Making it public

The Science Museum’s Dana Centre is a groundbreaking bar and café that is bringing science to the forefront of the public’s imagination. That’s all very good says Kat Nilsson, but what about blagging it down the pub?

Established in November 2003, the Dana Centre is a young and experimental place which exists to tackle contemporary science issues head-on. From stand-up comics debunking science myths to a live heart by-pass operation, as well as debates, art installations and live experiments, the Dana Centre brings hot themes in modern science to life through a programme of vibrant and innovative events.
Housed in the Wellcome Wolfson Building annexed to the Science Museum, the centre is a collaboration between the Science Museum, the BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) and The European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB) making it unrivalled in its expertise and depth of knowledge of scientific and technological fields.
At a very basic level both the Dana Centre and its website are spaces for talking about science, its impacts on our lives and society. It sounds quite heavy but the atmosphere is very informal in both environments and the whole idea is that anyone can sample some science dialogue. It’s not exclusive. You can access the website at home and view the live webcasts and if you can get along to the Centre you can try the full menu. Yes, you’ll find food and drink at the bar, but I’m talking about the event menu. The programme’s a mind menu designed to get the audience’s curiosity-juices flowing and the dialogue going. And when people do try a Dana event it’s not quite what they might expect.
Each week we run three innovative events - all for non-experts - including controversial discussions, comedy nights and art installations, on science, technology and medicine. Recent events at the Dana Centre ranged from the myths behind cancer to whether we are born or made gay. There was an evening with bowls of jelly where visitors could extract glittering strands of DNA - our way of explaining cloning techniques. We brought out some objects from the Science Museum’s collections, had DNA strand key-rings to make and genetics experts came in to chat through the issues. We designed the event - and admittedly had a lot of fun doing it - so that people could basically blag genetics down the pub.

Science and comedy needn’t be mutually exclusive, indeed, the genetics evening kicked-off with a short comedy performance and in July, the Dana Centre's in-house comedy troupe, Punk Science, ran a science comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival for the second year on the trot.

The Dana programme won’t feature long lectures and we’re moving away from panel debates, towards a dialogue between scientists and the non-expert audience. Experts involved only need to come along with their knowledge and they get the public’s perspective on their work and many events are designed like a buffet or a meal allowing participants to switch tables at each course. These informal events aim to break down barriers between scientists and the public and get real discussion going on. By creating a level platform the audience can discuss what interests them rather than being fed information. It’s a risk. But its risk we’re prepared to take - we hope these discussions to carry on beyond the Dana Centre. Ultimately, we want the dialogue to carry on in peoples’ everyday lives, down the pub, or around the water-cooler.

We really want to get people talking, so we ask them what they want to talk about. Before the Dana Centre even opened we conducted focus groups and we continue to consult with audience panels to guide our programming. Now we are using audience-led panels set up to find out what topics would be popular, which resulted in a series of events tackling the personal issues of abortion last September. This November’s programme will include events that come from an audience-led panel with the Chinese community. It’s hoped that by consulting different audiences we can include something for everyone in the programme.
One of the findings of the initial research was that visitors wanted their discussion on contentious issues to go somewhere - to policy makers. So the Dana Centre got involved in public consultation. This year we have been running DECIDE - a card game that lets the audience make decisions on a policy issues. Different games cover a range of topics from stem cells to nanotechnology. The ‘experiment’ is repeated at many different venues then the results get fed into a central website. Consultation isn’t confined to our audience. The Dana Centre is the UK arm of Meetings of Minds the largest European-wide public consultation ever carried out on contemporary science issues. The results, launched at the House of Commons and shared with parliamentarians and policymakers, could help to shape the future of neuroscience and how it impacts upon our lives.
Events covering issues that are personally important are always popular. In January 2006, we set up the Light Lounge. In this white space people who felt that they might be suffering from Seasonal Affected Disorder could come and see if exposure to UV lights - there were four hanging in the space – lifted their mood. The complimentary event with the scientists researching the area was hugely popular, and the whole package achieved very wide and positive media coverage – part of a strategy of raising the profile of the centre. But we don’t just invite scientists along for discussions. Artists, sociologists, writers, and performers whose work deals with the science or people with personal stake in the issues surrounding it are also sought out.
It’s about coming at an idea from different angles. In July 2003 Big Brother psychologist Harry Witchell came to talk about conflict and lies in the Big Brother house. Recently evicted housemate Lisa also took part in the event so people could ask how her experiences in the house related to what Harry had said about housemate/human behaviour. After a brief talk from Harry participants in the event were able to chat informally with the scientist and Lisa. It turned out to be quite a loud evening. It’s much noisier in the cafe when people are genuinely talking science.
Big Brother is part of our culture now, whether we like it or not. And some might say using this as a hook to discuss science is dumbing-down. But just because it’s the hook for the discussion it doesn’t make the science less valid. People are talking directly to scientists about their research. The fact that it’s on a cultural skewer means that people are more willing, and able, to come, digest and discuss the ideas - scientific ideas.
One essential ingredient to the discussion is research scientists. And they are often the trickiest people to get hold of - although, we have had DNA pioneer James Watson in conversation with Colin Blakemore thanks to EDAB. We also recruit grad students, and research team leaders - anyone with an interest in engaging with the public about their research and its implications, and, importantly, having the public engage with them.  We have a team of events researchers who hunt out the best scientific talent for our ever-growing database, and would be happy to hear from you if you think you fit the bill.
We’ll be cooking up some interesting events next season – the newest additions to the database includes scientists and historians involved in research into radioactivity. For October we’re planning a controversial debate as part of Black History Month and a series of spectacular events involving performers and scientists’ whose expertise is applicable. January starts with a look at how humans can be rebuilt. In 2004 we linked up with the Liberty Science Centre and a hospital in New Jersey, USA for the first ever live broadcast in the UK of a heart bypass operation. In February we join Liberty again for live kidney transplantation. During the surgery the audience will be able to ask the surgeon questions. Some might think this sensationalism but when we spoke to our audience after the 2004 event they said they felt privileged, and in many cases comforted, to see what actually happens during surgery. These ethical aspects of our topics are checked out thoroughly, for example the Dana Centre refused the offer of a rotting corpse because it felt sensationalist - we just couldn’t justify it in terms of the social issues of science.
Our winter season has a bit of a James Bond feel to it with themes of spying and sex. But that’s next season, top of the menu this autumn is an event where we put brain training to the challenge. Now, there’s food for thought, let’s hope it gets people talking - science.
Find out more about the Dana Centre by paying a visit to www.danacentre.org.uk
By Kat Nilsson, Events Manager, the Science Museum’s Dana Centre