Team:Thrace/Collaborations
Introduction
This was the second year that the pandemic beset our planet. The importance of human contact thus became even more obvious. We knew it would be difficult to meet up with other iGEM teams in person, but we didn’t let the daunting feeling stop us. Our plans succeeded and we got to meet in person with other teams from Europe to unite over common goals. But we also engaged with teams from even further away via the power of the Internet. Our collaborative projects confirmed the significance of cooperation, reinforced our work ethic and taught us that even though iGEM teams are against one another in the competition, we are so much more than that. We can form friendships and join forces towards our common goal: connecting synthetic biology with the rest of the world.
Organizational Collaborations
Erasmus plus
This year we collaborated with 6 other iGEM teams on a special project. In 2020, our team applied for Erasmus+ funding for a youth exchange programme titled “Communicating Science to Non-Scientists”. Our vision for the programme was to get together members from iGEM teams from all over Europe and to connect with them over science communication. And our plan (despite early difficulties due to the pandemic) came true!
Members from iGEM Aachen, iGEM Hamburg, iGEM Marburg, iGEM Sorbonne, iGEM IONIS and iGEM Crete joined with members of iGEM Thrace in Alexandroupoli. From the 21st to the 27th of August we had the opportunity to learn beside them about communicating science through non-typical forms of education like theatre, dance and visual art. In the meanwhile, we exchanged experiences and got to explore other cultures through food, music and traditions.
We didn’t stick to theory though. We got to practice science communication by preparing acts for a big show. On the final day of the youth exchange, we showcased our acts to the local public of Alexandroupoli. Our performances had different themes. Climate change, Covid-19 and of course synthetic biology were presented to the audience through theatrical performances, dance acts and props created by the participants.
This experience definitely taught us a lot about science communication and other cultures, but most of all it enhanced our iGEM spirit.
iGEM Meetup: Greek edition
Our year of collaborations started off with participating in the organization of the Greek edition of the iGEM Meetup, which took place online on the 24th and 25th of July. In this event we got to know other Greek iGEM teams and their projects. We had the opportunity to troubleshoot each other’s projects and had a lot of fun discussing with them about synthetic biology. The meetup also featured interesting lectures and workshops about various topics, from graphics to entrepreneurship. Another engaging element was the interactive discussions with iGEM Alumnis, who shared with us their experiences and knowledge and consulted us on how to make the best out of our journey in iGEM.
Collaborations on Science Communication & Education
iGEM Bielefeld
We collaborated with iGEM Bielefeld on a cool translating project. iGEM Bielefeld has the wonderful initiative to select questions about science from kids and answer them orally in a podcast series, as well as in written form. Next, they asked for the contribution of iGEM teams from all over the world, to translate the answers in other languages and make the communication of science to children even more universal. Our team participated by translating the text to Greek, therefore enhancing the communication of science to Greek people.
iGEM IISER Bhopal
Our team collaborated with iGEM IISER Bhopal from India on a project regarding science communication and education. iGEM IISER Bhopal created a synthetic biology workbook aimed at high school, undergraduate students or anyone else who is enthusiastic about synthetic biology and wants to delve into the topic in a multifaceted and engaging way. Our team contributed to this project by translating the workbook to Greek, as we want to help people in Greece as well as the diaspora to become accustomed with synthetic biology.
iGEM Rum
This collaboration’s aim was to educate and inform about the different environmental challenges of each team’s area. We were asked to create conscience by designing a poster, presentation, collage or any other creative method that communicates which contaminants are present in our location and how they have been affecting the area’s biodiversity. We chose to create a poster which highlights the huge contrast between a polluted and a healthy environment.
After the rapid industrialization and urbanization in the 20th century environmental problems have become more and more important. The environmental problems in the Thrace region of Greece stem from the industrialisation activities carried out during the last 30 years. There are problems such as air pollution, solid waste, water pollution, unplanned construction, traffic, etc. The surface water pollution and waste management are the main issues of the region. These have led to the decrease of the fish population in our area, created a discontinuity in the food chain and destroyed agricultural areas due to fertilizers, pesticide and antibiotics. The amount of environmental issues seems limitless ,yet they are all equally important.
Start participating in the change and teach your community what is needed to create a sustainable future.
Creative Collaborations
iGEM Düsseldorf
We collaborated with iGEM Düsseldorf from Germany, on an imaginative and creative project while having the same goal of engaging the public with synthetic biology. Us and many more teams from around the world were invited to create a unique postcard to represent our team, with an image related to our project or synthetic biology. We chose to design an image related to synthetic biology in a more abstract way, depicting various microorganisms with bright colors and contrasts.
Due to long distances and possible delays, most teams -including us too- sent 90 copies of their postcards digitally. iGEM Düsseldorf collected them all and sent back to each team a parcel including a card from all the teams participating in the program. Thus, we saw how each group expresses synthetic biology or how it wanted to communicate its project.
iGEM UM_MACAU
Macau China team decided to create a creative photo album of snacks that served with beer around the world. As we found their idea really interesting, we decided to collaborate with them and send them a photo of different dishes served with beer in Greece.
iGEM BOKU-Vienna
The iGEM Team Vienna, has the idea of creating a diverse cookbook for people affected by FODMAP sensitivity, which is connected to diseases like irritable bowel syndrome and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. In order to help them with their idea we searched for traditional recipes that fitted their criteria. We selected a recipe for stuffed vegetables, which is a very popular meal in our country, translated the recipe and sent it to the them.
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