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.
Efficient planning of resources in science centres is very important, certainly in times of economic crisis. Visitor numbers have the biggest influence on the use of resources. Forecasting of visitor numbers is thus crucial. The presenters in...
What is the value of intellectual property in the science centre industry? What are the risks of buying copies of exhibits? What are the risks for fabricators of going “open source”? If we acknowledge the source of an exhibit idea, is...
Looking to rent or buy travelling exhibitions? This year, we take another look at travelling exhibitions on science, available now and coming soon across Europe. This rapid-fire session will give you a glimpse of the huge range of exhibitions on...
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...
Many science centre managers feel like “kamikaze pilots” trying to manoeuvre in the rugged waters of science centre management, facing risks and uncertainties from early planning throughout financing and into implementation. Risk and uncertainty...
Networking & Partnerships
Science centres and museums are perceived as centres for middle-class, mainly white, visitors. Why should this be? Shouldn’t science be for all, irrespective of ethnicity, education, age, or socio-economic status? This session will look at three...
Despite the great significance of the impact of science on our history and our daily lives, science is not routinely considered as a key cultural value in our societies. In this session we will hear from three EU funded projects: PLACES, CASC and...
There are many communication products on sustainable development, bringing all sorts of media into play. The theme is the focus of government announcements, advertising by big industrial groups and communication by political parties, among others...
Marketing & communication
In 399 BC, Socrates was condemned to death for attempting to ”corrupt the young” in teaching philosophy and reason based on observation. In the 1970s and 80s, education on “risky behaviour” focused on alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. Perhaps today...
Marketing & communication
Museums are meeting places. Spaces to enhance socialisation are then necessary. Museums’ shops and restaurants respond to this need. They help reinforce the fascination of cultural institutions and give allure to merchandises and the buying...
Today we live in a complex society, where our “liquid modernity” shakes the old clear-cut separation between scientific knowledge and humanities, melting them together in one culture. What are the risks and benefits of moving away...
Jacqueline McGlade is the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency since 2003. She has worked extensively in North America, Asia and Africa; she has published more than 100 research papers, written popular articles, presented and...
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