SPEARHEAD consortium members and external participants are invited to work together to reflect on four years of antimicrobial resistance research and to explore possible future research trajectories. Through collage and visual storytelling, participants translate experiences, achievements, and challenges into shared visual abstracts.
This workshop creates a shared space for collectively discussing research trajectories through visual and material inquiry. Participants work with curated images, diagrams, and graphical elements drawn from the subprojects to articulate key moments, tensions, and transitions in the work. Through the arrangement and juxtaposition of visual elements, groups externalise tacit knowledge, negotiate
meaning, and trace relationships between past developments and emerging possibilities. Rather than focusing on representation alone, the approach foregrounds interpretation and dialogue, enabling participants from different disciplines and roles to contribute on equal terms and to build a shared understanding of complex research processes.
This workshop was designed and organised by the MAKEAWARE! team. In the weeks leading up to the final event, SPEARHEAD subproject leaders were onboarded and prepared to act as facilitators of the activity, and were provided with guidance and materials in advance. During the workshop, each group was led by its subproject leaders, who supported collective reflection, inclusive participation, and the creation of the visual abstracts.
The workshop is organised as a 90 minute, table based activity with five parallel group sessions, each facilitated by a subproject leader. It begins with a brief collective introduction that outlines the purpose of the activity, the role of visual abstracts in communication and dissemination, and the collage based method. Each facilitator then introduces their subproject, highlighting key goals, achievements, and difficulties. Participants collaboratively select, cut, and arrange visual materials to compose a visual abstract that represents both past developments and future opportunities. Facilitators actively support interaction by prompting reflection, inviting questions, and guiding synthesis. The session concludes with group sharing and a collective closing, during which each visual abstract is presented and discussed, enabling connections to be drawn across subprojects and supporting a shared discussion on future directions.
This session was held once, as it was designed to mark the conclusion of the project.
The workshop functioned as a participatory and reflective process that supported shared sense making across the SPEARHEAD subprojects. The visual materials prepared in advance by the subproject leaders were tailored to their specific research contexts, while remaining open enough to invite interpretation, metaphorical thinking, and alternative readings. As participants explained why particular images were selected and how they were arranged, discussion was activated and different perspectives were shared, allowing complex topics to be simplified without loss of nuance. The use of visual metaphors supported communication across levels of involvement, enabling those who had worked on the project and those who participated as external or less directly involved contributors to engage on equal terms and to develop a shared understanding of the research trajectories.