Exhibit development
“Everything is broken!” This is a frequent complaint among visitors to science centres. But equally often, visitors think an exhibit is broken only because they didn’t understand how to use it properly. How do we prevent these two scenarios and...
Science in Society
A number of playful discussion formats are being developed and used in science centres. In addition to aiding informal learning about science, these discussions also support participants in finding and expressing their own views based on facts...
Networking & Partnerships
Established centres have opportunities to build relationships with emerging centres in developing countries and/or different cultural settings. Emerging centres want to learn from established ones and connect with their ideas and exhibitions....
Operations & finance
Efficient planning of resources in science centres is very important, certainly in times of economic crisis. Visitor numbers have the biggest influence on the use of resources. Forecasting of visitor numbers is thus crucial. The presenters in...
Operations & finance
What is the value of intellectual property in the science centre industry? What are the risks of buying copies of exhibits? What are the risks for fabricators of going “open source”? If we acknowledge the source of an exhibit idea, is...
Technology
Today’s popular and academic literature is filled with a broad spectrum of opinions about how technology is changing our culture. The implications for museums are potentially wide-ranging and profound. This session will investigate how trends in...
Finance
Many science centre managers feel like “kamikaze pilots” trying to manoeuvre in the rugged waters of science centre management, facing risks and uncertainties from early planning throughout financing and into implementation. Risk and uncertainty...
Exhibit development
Looking to rent or buy travelling exhibitions? This year, we take another look at travelling exhibitions on science, available now and coming soon across Europe. This rapid-fire session will give you a glimpse of the huge range of exhibitions on...
Science in Society
Despite the great significance of the impact of science on our history and our daily lives, science is not routinely considered as a key cultural value in our societies. In this session we will hear from three EU funded projects: PLACES, CASC and...
Networking & Partnerships
Science centres and museums are perceived as centres for middle-class, mainly white, visitors. Why should this be? Shouldn’t science be for all, irrespective of ethnicity, education, age, or socio-economic status? This session will look at three...
Marketing & communication
Museums are meeting places. Spaces to enhance socialisation are then necessary. Museums’ shops and restaurants respond to this need. They help reinforce the fascination of cultural institutions and give allure to merchandises and the buying...
Exhibit development
There are many communication products on sustainable development, bringing all sorts of media into play. The theme is the focus of government announcements, advertising by big industrial groups and communication by political parties, among others...