The community of science centres and museums have shown that working alongside scientists and researchers can be successful, rewarding and impactful, but many public engagement practitioners are also keen to collaborate with artists. What does art bring to the table? How can we set up successful collaborations between those two worlds? And most importantly, what do our institutions' audiences think of the outcomes?

Join these conversations with invited artists about the role of art and science collaborations in public engagement. Together we will discuss how art can help to spark debate on ethical aspects of science and technology, and how artists can enable our institutions to be more inclusive and accessible. We will confront the practice of “participatory” and “interactive” art in science centres and museums. The discussion space is also open for the topic coming from the participant's community.

Among are guest speakers are:

- Michael Bromley, a software developer with a focus on web applications, user experience and creative coding

- Maria Xanthoudaki, Head of Education at the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan (Italy)

Each session includes the presentation of projects / case studies and collaborations as a trigger for a conversation on the proposed topic. It will also involve artists and creative colleagues from outside the museum field, who will share and discuss relevant projects by other participants. There will of course be a Q&A element with each of the presenters, as well as lots of open discussion.

Further info and eligibility

• The Workroom will take place weekly over a period of four weeks, on 9, 16, 23 and 30 March, from 15.00-16.30 CET
• Participants are expected to commit up to one hour of individual work each week between the sessions
• The Workroom will cost €100 for those from Ecsite member organisations and €120 for non-members. Prices are excluding VAT
• Please respect a limit of two participants per institution - if you need to check whether anyone from your organisation has already signed up, simply contact the Ecsite Office.