ROYAL CANADIAN INSTITUTE
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Mission Statement
RCIScience provides a platform for public engagement with Canadian scientists, to foster critical thinking, expand science dialogue and promote informed decision making.
About This Cause
The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience) has existed since before Canada was officially a country! Since its founding in 1849, it has been a champion of science both at home and abroad. Over time, the Institute has helped shape the scientific landscape of Canada. Its modern evolution is stronger than ever and fills a critical need: to foster public engagement with science. Though it looks very different now than it did 173 years ago, a common thread running through RCIScience’s long history is connecting the public with science. Seventy years ago, attending an “Institute” talk meant dressing up on a Saturday night and heading down to the University of Toronto to listen to an eminent scientist give a presentation. Today, you can still hear talks from eminent scientists, but right alongside them are early-career researchers on the cusp of discovery. If you’ve dressed up, it’s more likely that you’re at a tasting to explore the chemistry behind a wheel of brie or the bubbles in sparkling wine. Or maybe you’re spending a night out with friends learning about the best way to kill a zombie from an infectious disease expert. Better yet, you could be at one of our science-themed variety shows such as Spark After Dark or Science is a Drag – that's right, we created a science-themed drag show to provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ engagement! When the pandemic made it so that none of us could go out, our “hyperlocal” #SidewalkScience initiative invited scientists to reach out to their neighbours using chalk drawings on the sidewalk. Our monthly book club created space to explore the intersections of science and society. Some Questionable News is a game that aims to counter the great “infodemic”, exploring how science is often misrepresented in the media, especially with outrageously misleading headlines. Using many types of engagement, RCIScience reaches lots of different audiences, from the merely curious to the deeply knowledgeable. Different programs allow you to participate at your own pace, by attending an event live, watching it later on YouTube, reading a blog or following an Instagram takeover. We provide many pathways to engagement with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The number of people we have reached over the years is difficult to quantify, but in the last decade, it is in the millions, either in person or through our digital platforms. RCIScience is one of the few organizations that keeps its focus mainly on adult audiences. Many organizations work to increase interest in science among youth, specifically in schools. There are fewer that focus on keeping that interest going among adults. Ensuring children and youth feel comfortable with science and consider it an important subject to study and pursue is, of course, vitally important. But ignore the adults, and the results can affect everything from political policy to public health. Engagement is, however, only effective if scientists understand how to do it. RCIScience provides opportunities for established scientists and those in training to learn the fundamentals of science communication and to practice them using one of its many delivery platforms. This includes writing articles for a blog and magazine, receiving pre-performance feedback on a planned demonstration or talk, participating on a program planning committee and learning how to use social media for public engagement. This is a huge value that RCIScience brings. It is creating a network of scientists who are confident and keen to engage with the public and giving these scientists and science communicators not just the tools, but the platform to do so. RCIScience’s efforts to engage people, particularly adults, with science are desperately needed. Critical thinking and informed decision making are always vital skills, but especially so in times scarred by pandemics, climate disasters and the misinformation that these generate. RCIScience is a community for those who love science. Through our many and accessible programs, RCIScience brings more and more people into this community every day. It is a community that will be there for the next generation of youth who learned to love science in school or at a science centre. It is a community that will stand up for science and for critical thought when other, loud voices are decrying these things. It is a community that helps make Canada, and the world, a better place.