Research Engagement Through Community Radio

Researchers are engaging the public on the #ScienceOfSex through community radio – and they are doing so at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) Directors Forum to showcase the centre’s commitment to reaching the public with research. Jive Media Africa has provided strategic communications support and media production services to assist with setting up the recording, and mobilising audiences to pose questions to be answered by the health researchers. The broadcast took place at Nelson Mandela University in the Eastern Cape.

Over the two days of the forum, four radio shows on topics related to gender and family were recorded. The content for the recordings centred around a number of topics in sexual and reproductive health, including male circumcision, father absence, intimate partner violence and sexual orientation and gender identity. The Centre of Excellence partnered with Khanya Community radio from Butterworth in the Eastern Cape and Madibaz Radio, the campus radio station of Nelson Mandela University.

The shows will be broadcast by the radio stations and will be made available as podcasts online. The interactive stand foregrounded students and researchers (with grants from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development) who communicate science findings through community radio. Questions and comments were solicited via the parent radio stations and social media. During the shows, the presenters engaged visitors, particularly high school learners, attending the exhibition. Visit the Centre of Excellence in Human Development for ongoing updates.