The Ecsite Conference, the European network of science centers and museums annual conference, was hosted by Kersnikova Institute in the vibrant city of Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 5-8 June 2024.
Over 900 professionals and enthusiasts from around 400 organisations and 50 countries around the world gathered to inspire and exchange advances in science engagement. The conference was dynamic and interactive, featuring high level keynote speakers such as the Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob and Jill Walker Rettberg, a professor of Digital Culture and co-director of the Center of Digital Narrative (CDN) at the University of Bergen, Norway. Jill emphasised that art, culture and social factors significantly influence technological development, including generative AI.
The conference was dynamic and interactive, featuring high level keynote speakers.
Public & Science was represented by Head of Learning Julia Brink, who spoke in two of 86 parallel learning sessions. These sessions covered topics ranging from AI and accessibility, to fundraising and research & evaluation.
Julia presented the co-created project CitizAir, using licorice to visualise the invisible air pollution in Stockholm. CitizAir aims to inform Stockholm residents about air pollution, helping them to make more informed health and policy decisions.
She also participated in a session Training researchers to meet school pupils: together with Kathrin Kösters, Futurium gGmbH; Sarah Funk, Science Center Netzwerk; Catherine Oualian, Universcience; Francesca Rizzato, SISSA Medialab Srl, who all work with coaching researchers in outreach and engagement. Julia presented the Swedish Borrow a Researcher initiative that is part of the annual science festival ForskarFredag (European Researcher’s Night in Sweden). The session addressed the critical need for comprehensive training methods tailored to researchers engaged in activities outside and inside school settings, and presented very concrete examples. After the session, a similar initiative in the Czech Republic expressed interest in learning more about how we work in Sweden to help researchers deliver interesting and engaging activities in the classroom.
The session addressed the critical need for comprehensive training methods tailored to researchers engaged in activities outside and inside school settings, and presented very concrete examples.
During the Gala dinner, the winners of the 2024 Mariano Gago Ecsite Awards were presented, which were created in 2015 to recognise and encourage creative and impactful work in the field of science and society engagement. The Beacon of the Year Award celebrates inspirational individuals who have made a significant contribution to engaging citizens with science and the Ecsite network, and the winner was Francis Duranthon, Director of the Natural History Museum of Toulouse. The Excellence in Science Engagement Award was won by Nausicaa, Centre National de la Mer for their Project Blue Living Lab. The 2024 winners were selected by an esteemed jury of previous winners and experts from the science engagement field led by Chairperson Maya Halevy, former Beacon Winner and Director of the Bloomfield Science Centre in Israel.
A key takeaway from the conference is the importance of exchange and networking across Europe.
A key takeaway from the conference is the importance of exchange and networking across Europe. When creative and skilled people from Europe and around the world gather at an event like this, something special happens. Good examples and initiatives are exchanged and new friendships are formed, all aimed at developing science engagement. This dynamic is evident not just in the sessions, but also in the social activities, such as the late night karaoke in Ljubljana castle, highlighting the power of networking and why a united Europe is so important.
