicated proponent of environmental initiatives, on board with the City Partnership.

Bloomfield’s City Partnership involves three main municipal organizations: the municipal government itself; the Jerusalem Foundation, a philanthropic organization and co-founder of Bloomfield; and the Jerusalem Development Authority, which focuses on building the city’s economic infrastructure. Halevy says Bloomfield decided a few years ago to support these organizations in delivering their missions—a strategy that is helping Bloomfield become a dynamic player in the city.

For example, the Development Authority is promoting Jerusalem as a “bio-city” to aid growth of the city’s biomedical industry. When approaching a science-based initiative such as this, the city “looks to business, academia, and government, but not to the general public. [The city’s] perspective is limited,” Halevy says. Bloomfield’s focus on public engagement with science and science education will help bring the important perspectives of Jerusalem’s residents to the initiative.

As part of its PLACES initiative, Bloomfield also wants to engage the city in a widespread effort to take care of the environment, which will involve working with cultural institutions such as Jerusalem Cinematheque and pinpointing how they can make a contribution. “We need to synchronize for impact,” says Halevy. With this in mind, Bloomfield is working with the head of the city’s cultural department to map how science and cultural institutions can work together in Jerusalem’s City Partnership.

The challenge for Bloomfield is to link these and other City Partnership initiatives in a strategic, sustainable way. Tying them all together will be a major component of the Jerusalem City Partnership LAP.

These three examples from Italy, Scotland, and Israel illustrate the diversity of approaches and initiatives that science centers and local governments are tackling through PLACES City Partnerships. At the project’s conclusion in 2014, local and European Union–level recommendations will be assembled into a blueprint for building European Cities of Scientific Culture. What is a European City of Scientific Culture? PLACES cities like Trento, Glasgow, and Jerusalem are on a concerted mission to find out.

Emma Wadland is communications officer and webmaster at Ecsite—The European Network of Science Centres and Museums, Brussels, Belgium. To learn more or to get involved in PLACES, email info AT openplaces.eu.

About the image: Visitors learn about angular momentum at Glasgow Science Centre. Photo by Andy Buchanan