Annual Conference sessions
Browse all conference sessions since 2010
Science ♥ society
2019
"The blob: a genius without a brain".
2019
"Mathematics as Material Play"
Equity & Inclusion
2019
A blindfolded experience to grasp visual accessibility requirements.
Business & fundraising
2019
The session explores different models for financing our institutions and tackling the biggest challenges we face in the search for a diversified and balanced model.
Strategy & vision
2019
The Supreme Court of the Ecsite Conference will decide whether virtual reality (VR) in museums and science centres is visceral reality providing vital reactions, or just virtually rudimentary and very rubbish.
Research, theory & evaluation
2018
James Beacham is a particle physicist involved in the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Watch a video of his keynote.
Science ♥ society
2018
“Go forth and collide, Multiply and create” is the motto of our Science Assembly. Inspired by religious revival meetings, we will offer you songs, laughter, inspiration, and meaning.
Exhibit development
2018
Are you facilitating creative team processes? Tired of always using the same old tricks? Interested in the wider potential of creative techniques? This session is for you.
Strategy & vision
2018
What is the future of science centre exhibitions? Do we need to stick to scientific phenomena, or focus on high tech and current science? Do we concentrate on objects or interaction? Or are physical exhibitions becoming obsolete in the digital era?
Research, theory & evaluation
2017
Professor Alice Roberts is an anthropologist, author and broadcaster, and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham. Watch a video of her keynote.
Science ♥ society
2017
Nina Simon has been described as a “museum visionary” by Smithsonian Magazine for her audience-centred approach to design. Watch a video of her keynote.
Research, theory & evaluation
2016
Dr. Frans de Waal is a Dutch-American biologist and primatologist known for his work on the behaviour and social cognition of primates. Speech title: Prosocial Primates: The Cooperative Background of Our Species
Equity & Inclusion
2016
Dr. Elizabeth Rasekoala is the President of African Gong – the Pan-African Network for the Popularisation of Science & Technology, and Science Communication. Watch a video of her keynote.
2015
Andrea Illy is the Chairman and CEO of illycaffè S.p.A., a family coffee business founded more than 80 years ago. Watch his speech on Ecsite's YouTube channel.
Strategy & vision
2014
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".
Science ♥ society
2014
Ahmet Üzümcü is the Director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2013.
Strategy & vision
2013
Dominique Pestre is a social and political historian.Hos speech was entitled "What kind of innovation for the Anthropocene?". Watch the keynote on the Ecsite YouTube channel.
Strategy & vision
2013
Susan Greenfield is a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford and delivered a speech entitled “ The neuroscience of creativity – Making the most of 21st century technology”. Watch the keynote on the Ecsite YouTube channel.
Strategy & vision
2012
Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, gave a speech entitled "Space exploration, life and the cosmos".
Strategy & vision
2012
Carlo Ratti, Professor at the MIT, gave a talk entitled "Future Cities - The real-time city is now real!"
Science ♥ society
2011
Derrick de Kerckhove, Professor at the Department of French and former Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto, gave a speech entitled "Navigating among the shoals and reefs of social, state and business controls in science and technology".
Strategy & vision
2011
Michael Jones Chief Technology Advocate, Google, gave a speech entitled "The Billionth Visitor".
The first Ecsite Conference took place in 1989. Here you can browse all Conference sessions since 2010. Use the search engine to look for people, topics...
Looking for an older session? Our digital records start in 2007, with programme pdfs attached to each conference page.
Research, theory & evaluation
Gène BertrandIan BrunswickBjörn KällströmAna GarciaDick van DijkHugo Vrijdag
A living lab is a research concept. A living lab is a user-centered, open-innovation ecosystem, integrating research and innovation processes within a public-private-people partnership. The concept is based on a systematic user co-creation...
Jamie BellLouise Julie BertrandDominique BotbolMichael Bradke
What would happen if exhibition designers used music as a conceptual trigger and creative constraint? Music and exhibitions share some characteristics: Listening to music and visiting an exhibition happen over time, in varying tempos, in dense...
Explainers & visitor services
Cláudia FariaAna Alexandra Valente RodriguesInês OliveiraMarianne AchiamNils Petter HauanJen DeWitt
How can informal learning sites provide optimal learning experiences without placing demands on teachers? This session will move beyond familiar conversations about how to encourage/force/support teachers toward desired behaviours. Instead,...
Lucy SchweingruberMaria XanthoudakiCamille PisaniMikko Myllykoski
In this panel you will get insight about what is happening behind the scenes of the Annual conference Programme Committee (ACPC). Representatives of Ecsite and the ACPC will guide you in how to create a successful session for any future Ecsite...
Penny FidlerLeonardo AlfonsiBarbara StreicherRosalia VargasRobert Firmhofer
Many science communication practitioners engage in regional networks, using the multiplier effect for broader reach. The idea is to engage more people with science and technology more locally and more effectively. How can we set up such networks...
Travelling exhibitions require important decisions regarding collections and design. All of the aspects easily managed in the home museum are difficult to control when an exhibition travels. Decisions on the selection of collections require close...
Daniel RosqvistAnnika WaernJohan EckerudDaniel RosqvistLisa Månsson
When the behavior of a target group changes, we need to change with them.
With a gamification project called “The Mission”, Tom Tits Experiment in collaboration with Uppsala University and Expology, seeks to meet the expectations of an...
Explainers & visitor services
We are in the midst of a new era in communication. How should museums react to virtual reality, for example? Are there new opportunities to captivate audiences and extend museum activities? How could a museum website be a tool to meet unusual and...
Mikko MyllykoskiDominique BotbolPäivi GarnerPatricia VerheydenAntonia Caola
Language and translation policies and practices are an easily overlooked sector in the functions of a science centre. Who reads exhibition texts anyway, let alone the different language versions? As far as accessibility is concerned,...
Livio Riboli-SascoChris GaryJan RiiseBarbara Streicher
In our efforts to foster socially inclusive science communication approaches, innovative and challenging strategies can be particularly relevant. For instance, involving under-served populations with scientists in the co-construction of research...
Explainers & visitor services
Camille PisaniMichele LanzingerJean-Marie Sani
Twenty-ten was the International Biodiversity Year and the peak effort to raise awareness about biodiversity and its importance for human well-being. The outcomes were somewhat disappointing as the biodiversity loss is far from being halted....
Sheena LaursenMette Stentoft TherkildsenMai MurmannJustin Dillon
This session will focus on actions and activities that are being developed to promote healthy lifestyles. We will show how science centres are creating transforming experiences aimed at a broad and diverse audience. Education researchers have...
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