Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums will actively participate in this year’s conference hosted by the Natural History Museum Geneva. Their aim is to heighten the awareness and the visibility of children in museums and science centers in a wider professional community. They're organising three different sessions exploring various aspects of the conflict between creating interactive environments encouraging physical activity and keeping visitors safe. For the real-life examples they need you!

Safety vs. free play: finding the right balance

Call: Best Practice
Present a project, which tests the limits of safety guidelines and legal situations in your country. Share insights on how you work, obstacles you are facing, and how you brought together the opposing issues of safety and physical activities.

Structure:

I. Keynotes: Two expert speakers will share give valuable input about the topics of safety and free play, followed by a participatory discussion.
II. Best practice: Share your project!
III. Workshop: Case studies

Note: there is only a limited number of speaker slots available, but a slot in one of the sessions at the main conference may be suggested

Applied accident management

Call: Real-life accidents
Share an actual accident, which took place on the premises of your institution. Each speaker is granted two minutes speaking time to outline the circumstances and the events of an accident involving visitors. We want to know what happened, why it happened, how it was handled, which actions were taken to prevent similar accidents and how the experience influences future projects.

Reconciling innovative exhibit design and the demands of today’s compensation culture

Call: Innovative formats
Share your creative exhibits and exhibition formats, which encourage visitors to create, build, tinker or get physically active within the exhibition spaces. Questions like, ‘Which obstacles in terms of safety and legal issues did you face?’, ‘Which ideas didn’t make the cut, due to safety concerns?’ should be taken up for the presentation.

Please note: participation in these lectures will be at your own expenses. Early bird registration starts on 14 February 2018

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSALS:

1. Fill out a short description of your proposal:

Your name
Your institution
Title of the session
If applying to the pre-conference workshop, would you also be willing to take on a slot at the main conference sessions instead? Yes or No
Your contribution to the session (250 words max)

2. Send your proposal to the Hands On! Office