Using LEGO® to discuss data science with the Polish community

Led by: University of Stirling

Funding awarded: £3,841

About the project

Engaging a diverse range of people from different communities is an essential part of public involvement and engagement. People from ethnic minority groups make up a significant part of the Scottish population, however they are often overlooked in conversations around data science.

Researchers from the University of Stirling sought to address this imbalance by leading workshops with Polish people living in Aberdeen, exploring their perspectives on data science and developing new relationships for future projects.

Project impact

The team delivered three workshops in partnership with the Polish Association Aberdeen and the Ice Candy School – a Polish Saturday school.

During the workshops, participants were encouraged to use LEGO to build constructions that express their feelings or perspectives towards data science, followed by discussions to explore how their creations represent their views.

By using LEGO as a core communication tool, the project team aimed to break down language barriers and encourage participants to express themselves freely and openly. After the sessions, only 15 of the 36 participants said that they would have taken part if the workshop was in English.

Online exhibition

The project team have published photos of participants' LEGO creations in an online exhibition, which is available in both English and Polish.

Explore the online exhibition

Each workshop began with a 20-minute presentation on data science, focusing on its importance and its impact on society, especially the Polish community.

Researchers then asked participants to build models from LEGO bricks representing data being collected about people. This could have been anything, and participants were encouraged to use their imagination. Participants were then asked to construct a character that represents a Polish person living in Scotland.

Based on these initial models, participants were then asked to add or remove bricks to show how their character would feel about: 1) reusing their data for research, and 2) the impact of data research. They were then asked to choose a new LEGO character to represent the researcher; adding it to the model to embody the researcher’s role and position it in the story.

“This project highlighted that data is never just numbers; it represents people’s lives, identities, and aspirations. By engaging directly with the community, research becomes both more relevant and more ethical.”

Klementyna Borowska, Representative of Ice Candy School

“This project beautifully demonstrated how creative methods like LEGO® building can give people a voice and make complex topics like data, identity, and trust much easier to understand and discuss. It was inspiring to see community members express their experiences and opinions in such a meaningful and visual way. ”

Rosa Ginter, Representative of Polish Association Aberdeen