How do you turn more than three years of complex research into a video that speaks to a general audience?
That was the challenge for the team behind FAiR (Finding Agreement in Return), a European research project led by Erasmus University Rotterdam. The project looks at migration return, involving complex questions around policy, law, deportation, human rights and reintegration.
We knew the final output had to be a video. But that raised another question: what exactly is a “general audience”?
It tells us very little about the people we are trying to reach. What are they interested in? What do they already know? What is their political perspective? What language level will work? How much context do they need?
Starting with what people already know
We started by looking at examples of science communication that make complex subjects accessible. Freek Vonk can explain biology to a huge audience. Neil deGrasse Tyson does something similar with astronomy and the universe. But what does that look like for the social sciences, where the subject matter can involve complex systems of policy, law and human behaviour?
Our inspiration came from an unexpected place: the late-night comedy format of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight.
Before thinking about the format, however, we needed to work out what the audience actually needed to know.
We started by breaking down the research into a few key messages. What is return? How does it work? Who are we talking about? Once those concepts were clear, we could explain where the problems lie. Not in broad or abstract terms, but through specific, concrete examples.
Then came the difficult part: choosing what to leave out.
Three years of research produces a lot of findings and potential solutions. We could not put all of them into the film. So we selected three solutions that we could explain clearly, that raised interesting questions and that gave us opportunities to use metaphors.
This became the basis for the script.
Making people want to watch
We then had to answer a different question: how do you get people to watch in the first place?
We wanted the film to be informative without becoming another research explainer that people might switch off after 15 seconds. We wanted something absurd, sometimes uncomfortable and even painful to watch. We wanted humour, but not simply to make the subject funny. Humour became a way of approaching complexity from an unexpected angle.
That led to the game-show concept, the metaphors and the tone of the film. We wanted to connect the research to situations and experiences that people could recognise, while showing how strange some of the realities of return can be.
Building the world of the film
Choosing the host was relatively easy. We already had the talent within the team. But creating the world around the host was another matter.
Together with the studio, we designed the set from scratch. The details mattered: the objects on the table, the lighting, the music, the suitcases and the overall look and feel of the show.
The result is a 16-minute film designed for a general audience, with a particular focus on use in classrooms, from secondary schools to universities. The film comes with a discussion sheet to help teachers and students explore the questions it raises.
But will it work?
That is the part we do not know yet.
There is an enormous amount of content on YouTube. Making a creative video does not automatically mean people will watch it, share it or learn from it.
That is why dissemination and evaluation are part of the experiment. We want to see how the film is used in classrooms, by migrant organisations and by others who want to explain how return works in Europe. We will be looking at whether it reaches the audiences we had in mind and whether the format actually helps people engage with a complex subject.
So, watch the film, share it and tell us what you think. We would particularly like to hear from researchers and educators about the format and whether you think it works as a way of communicating complex social science.
You can send your feedback to fair@eur.nl.
