How to Start A Science Cafe (Café Scientifique)
Science equals entertainment at many evening spots | By Jill U. Adams June 1, 2004 from The Scientist at http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2004/may/prof3_040524.html
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Imagine an entertaining evening out on the town and talking science. Sound unlikely? Not to attendees of science cafés in Europe, North America, and Australia. Perhaps these comments, collected from Australian audiences, will sway naysayers to look more closely: "I love the exchange of ideas." "Provocative and fun." "I like seeing the 'techos' come out of the closet."
Science cafés aspire to promote discussion of science in a community setting. Held in venues ranging from cafés to pubs, museums to nightclubs, the atmosphere is emphatically informal and, yes, entertaining. The concept came to life in the late 1990's with the first "café scientifique" in the United Kingdom and "bars des sciences" in France. Dozens more have cropped up across the globe, and organizers report success in terms of community response and personal rewards. Here's their advice for starting a science café in your town.
A typical evening begins with a scientist making a presentation. Conspicuously avoiding any semblance to formal lectures (and the lethargy they might induce), speakers do not use lecterns or slides. A short break allows patrons to "stretch their legs and top up their drinks," says Yvonne Fullwood, organizer of a London café scientifique. The break also gives participants an opportunity to chat with their friends and gain the confidence to speak up during the discussion, the raison d'etre of science cafés.
Like a good cocktail, success lies in the mix of ingredients rather than any one part. Start with a compelling topic and a good speaker, add a good-sized crowd, shake, decant into the proper venue, and garnish with a chairperson (or not). "They all work, every topic and every speaker, in their own way." says Fullwood.
As organizer, your main commitment is time, for inviting speakers, securing venues, and advertising the events, particularly when starting a new café. Costs are low as speakers and venues receive no payment. Organizers often get a sponsor to help defray marketing and occasional travel costs.
Once established, the cafés provide their own momentum and thus require less time commitment. Many cafés have a host venue, so logistical challenges of seating, sound, and sightlines are tackled only once. E-mail lists provide an easy way to alert participants to future events, and the venue manager helps with promotion as well. "The public actually do want to be critically engaged in science and they want to have a proper dialogue with it, as opposed to just being [given] information," Fullwood says.
Simply by participating, nonscientists feel a dash of empowerment. Science becomes tangible and accessible, rather than something that happens "over there" (at the university), "up there" (over their heads), and "out there" (irrelevant to life).
Advice From The Experts
Sponsors
The Australian science café travels around the country and is a large
production, with two radio personalities cohosting a panel of as many as
four scientists. Three sponsors help with costs and planning efforts: the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the British Council, and the New
Scientist.
Two UK cafés, in London and Exeter, are held at art centers. In London, the venue serves as a sponsor and helps with planning and publicity. In Exeter, the café is sponsored by the Met Office, the national meteorological service.
In Victoria, Texas, organizer and local professor Richard Gunasekera has no sponsor and does minimal advertising (beyond word-of-mouth). Yet the event outgrew its first home at a tacqueria and is presently splitting the seams at a larger café. New Scientist sponsors the café in Boston, Mass., and provides information on starting cafés in the United States.
Venues
Think pubs, cafés, nightclubs, band venues, and museum restaurants.
Thomas recommends a "quiet, peaceful sort of venue," without
distractions such as pool tables or video games. Venues will be interested
in boosting a traditionally slow night (not the weekend) with a
well-attended event.
The challenge is to balance the need for relative quiet with the desire for a bar atmosphere. People should "feel free to ask a question, to get up at any time" says Abigail Thomas, who helps organize the Australian science cafés. Some cafés use a back room or separate space. But be careful: Don't close the door to drop-in participants.
Formats
Most science cafés use a single speaker; however, panels have worked
quite well Down Under. Keep the presentation short, well under an hour.
"We say 15 minutes because if you tell a scientist 15 minutes, it can
mean anything!" says Eugenie Reich in Boston. In Exeter, the speaker
chairs the discussion; organizer Ginny Russell advises them to encourage
participation "so it's not just Q&A."
Speakers and Topics
Speakers are not paid, although they might get free drinks and perhaps a
reimbursement for their travel expenses. "Go for local people,"
says Fullwood. She contacts potential speakers by E-mail, explaining the
café scientifique concept and why they have been invited.
"Practically everyone has said yes."
For topics, Fullwood advises finding subjects of local interest; speakers and audience members can make suggestions. For more ideas, surf Web sites of other cafés, as well as the Dana Centre in London, which always advertises a full slate of talks.
The Audience
Cafés attract a mixed crowd of people differing in ages, professions, and
café experiences. Generally it's an adult crowd, from college-age to
retirees, and not just scientists, but lawyers, artists, and students. The
regular attendees in Boston "feel like they have to be there,"
says Reich. But there are always newcomers, "people who've just heard
about it."
"People tend to muck in together," says Australia's Thomas. "It's a really good opportunity to meet other people." London's Fullwood says the "beauty is when there's a dialogue between different members within the audience," breaking down boundaries between experts and nonexperts.
Coda
Abigail Thomas illustrates the power of a science café on a seemingly
unlikely audience in a tiny outback town in Australia. She describes
cattlemen and miners, "pretty rough-looking," drinking beers at
the local pub. "All of a sudden, Paul [the chair] hops up and
announces, 'We're going to be talking about how the universe was
formed,'" she relates. "And [the locals] all had this look on
their face, like 'what [is] going on here?' But we had a couple of
fantastic astronomers on that panel and by the break, I heard a couple of
these pretty wild-looking men actually arguing about Einstein's theory of
relativity."
Resources
Café Scientifique
www.cafescientifique.org/index.htm
Links to UK and worldwide cafés; practical advice for café organizers
New Scientist
www.newscientist.com/hottopics/cafescientifique
Links to US, UK, and Australian cafés; contact info for help in setting
up a café
Dana Centre
www.danacentre.org.uk
Ideas for topics
Jill U. Adams (jilluadams@aol.com) is a freelance writer in Delmar, NY.