This article by Abraham Mamela, an engagement specialist based in Botswana, outlines his argument for the need for African cities to be carefully organised to allow them to become hubs of social innovation and science advancement. He also outlines his engagement project, Heartstrings & Heartbeats.
Project Report: Creative Arts and Social Inclusion: Engaging communities with substance misuse and HIV in Zimbabwe
by Clement Nhunzvi, Mesh Editorial TeamSubstance abuse and HIV are highly prevalent, complex and often misunderstood conditions among young people in Zimbabwe. Supported by the DELTAS Africa CPE Seed Fund, Clement Nhunzvi and his team in Zimbabwe used a creative arts competition to engage school children (13-20 years) in social inclusion and stigma reduction when confronting substance abuse and HIV in the community.
Project Report: Science-2-Society: Raising future leaders in high schools in South Africa
by Lerato Ndlovu, Mesh Editorial TeamImmunologist Lerato Ndlovu shares her experience of using a play and career talks in a project, supported by the DELTAS Africa CPE Seed Fund, to engage high school pupils in rural South African communities with research and increase their scientific understanding of TB and its treatment.
Project Report: Community Engagement in the Collaborative African Genomics Network (CAfGEN)
by Thato Regonamanye, Dr. Mogomotsi MatshabaThe Collaborative African Genomics Network (CAfGEN) is a H3Africa affiliate and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study coordinated at Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence. This article describes their approach to community engagement.
Project Report: The Genomics of Schizophrenia in South African Xhosa people (SAX) study
by Megan Campbell, Adele PretoriusThe Genomics of Schizophrenia in South African Xhosa People (SAX) study sought to identify genes or mutations underlying predisposition to schizophrenia in the South African Xhosa population. Engagement activities included a Community Advisory Board and a Mental Health Literacy Day.
This study published by Wellcome in 2021 explores the role, benefits and potential of young people’s involvement in health research, with a focus on mental health, infectious diseases and global heating. It provides recommendations on how to meaningfully involve young people in research, and what it means to do that well.
Project Report: Bate Papo Vacina! (Let’s get vaccinated!)
by Emily Lawrence, Jenny Payne, Bvudzai MagadzireThis blog style project reflection from Village Reach gives an introduction to the different aspects of their research project exploring barriers to vaccination in Mozambique.
This article addresses community engagement around the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa in April 2020 and proposes a free-to-use mobile app as well as a longer-term Community Engagement Nerve Centre for the country
Report: Next Generation Biomedical Scientists (NGBS)
by Alice MutambiranwaThe NGBS was a nationwide programme in Zimbabwe engaging secondary school pupils in order to raise awareness on genomics technologies and careers in genomics technology. The project sought to inspire high school students to identify local health challenges, and through community engagement, originate research-based solutions.
The SALUS project is a school engagement project exploring HIV research and treatment using animation, storytelling and online content. The pilot was conducted in the Umtata Region of Eastern Cape, South Africa
Arting Health for Impact: South Africa focused on collaborative storytelling and participatory design to engage three communities closely involved with mental health
Arting Health for Impact: Botswana engaged the public on HIV/AIDS, mental health and hypertension using street art
Arting Health for Impact: Street art engaging communities in Botswana, South Africa and India
by Abraham Mamela, Mesh Editorial TeamAn international collaborative public engagement partnership using street art to engage local communities in Botswana, India and South Africa.
Literature: From ‘Trial Community’ to ‘Experimental Publics’: How Clinical Research Shapes Public Participation
by C. Montgomery & R. Pool, Mesh Editorial TeamThis article argues for a conceptual shift away from the static, singular term ‘trial community’ towards ‘experimental publics’. The authors observe that the term ‘community’ is often employed uncritically and assumes that ‘communities’ pre-exist research; that they are timeless and undifferentiated wholes. ‘Experimental publics’, by contrast, are dynamic, multiple, and impermanent in nature.
Project Report: Hip Hop Health: Research, Rhyme, and Rhythm for Healthy Communities
by Mesh Editorial TeamThe Hip Hop Health project facilitated the collaboration of young people with health researchers in South Africa to frame research questions, undertake investigations in their communities, and then write and perform hip hop music to share their findings
This paper may be of interest to readers thinking about the local political and historical context and how this impacts on both science culture and the culture of science communication or public engagement within a country. This article focuses on South Africa although many of the considerations within it are likely to be pertinent in other countries which experienced colonialism.
Published Literature: Introducing participatory visual methods to develop local knowledge on HIV in rural south africa
by Mesh Editorial TeamThis paper reports a study into the insights and perspectives of rural South African communities on HIV- related mortality. The aim of the study was to elicit local knowledge in order to identify priorities for service organisations to improve health.
A collection of easily accessible articles outlining community engagement with global health projects funded by the Wellcome Trust in 2010.
Art is a powerful medium for communication and engagement with science. To create a collaborative project that melds art with research creative practitioners and scientists must be brought together, but these individuals may think differently, have different priorities and work in different ways. This account of Genome Adventures, gives a little insight into the process of bringing different disciplines together and the challanges and benefits that result.
Project Report: Art in Global Health: Report and Video giving Insights and Considerations for Future Artist Residencies
by Sian AggettIn 2013, Art in Global Health set up artist residencies in six Wellcome Trust-funded research centres as a way of teasing out some of the more personal, philosophical, cultural and political dimensions of health research. This exciting project was born out of Wellcome Collection's desire to engage the curious public globally with the health research that the Trust funds - in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam and the UK.
Project Report: co-produced exhibition on migration, health and wellbeing in Southern Africa
by Jo VeareyMigration, health and wellbeing in Southern Africa: Co-produced exhibition captures experiences of LGBTIQ migrants and asylum seekers in Johannesburg and migrant men, women and transgender persons who sell sex in South Africa
Case study of a project run by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which enabled adolescents in Zimbabwe to capture their stories and the stories of others living with HIV.
Global Food Matters: An appetite for engaging with research (Wellcome Trust International Engagement workshop report, Botswana 2015)
by Wellcome TrustWorkshop Report: Discussion on the ethical, social and cultural issues that surround research into food, health and the environment as well as the best ways of producing activities that inform, consult and collaborate with communities.