The Chicago Council for Science and Technology
Grant Information
The Dana Foundation supports The Chicago Council for Science and Technology (C2ST) for a multidirectional engagement project that provides insights into the ways various communities think about brain health, with particular emphasis on non-scientists and members of historically marginalized communities. C2ST partners with Worldview Studios (WVS), a collective of brain and behavioral scientists, designers, and multimedia producers focused on science communication and engagement for public benefit, to work with local communities using participatory, human-centered design (HCD) methodologies.
This engagement results in three in-person events about brain health that benefit Chicago communities: a free event at a community center, a city park event with brain-themed activities, and a brain-themed event or installation at a local science museum. Beyond these collaboratively designed efforts, the project identifies issues, concerns, and perspectives about brain health that may not be on the radar of informal science educators or public health professionals and demonstrates the utility of HCD tools in public science engagement. The project culminates in a publicly available report that synthesizes learnings for designing HCD-informed brain health-related events in community and informal science settings.
This project aligns with the Dana Frontiers objective to support and empower neuroscience and society practitioners who champion inclusive, effective models of multidirectional engagement with diverse publics so that more communities can use neuroscience to address their priorities.
