Back for the future: taking STEM escape rooms digital
Commitment: Climate & biodiversity crisis / 21st century skills
We invite you to a demonstration of our international, online escape room, ‘Back for the Future,’ where we solve sustainability challenges in order to save the future.
Escape rooms are a growing format for science communication, having been used in numerous educational contexts and more recently in informal science learning settings. In 2020, a new challenge emerged for escape rooms: how could they be delivered online? Having previously run a number of rooms for a public audience, we had always included an actor to add to the immersive experience and create a buffer for differing levels of confidence with science. Transitioning online was therefore simple in theory; we would have the players explore the room by controlling our actor over video conferencing software.
We will share our learning and experience with you and through our workshop, offer you the opportunity to develop your own escape room ideas and concepts with us. Want to see more? Join us in the Nocturne on 10 June at 17.15 CEST to play the game for real!
Facilitator
Public Engagement, Education and Communications Manager
Session speakers
Public Engagement, Education and Communications Manager
Amanda is the creator of the Back for the Future escape room, from concept and narrative, to puzzle design and technical logistics. She has developed and evaluated several STEM escape rooms over the past few years as part of public engagement programmes. Amanda will provide technical support during the escape room demonstration and will explain the behind-the-scenes of how it was put together. She will then support participants in developing their own escape room ideas.
Carl (also known as Ace) is the actor for the Back for the Future escape room and an established trainer in improvisation theatre. Since the pandemic, he has been delivering improv sessions for students online for ImpAct Improv in Dublin and is well versed in translating performance arts into a digital setting. He will be demonstrating the room live, interacting with players. After the demonstration Carl will bring his perspective as an actor and artist to our Q and A and to the workshopping session.
Ylenia is the actor for the Maltese edition of the Back for the Future escape room, hosted at the Science in the City festival last year. She has a wealth of experience both within theatre in general and theatrical escape rooms in particular, having acted in three different escape rooms in 2017, 2018 and 2020. She has even delivered escape rooms in Italian! She will take on the role as one of our players in the demonstration and will bring her niche experience as an actor to the Q and A and workshopping sessions.
Festival co-ordinator and Science Communication Practitioner and Researcher
Edward is the manager of Science in the City, Malta’s national science and arts festival and has supported theatrical escape rooms in his public engagement programmes since 2017. He is an expert in bringing creatives and scientists together for successful, ‘STEAM’-based events and exhibits that attract a broad range of audiences. He will act as one of our players during the demonstration and will bring his experience of securing funding and managing STEAM events to the Q and A and workshopping sessions.
