Media & Film Archives - Page 3 of 7

Exhibitions, Public Engagement, Science Communication

Community engagement through participatory media

Dr Alastair Van Heerden, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Sweetwaters Office, posed interesting questions at the opening of the Amazwi Ethu: Speaking Back exhibition held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. What qualifies as photography art? Would it have been better to show images taken by professionals? It was clear from the exhibition that amateur photographers are equally, if not more capable of conveying important messages about their perceptions and experiences of the world. Amazwi Ethu is one of the outcomes of a photovoice research project implemented by the HSRC Sweetwaters office. The aim of the project was to allow young people from the Sweetwaters community to raise their concerns and experiences through photography.

As research engagement specialists, Jive Media Africa was contracted by the HSRC to assist in the production of a series of community engagement events to profile this research to a wider audience. This included a public exhibition of photographs at the Centre for Visual arts (CVA) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), a community meeting in Edendale and the production of a printed catalogue.

August 2, 2017/by Jive Media

Media & Film, Media Production

Centre of Excellence in Human Development

“You cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do is, like a farmer, create the conditions under which it will begin to flourish.” – Ken Robinson

The DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development (CoE-HUMAN) supports and undertakes multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research to enhance the process of human development. Read more

June 7, 2017/by Jive Media

Comics, Media Production, Print Media, Public Engagement

Mission MeerKat for SKA

The Mission MeerKATcartoon series, produced by Jive Media Africa, explains how radio astronomy works and why this pathfinder telescope is being built in the Karoo.

Download all 5 x 8 page comic books produced for the SKA (Square Kilometre Array) and MeerKAT (the Karoo Array Telescope). Read more

June 5, 2017/by Jive Media

Media & Film, Media Production, Print Media, Science Communication

SARETI: South African Research Ethics Training Initiative

Research is an essential tool to secure health and wellbeing for the people of Africa and the world. Without deeply understanding the complexities of health issues, we are unlikely to develop the necessary innovations to address them. However, when that research involves human subjects, it becomes critical to consider both the potential benefits and the potential risks of that research. It’s a complex field, and one which requires unique responses to local challenges. Jive Media Africa are proud to be working with the South Africa Research Ethics Training Initiative (SARETI) to develop communication tools to support the initiative by celebrating and nurturing health research ethics expertise in Africa.

SARETI is an African-based, multi-disciplinary Masters programme at the University of KwaZulu Natal (Pietermaritzburg) focusing on strengthening and deepening research ethics in South Africa and Africa. SARETI provides a variety of educational opportunities, varying from short courses to full masters programmes, and partners with numerous organisations in Africa, the United States and Europe. SARETI’s staff represent many facets of research ethics and are drawn from South African and international universities.

Jive is particularly excited about this work because it challenges us to think about how to do better public engagement around science. As an organisation which spends a lot of time navigating spaces between science and society, we feel that research ethics practitioners have a lot to contribute to the discussion on public engagement. Research ethics processes require researchers to engage with participants, often members of the communities which suffer the health problem at hand.

And this engagement doesn’t only happen at the end of the research as a way of “disseminating” findings but by necessity happens before, during and after the research. Not only do experts have to find creative ways of translating their science in order to have conversations with “non-science” audiences, but they are also compelled to listen to the responses of these audiences – and to think through the benefits and the risks of their research.

That kind of interaction fundamentally alters the research and over time, shifts the research agenda. And in a world where decisions are made for millions by relatively few, having meaningful conversations with people about their health and wellbeing, and about the impact of research in their lives, has to be a good thing.

Please visit the SARETI website if you would like to view or receive copies of the 2010 to 2014 newsletters: http://sareti.ukzn.ac.za/Newsletters.aspx

March 29, 2017/by Jive Media

Books, Media & Film, Media Production

Story Press Africa

Announcing Story Press Africa:

https://storypressafrica.com/

Story Press Africa, an imprint of Catalyst Press (USA) and Jive Media Africa (South Africa), is a collaborative platform for sharing African knowledge.

Through the medium of stories (including graphic novels, young adult and children’s literature) we aim to place African knowledge in its rightful place among the knowledge of the world. We publish African stories for a global audience; authentic, challenging and frequently controversial visions of the continent that birthed humankind.

We debut this fall in the US with the graphic novel Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince, by Luke Molver which is the first in our African Graphic Novel Series. Watch this space…

March 7, 2017/by Jive Media

Books, Media & Film, Media Production

Journeys of Discovery

Where did human beings first begin to wonder, investigate and create? Growing scientific evidence now suggests that it was right here, under African skies. And this process, repeated over millennia, now continues in the creation of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope. Jive Media Africa is honoured and privileged to have worked with the SKA in South Africa on the creation of a book which aims to deepen and broaden public interest and engagement with the SKA project. The book, Journeys of Discovery – Stories of Human Innovation in Africa, positions the SKA within a larger story of over 200 000 years of human history and innovation on the African continent.

The book highlights scientific and technological advancement on the continent by exploring themes as varied as imagination and innovation, the human odyssey, pyrotechnology, early chemistry and early engineering, with beautiful images of symbolic innovations and development in Africa. The book provides an overview of the SKA project and how its objectives and long-term scientific benefits link to the story of human innovation, and ultimately to our future as a species.

The book was researched, written and produced by Jive Media Africa, in association with leading archaeologists and origins researchers. The publication has been exceptionally well-received. Read the full book here.

“The products were brilliant and far exceeded expectations. The science communication experience and proficiency was of the highest standard. There are many highlights stemming from where the product was used.” – Mr Lorenzo Raynard, Communications Manager – SKA South Africa

Feature image: Ostrich eggshells covered with engraved geometric patterns found in Diepkloof Shelter, near the coast, north of Cape Town. Image credit: PJ Texier

February 14, 2017/by Jive Media

Media & Film, Media Production, Science Communication

SA launch of The Lancet Global Series on ECD.

Jive Media Africa, through its work with the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, provided media and science communication support to the South African launch of the Lancet Global Series on Early Childhood Development.

The Minister of Science and Technology launched the series entitled Advancing Early Childhood Development: from Science to Scale to highlight the critical role of science in informing policy.

The series gathers scientific evidence from around the world which is powerfully demonstrating how low-cost interventions which facilitate and support nurturing care for infants in their first years of life contribute to lifelong health, wellbeing and productivity with economic impacts which far outweigh the investment costs.

The evidence is presented in a Lancet series with 45 contributing authors edited by distinguished South African researcher Professor Linda Richter.

Find out more at http://www.thelancet.com/series/ECD2016

December 8, 2016/by Jive Media

Media & Film, Media Production, Print Media

Mapping the Gaps – Early Childhood Development

How do we go about changing the way South Africa understands and invests in Early Childhood Development?

Jive Media Africa has been part of a research-process led by the FrameWorks Institute in Washington to better understand how experts, stakeholders and the public understand key issues in Early Childhood Development (ECD).

The aim is ultimately to work towards creating new narratives which can be used to communicate key learnings about ECD to positively transform our society. The research report which was designed and produced by Jive Media Africa, is entitled: Early Means Early – Mapping the Gaps Between Expert, Stakeholder, and Public Understandings of Early Childhood Development in South Africa.

The work has taken place in co-operation between the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development, Stellenbosch University, UNICEF and the MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit. The report was authored by Eric Lindland (PhD), Prof. Linda Richter, Prof. Mark Tomlinson, Ntombizodumo Mkwanazi and Kathryn Watt.

September 14, 2016/by Jive Media

Animations, Comics, Film, Media & Film, Media Production, Public Engagement

Creating interactive media for CHAT (Community Health-worker Assistive Technology)

Jive Media Africa was privileged to develop interactive media for the Community Health worker Assistive Technology (CHAT) project – an innovative mHealth initiative in KZN, SA. This project was pioneered by Prof Lisa Butler, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Prof Jim Slotta, University of Toronto, and Thandanani Children’s Foundation (Pietermaritzburg, SA) and Jive Media Africa.

We used various media including animation and video to assist community health workers to impart crucial health messaging to impoverished South African households. These health workers are part of existing programmes administered by non-governmental organisations, such as Thandanani Children’s Foundation, serving households in communities around Pietermaritzburg. The digital media created by Jive Media Africa will be delivered via a tablet computer, and will foster meaningful discussions about health topics between the health workers and caregivers in the households.

View the media focussing on child health (birth to 5 years) on the following topics:

(The videos are all in isiZulu with English subtitles)

View an ‘explainer’ video here:

September 13, 2016/by Jive Media

Exhibitions, Media & Film, Media Production

DST-NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Human Development

Jive Media Africa was privileged to support the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Human Development with its science engagement activities at the CoE Directors’ Forum which took place on the 25th and 26th of August 2016 at the Howard College Campus in Durban. The Centres of Excellence programme is an initiative of the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology that takes place annually. Jive supports CoE Human, the first of the CoE’s with a focus on Social Sciences, with science communication services. These range from communication strategy and media production support to developing engaging ways to interact with the public around the science being undertaken through the programme. School learners were very excited by and engaged with the activities at the exhibit. Here are some photographs from the event…

Dr Phil Mjwara (Director General of the DST) and Prof Linda Richter – Director of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development

August 31, 2016/by Jive Media

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