Quarterly newsletters

Four times a year, Ecsite publishes a printed newsletter which is distributed by post to all Ecsite members. Each newsletter is published on a specific theme related to the field of science centres and museums. Please find below the archive of quarterly Ecsite newsletters in PDF.

The newsletters contain a number of articles written by contributors from the Ecsite network and further afield, as well as listings from Ecsite members and news from the network. Ecsite members can submit listings, abstracts for articles and courses, conferences and competitions to be included in the Newsletter.

How do I contribute a listing to the Newsletter?

An email is sent out to all Ecsite members requesting listings before each issue. All listings should relate to the theme of the issue.

Members should reply with a short outline, for the Listings section of the quarterly newsletter.

Please note that listings should be:

Specific projects/activities/exhibitions/events related to the specified theme, which are taking place in the time period specified in the request email,
Organised, co-organised or hosted by an Ecsite member

Please send listings as a reply to the request email, in the following format:

Title
60 words detail
contact email
website
a digital photo (as a separate attachment)

The deadline for copy is specified in the email. Please note that listings are limited to one per institution, due to space constraints.

How do I contribute a course, competition or conference listing to the Newsletter?

Please also let us know if you have a course, competition or conference (on any theme relevant to Ecsite members) to advertise on the back page of the Newsletter. These events must be open to most Ecsite members to participate (i.e. on a European or international, rather than national, level), and taking place in or after the date of publication. Contact ewadland@ecsite.eu.

How do I advertise in the Newsletter?

We welcome your advertisements in the Newsletter. Please consult the rate card (PDF) for prices and procedure.

How do I submit an article for the Newsletter?

We request that members first submit an abstract for any article they wish to publish in the Newsletter. Please check the list of future themes below and send a 100-word abstract outlining the concept for your article by email to ewadland@ecsite.eu.

Upcoming themes

Spring 2012: Enticing adult visitors

Attachments:

Ecsite Quarterly Newsletter advertising rates

Newsletter archive

2012

New technologies

These days, science museums and science centres are increasingly acting as knowledge brokers, promoting and facilitating enquiry-based learning and citizen science in the information society of today. We operate right at the cutting edge of these fields and are important intermediaries in the process of transformation.

2011

The gender issue

In this issue of the Ecsite Quarterly Newsletter, find out how Exploratorium in San Francisco, California, successfully integrated research on gender equity in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), into a geometry exhibition.Hear from two science centre directors who are both tackling the gender issue in their institutions and follow the evolution of the Towards Women in Science and Technology (TWIST) as it challenges visitors across Europe to reconsider their gender biases about women in science.

Nature in the urban context

The evidence of the popularity of mass support and engagement with nature can be seen in the memberships of conservation organisations, for instance the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has over a million members. People want more and new ways of engaging.

Hard science

How do you engage the public in debate over a topic like particle physics or nuclear energy, where you need deep understanding of a complex issue?

Future health

There is a substantial work to be done, outside the science communication field, to improve investment in research, the remuneration of scientists, and the way science is taught in schools which is often disconnected from current research and from inquiry-based methodologies. But those of us who are devoted to informal education methods also recognize a need for improvement.

2010

Visitor research and evaluation

Visitor research does what it says on the tin: it is the study of visitors. The theoretical frameworks governing the research may be ethnographic, psychological or educational. In general, the aim is to understand what is happening currently, and the findings may or may not be used to inform future developments. Evaluation, on the other hand, is explicitly aimed at improving the exhibition, event or programmes it studies. It provides opportunities for institutions to reflect and consider the perhaps unanticipated consequences of an initiative.

Science centres: a global movement

Depending a little bit on how you wish to define a science centre, the world today contains about 3000 of them. Over my quarter-of-a-century-long career in this field, I have personally had a chance to visit over 400 of them, often talking to their senior leadership and trustees. What I have found is that they are strikingly similar all over the world…

Real participation: online tools

Science centres and museums increasingly claim to be places where visitors’ participation counts. Visitors’ contributions improve the atmosphere of a science centre or museum, making them feel like “a lively place that reflects the diverse perspectives of the community,” Nina Simon states in her article about how good design leads to good participation on page 4.

Biodiversity – can Ecsite institutions make a difference?

The Convention on Biodiversity has been signed by 192 countries since its promulgation in 1992 (Rio de Janeiro). Ten years later, governments adopted the Biodiversity Target, aiming to reduce the loss of biodiversity significantly by 2010; the wording “halting the loss” was even more popular. Now we are in 2010 and what do we see? Very limited positive change. Governments worldwide have failed to meet the Convention’s aims and Targets. Voices are heard, that currently advocate for rescheduling the “halt the loss” target for 2020.

2009

Leading in Difficult Times

This issue of the Ecsite newsletter takes a timely look at how our institutions are coping with the consequences of the economic crisis. Kirk Ramsay, director of Glasgow Science Centre, UK, offers his views to fellow CEOs on how our science centres and museums can weather the “perfect storm.”

Do you commit to action on climate change?

In the run-up to the United Nations COP15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, this issue of the Ecsite newsletter looks at our work to engage the public on climate change. Guest editor Maya Halevy, director of the Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem, Israel, introduces the issue.

Our European Union

At Ecsite’s Science Communicators Advancing European Knowledge Society event on February 18th 2009, we brought the Ecsite community to the European Parliament, Brussels, to raise awareness among policymakers of the role that science communicators play in order to advance the European knowledge society.

The Power of People

“Motivation… skills… people… change…” The word cloud, showing the frequency of words in the text of the report on the 2008 Ecsite Directors’ Forum, is telling. This event, hosted by the prestigious Museum of Arts and Sciences Principe Felipe in Valencia, Spain, in November 2008 focused on the theme of human resources.

2008

Evolution: new challenges for an old question

It is almost 150 years since Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. This theory, hotly contested and debated at the time, has now gained scientific consensus.

Taking Exhibitions Further

Exhibitions are the final “E” in “Ecsite” – they are the one product that connects all Ecsite members. This issue of the Ecsite Newsletter takes a look at changes in the way exhibitions are developed, taking into account the voices of visitors, new creative processes and the potential to tour across Europe.

Talking the talk: doing dialogue

It may be a widespread science communication buzzword, but experiences in our field show that the notion of dialogue is central to the science centre’s and museum’s role in society. And yet the use of the term has become so frequent in science communication that it is easy to lose track of the true meaning of dialogue, and its real function in our institutions.

Smarter Partnerships

Private companies and foundations are important actors in society, most obviously from the economic perspective, but also from the point of view of scientific and technical research. Our institutions can learn from their new and often effective science communication strategies, as well as their overall engagement in society.

2007

Climate: from pole to pole

It is an issue that shows no signs of leaving the spotlight. October’s announcement that the Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to the IPCC and Al Gore was the latest headline acknowledging just how crucial science communication is, when it comes to the issue of climate change.

Learning Environments

The idea of school visits to science centres and museums as a “day off” for teachers and students is now assuredly a thing of the past. Science centres and museums have done a great deal in the last few years in order to improve their collaboration, maximising the educational potential in this area where formal and informal learning meet.

Energy Futures

The European Union took a very strong decision at the European Council Summit of 8-9 March 2007: to develop the use of renewable energy to the level of 20% in 2020.

2006

Science in Society

In 20 years of popular science communication, we have graduated from the ‘Public Understanding of Science’ label of the 1980s and 1990s to ‘Public Engagement with Science’ (in UK parlance) and ‘Science in Society’ (the useful EU phrasing).

Exploiting the web

How do science centres and museums use their websites? How have websites evolved – or have they evolved? – from electronic marketing medium to interactive enhancement of the exhibition experience?

Beyond the walls

What programmes do Ecsite members run outside the science centre/museum? This newsletter goes off-site, beyond the walls, on the road, to find answers and showcase an extraordinary range of ambitious projects.

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