Education
Amr AlMadaniMargaret Honey
Inspiring audiences to innovate and be critical thinkers are aspirations shared by science centers and educators. But what role do our teams of science communicators play in inspiring this spirit of innovation? What spaces and programmes foster...
Exhibit development
Ian SimmonsKrista Leusink
With projects such as APE at the Exploratorium in the United States and Curiosity at the Centre for Life in the UK, hands-on exhibitions are moving away from narrow and frustrating learning goals and briefly engaging surprise resolution models...
Research, theory & evaluation
Kayte McSweeneyMarie HobsonAna BrajovicMarie Hobson
Good audience research and evaluation allows institutions to be innovative and take risks in their development processes. Embedding evaluation and engagement processes boosts confidence among staff to try new things, experiment with novel...
Operations & finance
Marcus LidénAnette JensenLinde Vernie EkbergHelena Ahldén
Most science centers have a science store and café – restaurant. Can these areas be used to support the science centre’s mission and increase revenue? Can a unique science store or restaurant also play an important role as an...
Science in Society
Eric SiegelAmparo Leyman PinoMJ Schwartz
The primary objective of any science communication institution is the communication of science and technology. This communication can only be effective when the visitor becomes an active participant in the process. This by definition requires two...
Exhibit development
Johannes-Geert HagmannKevin EliceiriJochen ThamGöran MånssonKristina Yu
The fascination for the macrocosm and the scales of the universe, as seen through astronomical observation, has continuously been a source of inspiration for visitors in science centres and museums. On the opposite end of the scale, microscope...
Explainers & visitor services
Suzy Antoniw
Creating a high-quality exhibition with a group, whether it’s a patient group or school children, is a challenge in many ways but it also has the potential to engage audiences on a whole new level.
In 2012 the Science Museum in London,...
Science in Society
Filip NicolaisenMichaela LivingstonePål Brekke
The last decade has opened outer space up to mankind, both scientifically and to the public, in a way that hasn’t been witnessed since the Space race of the 1960s. Mars-rovers, exoplanets, public space flights and a digital infrastructure...
Science in Society
Alex VerkadeJen WongMark DingemanseBas Haring
Innovation starts with dreaming. So, to innovate, we need good dreamers. Who are the best dreamers we know? Kids. Artists. Philosophers, maybe. People less confined by the shackles of scientific knowledge. On the other hand, who is more likely to...
Collections
laura ronzonJohannes-Geert HagmannMaarten Okkersen
This new session format is seeking to leave the comfort zone of science centres and museums, opening the debate on a controversial subject: do science centres need objects to increase their impact, to be innovative and relevant, and to meet their...
Exhibit development
Gérard CobutJunko AnsoIrena CieślińskaAnna SchaefersReinoud Magosse
Can we dream of a perfect exhibition text? Different museums and science centres have different ideas of what a good text is, the scientist whose research is reflected might have other ideas altogether, while in a family of four visitors, there...
Human Resources
Linda ConlonLesley Lewis
CEO-Board interaction is a key factor in organizational success. A positive Board-CEO relationship creates synergies that will support fundraising and leverage existing relationships between Board members, science centre interests and personal...