National networks and Ecsite are powerful instruments to develop science engagement. We share common challenges, and our collective effectiveness could be reinforced through a regular collaboration. Yet we seldom have the chance to share, analyse and eventually align our strategies.

This one-day pre-conference workshop will be open to national or transnational networks that work in science engagement or informal science learning. We expect participants who are involved in network management or governance (and also those who are interested in setting up a network). The workshop will be led by SPiN, the Polish network, assisted by the Austrian ScienceCenter-Network and by Ecsite.

Three strands will structure the workshop:

- Network specificities: we will learn how networks with their specific structure are suitable in an increasingly complex environment and which kind of data can be gathered and used in network governance.

- Advocacy: we will discuss strategies of relating to stakeholders (governments, members, funders) and working on transformative processes (e.g. educational systems) at national and European levels and seek to align common efforts.

- Diverse memberships: we will analyse how we cater for the needs of our often quite diverse members and investigate the threats and opportunities arising from diversity or homogeneity of members.

A more detailed programme is available here.