Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
25
Year:
2022
Type of Events Held:
- Brain Fair
- Lecture/Briefing
- Online/Virtual
- Radio Show
- Social Media Campaign
- Workshop
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students (1-5)
- General Public
- High school students (9-12)
- Middle school students (6-8)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
900
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
The goals of our project were to provide knowledge and awareness about the brain and the importance of research and return to face-to-face activities. Over the week we performed several activities, organized according to specific targets. In elementary schools we presented face-to-face Brain Fairs, where the students had the opportunity to learn and play with brain models, observe brain sections under the microscope, test their senses, assemble puzzles relating to brain functions, etc.
The kindergarten children enjoyed a virtual ludic lecture about how to take care of the brain, and the importance of eating and resting well.
High school students received in their classrooms lectures about the importance of drug prevention, sleep function, learning and memory, the effect of hormones on behavior, the microbiota and the brain, clocks in the brain, brain ischemia, among others.
Moreover, we achieved a social media campaign, that included Facebook Live scientific lectures transmitted on @semanadelcerebroxalapa. Also, on this Facebook page we posted video capsules and infographics about brain functioning and diseases.
We also offered talks in restaurants and coffee shops that were prepared for non-specialized audiences. The informal atmosphere in restaurants allowed people that normally do not have the opportunity to get in touch with science in general to enjoy these talks.
Finally, in collaboration with the University’s radio station RadioUV (90.5 FM), we produced Radio capsules named: “Breves del Cerebro”, that were transmitted daily over the month of March, and currently are available on Spotify, as podcast episodes. The main challenge of this BAW edition project was the return to face-to-face activities.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Posters/Flyers
- Press Release/Media Advisory
- Social Media
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
Resources
What downloadable materials from the Foundation did you use for your events?
- Puzzles: Grades 6-8
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- Brain Awareness Week Logos
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
This year, we turned to a hybrid system including face-to-face and virtual activities. This strategy gave us the opportunity to organize a wide variety of actions and events to reach broad audiences. We achieved a social media campaign, that included Facebook Live scientific lectures transmitted on @semanadelcerebroxalapa. We posted video capsules and infographics, and produced radio capsules, “Breves del Cerebro”, at RadioUV (90.5 FM). Available on Spotify.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Our group of work has learned that we have to adjust to environment and current conditions. In this sense, we are living in hard times, full of uncertainty not just with pandemic, but also dealing with new technology. We strongly believe that we must use all we have around to take advantage to create new channels of communication, groups work. All people around the world are facing several challenges, but our will helps us to overcome adversity to keep working in pro of Worldwide Brain Awareness Week, event from which an important amount of people gets benefits. We are motivated to continue in this important collaborative event.
