Explainers & visitor services
Leonardo AlfonsiHerbert MuenderMassimiliano TrevisanLivio Riboli-Sasco
How will science events innovate their content and structure over the next ten years to avoid becoming dinosaurs? After a decade of rapid and constant development worldwide, science events are starting to diversify, focusing on specific science...
Explainers & visitor services
David CarlsonJose XavierPatrícia AzinhagaSandra VanhoveMatteo CattadoriInga May
Amid the urgent challenges of climate change, educators must provide effective information tied to recognizable features of our planet. By combining compelling images of melting ice and snow and of key species in polar ecosystems with authentic...
Equity & Inclusion
Antonio Gomes da CostaAndrea BandelliLeo SchenkElisabetta Tola
Many activists use scientific evidence to promote social change. Other pressure groups deny or distort scientific evidence to support irrational or religious beliefs. As experts in science communication, where do science centres and museums stand...
Exhibit development
Nicolas KösterSilke PetzoldSusanne NawrathKathrin MeyerMichał Buława
Many science centres are very critical of using scenography or atmospheric room design. The main concern is that the visitor will be distracted from the interactive exhibit itself. However, other science centres feel the necessity to upgrade...
Explainers & visitor services
Jane DowdenKayte McSweeneyJohn DowneyKathrin Kösters
Games can give a real sense of fun, playfulness and excitement to motivate and engage teenagers. Games encourage interaction, participation and discussion. Games can simulate real life scenarios by testing our willingness to take risks in a safe...
Explainers & visitor services
Wenche FivelsdalIngrid EikelandMikko MyllykoskiEmily Dawson
Do you know who is walking through your doors? Do you know what motivates your guests to visit? Do you know their prior knowledge, their benefits and attitudes? Do you know what their learning preferences are? Can we really learn from...
Alexandre QuintanilhaMao ImaizumiSophie BougéCarmen GuerraLeonel Alegre
When developing a new exhibition most science centres rely on scientists and scientific institutions. But what do we expect from them? Expertise and skill, validation and acknowledgment, creativity and inspiration, or even money? In this session...
Explainers & visitor services
Jon HaavieSabina BarcucciGène BertrandIan SimmonsJon HaaviePatricia Verheyden
Maker Faire is the world’s greatest festival for creativity and making. This is where technology, art and science meet. It is a festival where inventors, artists, hackers, enthusiasts, geeks, craftsmen and tinkerers – can show others what they...
Marketing & communication
Natalia Sergievskaya Luigi AmodioJelena FilipajJan Riise
When setting up a new science centre one has to approach decision makers in order to get funding for the project. Confronted with their expectations, we often wonder: Are the decision makers from a totally different planet? How do we sell our...
Strategy & vision
Ian Goldin
Professor Ian Goldin is Director of the Oxford Martin School and Professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford University. He delivered a speech entitled "Individual and Collective Wisdom and Failure".
Ian was previously Vice...
Marketing & communication
Clara LimLim Tit MengDorothée VatinelSean Clarke
Pop culture is by definition popular – so why not use it to convert potential audiences? Popular recognizable characters can act as a hook for attracting new audiences by providing a face and voice. Universcience, for example, shares their...
Explainers & visitor services
Ana NoronhaLaszlo Robert ZsirosPaweł WójcikAaike van OordMiha Kos
“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong,” journalist H. L. Mencken observed. In science centres, it is not easy to be educational and entertaining while remaining scientifically accurate at all times. As a...