National Award for the Popularisation of Science granted by the Brazilian Society of Scientific Progress

The Brazilian Society for the Popularisation of Science awarded project EBIC (Empowering Brazilian Impoverished Communities through Critical Thinking) the national (Brazilian) award for the Human and Social Applied Sciences.

Our project was chosen because of its methodology, creativity and person-centred approach to empowering adult learners from vulnerable populations with various degrees of literacy. Our project called for critical analysis and evaluation of pieces of news and sources of information to distinguish news from fake news. We were also commended for building capacity by integrating community members and leaders into our project and assign them key roles: we offered training, they worked with us and became the local researchers and key team members.

SBPC/GO AWARD FOR POPULARISATION OF SCIENCE
The Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência – SBPC (Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science) is the largest association of researchers in Brazil. It brings together associations from all areas of knowledge and plays an important role in scientific policy in the country. SBPC is organised into regions and has representation in all Federative Units of Brazil. Specifically, the PRÊMIO SBPC/GO DE POPULARIZAÇÃO DA CIÊNCIA (SBPC/GO AWARD FOR POPULARISATION OF SCIENCE) is promoted by the regional government of the state of Goiás. The award is understood as a way to promote the popularisation of science and knowledge and reduce the distance between the production of scientific knowledge and the population. Thus, the projects chosen are aimed at teachers and students of Elementary and High School, therefore, they must be written in popular, clear and accessible language, as a way of promoting the popularisation of science and knowledge. This award values the social importance of the development of the research project in question.

Award-winning projects are awarded a diploma of merit that is delivered in a ceremony. Due to Covid-19 ceremony for 2020 was postponed. This also delayed the following ones. This mean that our award, granted in 2021 will be awarded in the ceremony of 2022, which will take place in the first semester. Recipients of this award are invited to write a book chapter for a collection of all the award-winning projects in the year. This collection will be published in the second semester of 2022. In our chapter we briefly report on the project and show samples of activities developed for it. The digital version of the book will be free to download and, when available, can be accessed through the following electronic address: https://www.sbpcgoias.org/livros. Books from previous years are currently available on this site.The physical version of the book is distributed to all public schools in the state of Goiás, as an incentive for elementary and high school teachers to use this new knowledge in the classroom.

Given the social value of this award, by integrating science into the classrooms, SBPC/GO intends to bring to teachers and high school students in Goiás topics of their interest in a more creative and accessible language. Project are from the following areas of knowledge:
1- Exact and Earth Sciences (includes Engineering and Agricultural Sciences)
2- Biological Sciences
3- Health Sciences
4- Applied Social Sciences
5- Human Sciences
6- Linguistics, Letters and Arts