The 2016 Ecsite Annual Conference is officially starting today in Graz, Austria. It will bring together 1,000 science engagement professionals.

Our trio of hosts FRida & freD, ScienceCentre-Network and Universalmuseum Joanneum have prepared a stimulating edition. Yesterday already saw a human chain reaction in town and participants were greeted by a huge welcome message on the contemporary art museum's facade at the Kunsthaus. Expect more surprises!

Today is the first of two days of in-depth pre-conference workshops, with seven parallel sessions. Participants will be investigating space science communication, cooperation with communities, the potential of citizen science for science centres and museums… They'll be putting RRI into practive, prototyping games and defining strategies to aceess and implement research findings.

Follow the #Ecsite2016 feed on Twitter, connect on Facebook, browse through pictures on Flickr… and stay tuned for today’s Storify summary to be published tomorrow morning.