‘Superbugs: A Pop-up Science Shop’: Increasing public awareness and knowledge of antimicrobial resistance by taking science to the city

Tyrrell, Jonathan M.; Conlon, Christie S.; Aboklaish, Ali F.; Hatch, Sarah; Smith, Carl; Mathias, Jordan; Thomson, Kathryn; Eberl, Matthias

‘Superbugs: A Pop-up Science Shop’ was a public engagement event in the school summer holidays of 2019, organised by members of Cardiff University’s School of Medicine. We transformed an empty retail unit in the centre of Wales’ largest shopping centre into an interactive and immersive microbiology experience. We aimed to facilitate opportunities for two-way dialogue to impart positive impact on the awareness of antibiotic resistance, whilst concurrently evaluating the efficacy of an engagement strategy focused on the utilisation of public spaces to attract public demographics diverse to those who would normally engage with STEM outreach. Over the course of 14 days, we welcomed 6,566 visitors, with 67% attending as part of the natural footfall of the shopping centre. We created 1,625 young Antibiotic Resistance Champions, located in over 200 schools. Through a multi-lateral evaluation strategy, we were able to collect quantitative and qualitative feedback on the success of our delivery model, and the impact on our stakeholders. Herein, we will discuss the evolution of ‘Superbugs’ from concept, planning and design, to the logistics of delivering an engagement event of this scale. We will focus in particular on the learning outcomes of the project, and how this will shape the future of our ‘Superbugs’ project, and engagement events beyond. Key Messages Creating a multi-disciplinary core team is essential to the success of large-scale engagement events as well as the support and development of large numbers of colleagues/volunteers Utilising themes of exhibition and gameplay alongside strong fear-empowerment messages is an impactful way to confer positive influence and behaviour around antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the use of antibiotics ‘Pop-up shop’ is an effective mode of delivery to capture diverse public demographics far beyond those who would traditionally engage with scientific outreach and science engagement.