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.
Explainers & visitor services
The aim of the session is to share and discuss manifestation of humour in our science communication activities, our science centres and museums. Does humour help in any way? It adds a “fun factor” to the visitors’ experience and makes people...
In this session, speakers have five minutes to propose one thing they would like to ban from science centres and museums for good. Maybe it’s the one exhibit that they’d love to see the back of, or the one lazy idea that they are sick of finding...
Mobile applications offer a wide range of new ways for discovering complementary content, before, during and after the visit. Some of them work on dedicated systems, others on standard devices. Some carry content, some bring interaction. This...
The biodiversity crisis, climate change, and major environmental changes create uncertainty and anxiety concerning our future. We now live with the threat of disasters that could profoundly affect our lives. Yet it is important to avoid passivity...
Science LinX, the University of Groningen science centre, links formal to informal education and addresses a target group usually considered risky or difficult, 14 to 17 year old teens, using the BètaMentality Model. This model maps the drives of...
Produced and published by science centres in an appealing format, science popularisation books, especially those meant for children, reveal science centres’ concerns. Their purpose is to get youngsters informed about topical issues, to provide...
The public’s perception of chemistry is mixed and misconceptions are rife e.g organic food is good; ‘chemicals’ in food are bad. In this session we look at different approaches museums and science centres are adopting to engage visitors in a two-...
Explainers & visitor services
While death is the ultimate fate of every one of us, confronting it is difficult and often avoided. Should science museums deal with this topic? If so, how? What would be the rationale for deciding to approach this challenging topic? What would...
In the last months a number of new science centres have opened. Each of them has its own concept and theme. In a Pecha Kucha session you can get a quick overview of these new projects. Pecha Kucha means the each speaker has 20 Powerpoint slides...
Explainers & visitor services
The idea of “access” to science centres is often seen as synonymous to physical access to its facilities. While providing for such access is extremely important, efforts have seldom been made to ensure cognitive access to the science centres’...
Ortwin Renn, Professor and Chair of Environmental Sociology and Technology Assessment at Stuttgart University, gave a speech entitled "Why do people fear what they fear? The psychology of risk".
Risk perceptions have a reality of their own...
Natural history museums and science centres stress that biodiversity deserves protection. Many museums display old specimens, sometimes of extinct species. Can they take the risk of using those “unfortunate ambassadors of biodiversity” to engage...
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