Being innovative, especially in a collaborative environment, requires an understanding of the status quo and of the efforts made by others in the same and similar fields.

As a research project, we started by reviewing existing literature. What is the equivalent of scientific literature for those working in the science centre field? This is an important question when we start working on a new project. How do we find out if what we intend to do is innovative only for our own institution, for the whole community or for the network at large?

There are potentially a wealth of sources – from blogs to evaluation reports, from personal communications to peer-reviewed publications. But in fact few of them describe the real, lasting value of a project, which is essential if we want to learn. We need to build a culture of documentation in order to equip ourselves for challenges of innovation. What mechanisms do we have and what are the needs and obstacles faced by our institutions?

In this interactive session, we will start off the discussion with concrete examples of individuals and institutions which are at the forefront in the field and condense the collective experiences of participants in a world cafe setting.