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.
Anne PrugnonChristina Ritzl VejlgaardLars WerdelinSonja NeumannPanagiotis Poulopoulos
In our dreams, we are transported to different worlds, distant times and sometimes unfamiliar places. This session will explore innovative techniques for creating a sense of time and place in exhibitions, using objects, digital interpretation and...
Esther DugdaleLubov Strelnikova
The Polytechnic Museum in Moscow is one of the oldest museums of its kind in the world and the largest technical museum in Russia. The modernization project that began in 2010 aims to create a new museum and education centre with advanced museum...
Annika JoyDidier LavalClara Lim
Science is no longer perceived as a series of instantaneous innovations, but as a gradual evolution, involving lengthy experimentation and huge numbers of people. How do science museums and science centres present the process of change in science...
Elna NordBlair ParkinDaniel AntoineFarah Ahmed
A revolution is happening in museums and store rooms around the world. Objects held in museum storage for hundreds of years, some hundreds of millions of years old, are starting to see the light of day in entirely news ways using 3D visualisation...
“When I first started designing and building exhibits I’d never heard of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Now there isn’t a project that comes up without someone mentioning it, QR, or bar codes! And everyone wants...
Marketing & communication
Denise AmyotNathalie Caplet
Most of our institutions have a Facebook and a Twitter account, and sometimes a blog. But these can be set up to work in different ways: one or several official accounts, a person or two hidden behind anonymous accounts; accounts that are...
Marketing & communication
Looking to rent or buy travelling exhibitions? Preview current and upcoming travelling science exhibitions across Europe. This rapid-fire session will give you a glimpse of the enormous range of exhibitions on offer, leaving it up to you to make...
Didier LavalCATHERINA VOREADOUClaudia GorrGildas VéretAlex FairheadSara Bagge
“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity – not a threat,” said Thomas Edison.
Environmental science issues, such as climate change, sustainability and biodiversity often project a nightmarish vision of the...
Eva JonssonSean DuranAndrea DurhamAilsa BarryAmito Haarhuis
Science centres that want to remain vital for their stakeholders need to innovate and adapt to changing demands and expectations. This calls for proactive and brave leadership which is willing to take risks and test new solutions. This session...
Michèle ANTOINEAnne CharpentierPia ArebladMaarten OkkersenSophie Boitsios
Our body allows us to explore the world and builds our relationship with the self, to others, and to our environment. It affirms our physical presence in the world. Yet the majority of exhibitions forget the body as a whole, and often separate...
Beth HawkinsRachel RobertsRichard PeringStephen ShawJane Dowden
Science is part of everything and we dream of a society where science is fully embraced as part of everyday culture and not exclusive to a science museum, classroom or interactive science centre. In pursuit of this we have begun a series of...
Andrea BandelliRichard WatermeyerMarzia MazzonettoJacqueline BroerseGilles Laroche
In March 2013, a thousand citizens from all over Europe have been involved in a large scale, formal participation initiative to contribute to the priorities of the new framework program for European Research “Horizon 2020”. This...
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