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“The Outstanding Excellence Award recognises the role that science communication can play in the public debate of an emotive and contested topic,” said UCD College of Business Associate Professor Geertje Schuitema, who is also an environmental psychologist.

The Nature Without Borders International Film Festival aims to help filmmakers worldwide get the recognition they deserve by giving them exposure, a truly deserved award, and a chance for distribution with long-established worldwide distributors.

In the award-winning documentary, 100 Perceptions: Raw Materials, 100 volunteers from a cross-section of society were invited to the Natural History Museum, London to analyse and understand the general public’s knowledge of raw materials and their opinions of where they should come from – opening our ears and listening to the full diversity of perceptions presented and how these may have changed throughout the experiment.

The full documentary is available on YouTube.

Geertje Schuitema, Co-Principal Investigator at iCRAG Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences joined Sarah Gordon and Richard Herrington at the Natural History Museum, asking volunteers to respond to a series of statements at the beginning and end of the evening, having participated in a series of educational activities in-between.

The purpose of asking the same statements at the beginning and at the end of the study was to measure if people’s perceptions became more informed. Some statements focused on knowledge and awareness, while other statements assessed if they helped the participants to form an opinion– which could become more positive or more negative.

The exercise at the heart of the documentary was inspired by a board game designed by Lucy Blennerhassett, iCRAG researcher and science communicator, which helped translate complex concepts into a shared and thought-provoking experience.

“When people are informed, we can have real conversations about the kind of society we want, how we decarbonise, and where our materials should come from,” concluded Associate Professor Schuitema. “Our team put great effort into presenting a message that supports critical thinking. I see this award as a confirmation that we have succeeded in achieving this goal.”

The documentary was produced by Critical Productions and Big Circus Media as part of the VECTOR EU project, this documentary invites us all to reflect, question, and imagine a more informed path forward.