Rochdale Science Initiative held its annual 'Science Extravaganza' on the 19th March 2023. This year the event was dedicated to 'Climate Change and Sustainability'. It was a remarkable event hosting some 1,464 visitors.
We wanted to find a way that would capture creative imaginings and comments from everyone, celebrate the event, and create a platform for next steps. The solution was this 'Spiral of Voices'. Visitors used the spiral to answer questions such as ‘Who are you?’; ‘What caught your imagination today?’ and ‘How can we create a greener, fairer world?’. Questions and answers were identified by colour.
Our design is constructed from the Fibonacci sequence of numbers. We chose the spiral format for several reasons: Spirals are often found in Nature, for example in flowers, shells, pinecones, and galaxies. Humans have drawn spirals for thousands of years. Spirals convey a sense of spirituality. They are a symbol of change, progression, and development.
As part of our preparations, we had an online Q&A with Joanna Haigh, Emeritus Professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London. Rochdale families compiled a thoughtful and comprehensive list of questions to fuel a lively and thought-provoking discussion.
Organiser, Mohammed Rahman wrote “The Fibonacci piece is absolutely beautiful. I'm still going through all the notes. Engaging the public to contribute to our evaluation was an outright success”.
With thanks to everyone who contributed to the piece, our supporters SunSpaceArt and STFC, Professor Jo Haigh, and the remarkable Rochdale Science Initiative who created this marvellous event, of which this activity was just one small part.
A few members of the RSI Extravaganza team, with leader Mohammed Rahman centre.