Ecsite's community manager put together a daily summary of the 2016 Ecsite Annual Conference using a platform called Storify, which allowed to gather and organise social media posts (here mostly Tweets).

As this platform is no longer available from 16 May 2018, we have exported each story as a pdf file - see below.

Tuesday 7 June 2016 - Pre-conference day 1

Participants investigated space science communication, cooperation with communities, the potential of citizen science for science centres and museums… They put  RRI into practice, prototyped games and defined strategies to access and implement research findings.

Meanwhile, in one of the Messe convention centre's big halls the “Ecsite for all” public event gathered enthusiastic crowds. Graz inhabitants: schools classes, kindergarden groups, universities and companies – and of course Ecsite conference participants – collaborated in the building of a giant chain reaction.

Wednesday 8 June 2016 - Pre-conference day 2

Among others, participants discussed the future of facilitation in museums, how to connect visitors with nature while they're inside a museum building, how to advance the children museum's field and how to make the most of transational networks.

At the end of the day, speakers and convenors were invited to attend the Speakers reception at the Frida & freD children’s museum. They enjoyed Styrian delicacies, strolled through the museum’s exhibitions and got to know members of Ecsite’s partner organisation, the Hands On!  Association for Children in Museums.

Thursday 9 June 2016 - Main conference day 1

The conference’s Business Bistro opened its doors for the morning coffee break. For the rest of the day, participants were able to pick and choose between ten parallel session strands: dioramas, pre-school making, smart objects, co-creation, Children's Universities and many more were discussed and debated… 

In the evening everyone re-convened for the Gala Ball, held at a the prestigious Stefaniensaal. The winners of the 2016 Mariano Ecsite Award were announced there. The Jury nominated a Highly commended project:International Centre for Life, Newcastle, United Kingdom - for their partnership built with the Northumbria University. The winner is Tekniska museet (National Museum of Science & Technology), Stockholm, Sweden. Tekniska Museet won the award for the partnership undertaken with artist Håkan Lidbo on the interactive exhibit “Make Music with Your Whole Body”, co-created with children and taking into account the needs of physically impaired visitors. The exhibit is part of MegaMind, a new exhibition space dedicated to creativity.

Friday 10 June 2016 - Main conference day 2

Elizabeth Rasekoala, science citizenship advocate and President of African Gong, delivered a thought-provoking keynote speech at 10.30. She urged participants to decolonise knowledge, dream up and deliver truly socially unclusive, colourful, gender-balanced science centres  For the rest of the day, participants were able to pick and choose between eleven parallel session strands: digital,data ownership, participatory research, spectacular science, systems thinking and many more were discussed and debated… In the evening participants enjoyed a rich Nocturne programme at Joanneum Quarter, including science shows, hands-on stations, exhibition visits and Styrian wine. 

Saturday 11 June 2016 - Main conference day 3

Frans de Waal, world-famous primatologist, delivered a keynote speech at 10.30. In his keynote speech, he reviewed expressions of empathy in animals, which ranges from a core mechanism of emotional linkage (known as emotional contagion) to higher levels of perspective-taking and targeted helping. He also discussed the sense of fairness in animals, and the many ways in which they achieve common goals. 

For the rest of the day, participants were then able to pick and choose between ten parallel session strands: mobile technology, science centre marketing, initiatives for and with refugees, student-curated exhibitions and many more were discussed and debated… At the end of the day, attendance numbers were revealed at the Closing ceremony: #Ecsite2016 gathered 1,081 people from 53 countries, which makes it the second largest Ecsite Annual Conference to date, just behind last year's edition. At the Closing even we also got a glimpse of what will await us next year at the 2017 Ecsite Annual Conference in Porto (15-17 June 2016).

At night participants said their goodbyes at the Farewell Party, held at the arty contemporary Kunsthaus building.