When a butterfly flaps its wings.........

To increase awareness of the extent to which world-class UK [STFC] research utilizes, illustrates and elaborates Chaos Theory

The project will specifically focus on raising awareness of the deterministic nature of Chaos Theory and how this is used in research areas funded by the STFC. It is likely that while many adults may have heard of chaos theory, they will not understand how it is used in research or to understand complex systems. As such, the project seeks to illustrate how chaos theory is currently being used to study complex phenomena, including those of human systems, highlighting the relevance of physics research to everyday life.

The project specifically seeks to engage a range of general audiences, including those who are not traditionally interested in science, as well as engaging young people (14-18). To reach out to non-traditional audiences for science events, the project takes an innovative approach combining both science and the arts. The choice of performance venues (a Science and an Arts Festival and two secondary schools) allows us to engage the audience in familiar (comfortable) venues as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the performance in engaging different types of people (both those who are already interested in science and those who are who do not normally attend such events). This effectively eliminates the barrier for some audiences of attending an event in an unfamiliar space.

Furthermore, such 'Sci-Art' projects can effectively embed scientific ideas in a wider cultural context - taking science out of its traditional spaces of the research facility and placing it within other cultural institutions (e.g. festivals). As this is an emerging approach to science communication, which focuses on 'normalising' science, making it part of everyday life rather than setting it appart as something esoteric or difficult. As this is an emerging field, evaluation will focus on understanding the impacts of the approach on the audience. Evaluation of such Sci-Arts approaches is sorely needed, as there is insufficient evidence at this time of their immediate and wider impacts. Thus, the project is likely to have impacts beyond awareness and interest raising amongst the audience attending the performances, and to influence the nature and direction of future arts-based science communication initiatives.

Both the Cheltenham and Canterbury Festivals have already indicated their willingness to include Butterfly in their programme for 2014/2015. Marketing of the project will be undertaken in conjunction with these festivals and will focus on reaching each festival's core audience (e.g. science interested audiences at Cheltenham and Arts interested audiences at Canterbury). Both Festivals are successful at attracting their core audiences through traditional marketing approaches, including leaflets, posters and mailing lists and these will be used to promote Butterfly. In addition, the project team will be promote Butterfly on relevant forums such as the IoP's PTNC and the Science Communication community's PSCI-Com mailing list.

The two performances are planned in secondary schools, one in Bristol [Cotham School; a specialist Performing Arts College] and Canterbury [Simon Langton Boys School; specialist science school].

Science Festivals have included performance pieces in their programmes for some years, but recently Arts Festivals have realised the potential for including science within their programmes. Burnet, for example, is working with Canterbury Arts festival to develop a science 'stream'. Arts festivals are of particular interest to science communicators as they offer the potential to reach beyond traditional audiences for science events and performance pieces opening up the possibility of reaching out to people who do not attend science festivals. Demonstrating that a performance that tackles a challenging scientific topic in an accessible way, such as Butterfly, will be of interest to science communicators and Arts Festival organisers more widely as they explore the potential of science themed performances to engage their existing audiences and to attract new audiences to the Festivals. This provides an opportunity to disseminate the findings of the Butterfly's evaluation to this wider community through professional publications and mailing lists. This is also likely to generate interest in Butterfly and further opportunities for performances (beyond the life of the STFC funding requested here).

The project will also be highlighted on the Science Communication Unit's website and will be used as an example by Weitkamp as part of her regular teaching (MSc in Science Communication and PgCert in Practical Science Communication) and training (e.g. UWE Masterclass in Science Communication) activities, raising the profile of the project within the Science Communication Community.

Evaluation of the Butterfly project will feed into journal publications exploring both the potential of science-based performance pieces to engage non-traditional audiences for science communication activities and the nature of the collaborative process of devising a performance piece. Dissemination will focus on both the academic (science communication and physics communities) and practitioner communities, through articles in publications such as Science and People, Physics Today and Public Understanding of Science. The final evaluation report will be lodged on the British Science Association Collective Memory website.