The events were entitled Our Tiny Non-Humans:  Meet the microbes that shape our world.  They were held at the ASCUS Art & Science labs in Summerhall, and brought together participants from a (huge) range of different backgrounds including gastronomy, biomedical sciences, art, literature and beyond. In addition, as one of the few Festival of Creative Learning events open to the entire Edinburgh community, we encouraged curious members of the general public to attend, resulting in a lively and diverse crowd.

Through discussion and hands-on activities attendees learned about why some bacteria are becoming difficult to treat with antibiotics, why antimicrobial resistance remains a major global challenge in medical research and how the problem relates to our world today.

The workshop was led by medical anthropologist Iona Walker of the BEYOND RESISTANCE Network, architect Nikoletta Karastathi and clinician and researcher Dr Zafer Tandogdu from Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital.