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Second day of Ecsite pre-conference best of

A second day of pre-conference workshops is coming to a close at Museon in The Hague before the main conference starts tomorrow at the World Forum. Greyer skies today – but also more grey matter, as participants to three new sessions running parallel to the two-day workshops started yesterday joined in. Advice on how to draw a successful Horizon 2020 proposal was shared and discussed in the highly connected “Getting the most out of Horizon 2020” session, with European Commission staff and EU-experts contributing via Skype and Twitter. Science and society practitioners met to discuss “Participative methodologies and new approaches to governance”. Among other, participants shared experiences on how to generate interest from target audiences and receiving training on how to run a successful focus group.   Two workshops focussed on collections: the Nature Group explored (and moved beyond) the paradox of natural history museums using ‘dead’ specimens to convey messages about life processes, while Creative Lab contributors shared they favourite objects, heard about interactive showcases created through the Mesch project and looked for innovative ways to tell stories and create new meaning.   Space stakeholders went on an excursion: they saw an ExoMars rover prototype up close at ESTEC, the engineering core of the European Space Agency (ESA) and cooked comets at the Space Expo. Meanwhile, THE Group was discussing barriers to science engagement and ways to prevent practitioners from unwillingly perpetuating social exclusion and the REV Group kept questioning audience segmentation.   Speakers are now gathering for a reception at the Photography Museum (next door to Museon) while exhibitors are putting finishing touches to their booth at the Business Bistro – ready for the conference to start at the World Forum tomorrow. A lively discussion is unfolding on Twitter to re-invent Ecsite conferences for the future under the hash tag #beyondecsite25. Paper-loving participants are also able to use the suggestion box placed at the registration desk. Thoughts collected so far include making sure ideas emerging from conferences really inform daily professional practices, sharing more failures or having all members vote on session proposals. Join the discussion and attend the “What if? Visions for the next 25 years of Ecsite conferences” session on Friday 23 May (12:00 – 13:15, Oceania room).   Follow the pre-conference and conference on Twitter (#ecsite2014) and Flickr.

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  • #ecsite2014
  • #beyondecsite25

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Museon-Omniversum

As an interactive museum for culture and science, in line with its educational mission and inter-disciplinary approach, it is Museon’s ambition to continue to inspire people to discover the world.

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