It is always exiting to experience the accumulation of e-mail traffic and see how the proposals take shape when the deadline for the Ecsite Annual Conference programme submissions is approaching.

Judging by the conference evaluation (report here) and diverse discussions I have had after our Graz gathering, I have the feeling that there will be new engaging formats coming up, enrichening the conference programme yet again in Porto next year.

Fresh ideas often come from fresh faces and minds – and from outside of our own field. Please, remember that Ecsite has an inviting programme in place for bringing in new voices to the conference. There are 12 free one-day passes available for speakers who can convince us at the Annual Conference Planning Committee (ACPC) that they will contribute novel topics, angles or session formats. The deadline for these applications is on 23 October.

Thinking of the local cuisine and the dramatic beauty of Porto – besides the city itself, and the power of the river and mountains (much like in Graz and Trento), we will be close to the mighty ocean, too – it should not be difficult to attract colleagues from adjacent fields to join us.

In the very same spirit, I am most happy to announce our first keynote speaker: Nina Simon, Executive Director of Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, and the author of The Participatory Museum (2010) and The Art of Relevance (2016). Nina’s work and her books keep inspiring many of us working in cultural institutions – and outside of them.

”Life everywhere” is the theme of our Porto conference. I expect that with Nina Simon as a keynoter, we will be able to identify many new forms of life within our communities. I trust that we will be motivated to build and open new doors in our institutions and our programmes to invite these new forms of life in, and adding to the beautiful diversity of science communication.