An overview of global health, sea turtle conservation and a snapshot of the world in Aberdeen's botanic gardens are just some of the insights provided at the next PechaKucha Night Aberdeen.
The city’s second PechaKucha Night will take place next Tuesday (October 22) at the Belmont Picturehouse and is part of the One World Week programme of events taking place in Aberdeen.
Devised in Tokyo, the PechaKucha presentations give participants 20 images with 20 seconds to discuss each one.
Over 600 cities across the globe now host the nights.
An overview of global health– presented by researchers from the University of Aberdeen, will be just one of the subjects under the spotlight at the event.
Dr Hilary Homans, Director of the Centre for Sustainable International Development will take attendees on a journey to the Karamoja region in Uganda where images have been carefully chosen to reflect three decades of working in 50 countries on issues affecting young people, women’s health and development. The aspirations of local people and some challenges faced living and working in this context will be highlighted in her presentation
Professor of Obstetric Epidemiology and Head of Immpact, an international research group focused on strengthening the evidence-base to reduce maternal mortality, Wendy Graham, will share images from maternity wards in the poorest parts of the world and discuss the challenges of providing good healthcare in her presentation - “It doesn’t have to be like this”.
Professor Graham said“Capturing and conveying the hard reality and the complexity of many global health problems is not easy. I hope my 6 minutes 40 seconds is both suitably thought-provoking for the audience and respectful of the populations with whom I have had the privilege to work over the last 25 years”.
Carolien Zanstra will also present images from her conservation work with sea turtles with the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network in Costa Rica andAndi Ramsay, professional photographer, will share some images from his macro photography project ‘The World Unseen’ which looks at everyday objects in great detail.
Biologist Dr David Lusseau, from the University’s School of Biological Sciences will show how the way we see the world influences our decisions and ultimately drives the sustainability of our lives on Earth.
Mark Paterson the Curator of the Cruickshank Botanic Gardens and glaciologist Douglas Mair from the University of Aberdeen’ Department of Geography and Environment will also share images from their areas of work and research.
Prospective participants are being encouraged to present at future PechaKucha nights which will take place once a month until December.
Dr Heather Doran of the University’s Public Engagement with Research Unit said: “Pecha Kucha is Japanese for 'chit chat. The concept of these nights was originally devised by two architects, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, and the first event was held in 2003 in Toyko as a way for young designers to meet, network and show their work in public.
“The University of Aberdeen is proud to bring the official PechaKucha Night to the city, and we are looking forward to our remaining three events, which will feature a mix of speakers from the worlds of photography, art, research, music and much more.
“We want to open up the floor and invite speakers for future PechaKucha nights. If you would like to speak at one of the evenings please get in touch with the Public Engagement with Research team at the University on 01224 273274 or by email at peru@abdn.ac.uk or visit www.facebook.com/PechakuchaAberdeen.”
Future PechaKucha nights will link to major initiatives and themes such as The Festival of Social Science and Human Rights Day.
All events are free to attend and take place at The Belmont Picturehouse from 7pm
Full details of the programme can be found at www.engagingaberdeen.co.uk and at the series Facebook page www.facebook.com/PechakuchaAberdeen
The One World Week programme in Aberdeen can be found here: www.owwaber13.info/