ESOF – EuroScience Open Forum in Manchester

VA is organising two sessions at this year’s ESOF conference, both taking place on 26 July.

At 10:00-11:15, join us for a panel discussion on Local impact, national and global reach: lessons from Scandinavia. 

Organisers: Astra, Denmark and VA (Public & Science), Sweden

Our digital society offers endless opportunities to reach broad audiences. How can they be harnessed for science communication activities in a way that ensures that they create true dialogue between researchers and the target audience? While being the most digitally connected, Scandinavian countries have small and highly dispersed populations and can showcase important lessons from mass experiments in schools, involving pupils across Scandinavia; science communication contests for researchers; and a regional science news portal built on independent science media initiatives in Norway and Denmark.

We will discuss success factors and challenges of scaling up projects nationally, achieving the balance between face-to-face and virtual engagement, the effective use of social media and digital tools and the critical choice of language that allows non-anglophone countries to collaborate and have a broader reach and greater impact.

Moderator: Sophie Duncan, Deputy Director, NCCPE (National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement), UK

Speakers:

• Mikkel Bohm, Director, Astra – National Centre for Learning in Science, Technology and Health, Denmark
• Helen Garrison, Project and Communications Manager, VA (Public & Science), Sweden
• Vibeke Hjortlund, Editor-in-Chief, ScienceNordic
• Sidsel Flock Bachmann, Senior Communications Advisor, Research Council of Norway
• Emmy Gram Lauvanger, Senior Communications Advisor, Research Council of Norway

At 14:15-15:30, have your say on Public engagement – what’s the point?, an interactive roundtable session involving representatives from nine European science communication organisations.

Organisers: Royal Institution, UK and VA (Public & Science), Sweden

What are the benefits of public engagement? What are the greatest current challenges? What are the trends and opportunities? We aim to stimulate discussion about the importance of public engagement, identify key issues and trends, and provide new perspectives and inspiration on effective ways to engage the public, as well as create a shared understanding of the challenges facing those involved in public engagement activities around Europe. We also seek to provide the next generation of researchers with greater understanding of the importance of public engagement and opportunities.

Keynote speaker and moderator: Vivienne Parry, UK science writer and broadcaster

Facilitators of roundtables:

• Cissi Askwall, Secretary General, VA (Public & Science), Sweden
• Mikkel Bohm, Director, Astra – National Centre for Learning in Science, Technology and Health, Denmark
• Martin Davies, Public Programme Manager, Royal Institution, UK
• Helin Haga, Coordinator of External Funding, Science Centre AHHAA Foundation, Estonia
• Dr Tony Mayer, Treasurer & Governing board member, EuroScience
• Dr Giuseppe Pellegrini, President, Observa Science in Society, Italy
• Guillermo Santamaria, Department of Science, La Caixa Foundation, Spain
• Divna Vuckovic, Vice President, Intersection, Serbia
• Ricarda Ziegler, Executive Assistent, Wissenschaft im Dialog, Germany