Co-production in action
#CelebratingEngagement with the
Young Producers Research Team
A group of 18-23-year-olds with little-to-no STEM experience might not seem like the first choice to collaborate with on the design, development and delivery of interactive installations about antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, in 2023, an Imperial research team did exactly that, creating an award-winning approach to co-production and science communication.
The research team behind the programme, a collaboration between Imperial’s Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in HCAI and AMR, Centre for Antimicrobial Optimisation (CAMO), and young people from the local area, won the Achievement Award at the 2024 President’s Awards for Excellence in Societal Engagement. In delivering two installations at an Imperial Lates and the Great Exhibition Road Festival, the project exemplifies ambition and collaborative spirit, as well as how empowering young and experienced minds alike to get out of their comfort zones can reap rewards.
Young Producers is a co-design initiative where local young people collaborate with Imperial researchers. Starting by asking what they already knew about AMR, ideation sessions led to the development of a Lego-based game where participants act as microbes navigating through antibiotics, targeting different treatments based on bacteria type. The game and resulting art installation were delivered at the Lates, Festival, and Science Museum in 2023.
The co-production focus is what made the project unique, giving power to the young people to interpret and communicate the science in their own voice. “It was refreshing to do something that was different to just having a poster on a university campus”, reflected Ellen Stadler, Research Postgraduate in the Department of Infectious Disease.
“This felt like we were helping people from different backgrounds to communicate ideas.”
The idea was entirely that of the young people, with the research team on hand just to make sure the science was accurate. As time went on, the new outlooks from the young people evolved into a clear strength for the programme. "The more you work on a project, the more you get stuck on the details, so it's nice to bring in that fresh perspective and be reminded of the overall problem," Ellen noted.
As well as producing something unique, the young people clearly took a lot from participating in the programme. In a post-event blog which the group wrote as part of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, two of the participants commented on how they believed they weren’t good at science at school. In the words of Rakhee Parmar, Executive Assistant and Engagement Coordinator in the Department of Infectious Disease: “people almost put a block for themselves that they’re not good at [science], and don’t pursue it, but the Young Producers project made them understand how it can impact everyday life in ways they hadn’t thought about.”
“If you’ve never seen or interacted with someone from the field, how do you know that a particular career path exists?” asked Ashleigh Green, Research Postgraduate within the Department of Surgery and Cancer. “That’s why it’s really important, particularly before they make their higher education choices.” Beyond opening up career pathways, the joy of sharing knowledge was one of the main takeaways, as Ellen explains: “young people are the ones who will go on to educate others, like their parents. No matter what they do after this experience, whether it’s science or not, it’s knowledge they will keep and maybe bring to others.”
However, it wasn’t just the young people who were taking home benefits. “It was refreshing to just think ‘how would I try to explain [AMR] if I had never heard of the concept before’” said Ashleigh of working with the young people. “It brings a new layer of meaning to the research. Sometimes you get so caught up in the specifics of a project, but, actually, why are any of us doing it?”
“Fundamentally, it’s because you want to make the world a better place, and being able to communicate things that impact the health of people all over the world is a foundation for being able to make sure your science is impactful.”
The relationship didn't end there, either; the research team provided paid work for some of the Young Producers to review lay summaries, to check that the language used was appropriate and understandable, helping the Unit to produce research with even greater real-world relevance. Given the global significance of AMR and the widespread misconceptions surrounding it, having a project which improves scientific research whilst engaging new audiences is especially important. “A lot of the aims of the Young Producers are things that people don’t think affect them, but AMR is a growing problem, and people’s grasp of the severity of it is often disconnected from the truth”, Ashleigh articulated.
The process itself proved deeply rewarding for everybody involved, as Ellen says: “to see how the young people we worked with got more confident, and at the end it was really them leading it all and explaining it to people. It was really nice to see”. Winning the award was just the icing on the cake – an “unexpected” one according to Ellen, but as Rakhee summarises: “it’s a really important award, and it’s good that we were recognised for the work we have done as a collaborative.”
The researchers have carried on the programme’s legacy of creative and impactful engagement. They continue to take part in events such as the Great Exhibition Road Festival and Pathways to Medicine, an initiative which introduces school students to careers in infectious diseases through activities including a COVID outbreak simulation, developed by Ashleigh Green and Emma Carter. Other team members have been running an antibiotic citizen engagement project for primary schools, and are now collaborating with the Fleming Initiative to plan for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week in November.
The Young Producers programme represents a new and experimental model of science engagement where knowledge is genuinely co-created, and traditional hierarchies of scientific research are put to one side. It recognises that underserved voices aren’t just a ‘nice-to-have', but essential to finding solutions that work for everybody.
The Imperial team: Juliet Allibone, Rakhee Parmar, Ashleigh Green, Emma Carter, Jenny Lawrence, Ellen Stadler and Amrita Ghataure
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