February 2019

#49

Deficit model?

FEATURES
IN DEPTH

Knowledge, ignorance and the ever-lasting deficit model by Antonio Gomes da Costa

LOOKOUT

30 years of Ecsite: back to the roots

COLUMN

Join up and join in by Helen Jones

From the Ecsite office
Ecsite Conference
From Ecsite European collaborations
Good reads and resources
Opportunities
From Ecsite members

Spokes is edited by Ecsite, the European network of science centres and museums.
Sign up to receive the magazine each month for free.

Knowledge, ignorance and the ever-lasting deficit model

In depth

Today’s deficit problem is not lacking knowledge, but lacking the capacity to challenge it, argues Gomes da Costa

Knowledge, ignorance and the ever-lasting deficit model

António Gomes da Costa

30 years of Ecsite: back to the roots

Lookout

Five interviews to celebrate our achievements - and look ahead

30 years of Ecsite: back to the roots

Brigitte Coutant

Melanie Quin

Per-Edvin Persson

Asger Høeg

Colin Johnson

Julie Becker

Join up and join in

Column

Eight Trustee seats are open on the Ecsite Board

Join up and join in

Helen Jones

From the Ecsite office

Who deserves an Ecsite Awards?

Applications are now open for the 2019 Mariano Gago Ecsite Awards. NEW: Honour a peer who inspires you by nominating them for the new Beacon of the Year Award!

Created in 2015, the Mariano Gago Ecsite Awards encourage creative and impactful work within the informal science education sector.

Call for candidates: Ecsite Board & presidency

Full members, send your candidature before 17 March.

Directors Forum: 13-15 November, Trondheim

2.5 days of high-level contents & networking on the theme "Future thinking - the Sustainable Development Goals as an opportunity for developing organisations". Save the date & check out programme highlights.

Trondheim by O. Blomstereng

New at the Ecsite office

The Ecsite office welcomes a new Project and Communications Assistant, Andrew Whittington-Davis.

Andrew Whittington-Davis

Wanted: Spokes Chairperson

Chair the team shaping Ecsite's publication for science engagement professionals in Europe and beyond. A call for staff of Full Ecsite members - apply by 7 April.

Spokes Editorial Committee members, Warsaw, January 2019

Ecsite Conference

PROGRAMME OUT & REGISTRATION OPEN

Check out the online programme and start putting your personalised schedule together. And register now!
25% discount for Ecsite Full, Sustaining and One person company members and 15% discount for Associate members.

Join 1,100+ scicomm professionals at #Ecsite2019

Book your room

Don't wait: book your accommodation well in advance to secure the best available rates.

Overview of Copenhagen - Thomas Rousing

Meet the #Ecsite2019 keynotes

Writer, artist and curator Margaret Wertheim & slime mould researcher Audrey Dussutour will be delivering this year's keynote speeches.

Margaret Wertheim & Audrey Dussutour

Be visible at the conference

And take advantage of this unique concentration of potential business partners. Only 6 booths left at the Business Bistro!

Each year, about 10 sponsors and 60+ exhibitors present their services and products in the Business Bistro trade fair area.

Showcase your project or exhibition

Working on a new collaborative project or touring exhibition? Here's how to present them at #Ecsite2019.

From Ecsite European collaborations

New project for Ecsite

Over the next three years, the EU-Citizen.Science project will build, fill, and promote a sustainable platform for sharing, initiating, and learning citizen science in Europe.

EU-Citizen.Science

What is non-formal, or informal learning?

To progress with SySTEM 2020, Science Gallery Dublin has released a systematic literature review.

Visitors taking a closer look at Granada Science Park's exhibitions. Credits: Grenada Science Park

Two days of AI at La Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie

On 19-20 January, La Cité launched the last ERC=Science² theme on Artificial Intelligence in Paris.

Robot visiting its pairs at Universcience ©Carmen Fenollosa

Interested in using Space for engagement?

News on the latest developments in the field, resources and more in this report from the Ecsite Space Group's Annual Meeting.

Participants at the Ecsite Space Group Annual Meeting 2018

Good reads and resources

Still relevant

One year ago Spokes published Science centres as research facilities, exhibitions as explorations by S. Bron, M. Leroy and M. Merzagora, proposing a new paradigm for exhibitions. Rediscover this piece.

The multifaceted role of the exhibition’s narrators (@colpizen and @scigale)

The latest issue of JCOM is out

The first issue of the year is gathering seven articles on user experience of digital technologies in citizen science.

10 global trends facing education

A. Schleicher, head of education for the OECD sets out the biggest international trends that are going to affect education systems around the world. More on BBC.

TrendsWatch 2018: the Scenario edition

The Center for the Future of Museums' yearly publication presents four scenarios that museums may face in coming decades: Bright future | Dark future | New equilibrium | Wild times

TrendsWatch2018

Net Zero Britain

Prof. Chris Rapley draws attention to five ‘Turning Points’ that will shape the path of future carbon emissions in the face of climate change.

Museum Activism

Bringing together more than 50 contributors this book explore, analyse and critically reflect upon the museum’s relationship to activism.

Museum Activism Edited by Robert R. Janes, Richard Sandell

Equity, Exclusion and Everyday Science Learning

In her forthcoming book, E. Dawson explores how some people are excluded from science education and communication, examines the concept of equity in science learning and develops a framework to support inclusive change.

Equity, Exclusion and Everyday Science Learning : The Experiences of Minoritised Groups

Selfies at the science museum

This article by E. Dawson et al. explores girls’ identity performances in a science learning space.

Opportunities

Selection of international conferences and courses

Upcoming international conferences, calls for papers and courses in science engagement.

Apply by 15 March.

Logo EU Green Week 2019

EMME - SAVE THE DATE

4th edition of the Euro-Mediterranean and Middle East Summer School of Science Communication at The Scientific Center of Kuwait, 27-31 October.

Save the Date - 2019 EMME summer school

Call for abstracts: Participatory agenda setting for research and innovation

Send your cases and methods for the European Journal of Futures Research, by 29 March.

Open call: STARTS prize 2019

Grand prize of the European Commission honoring innovation in technology, industry and society stimulated by the arts.

Starts prize banner

Call: STEAM teacher training provider

For the MiSK Foundation in Saudi Arabia. Apply by 19 February.

What is YOUR definition of 'museums'?

NEMO invites you to submit your definition before 20 May for the ICOM’s General Conference in Kyoto.

Job: Space and Physics Projects Manager

At the ASDC (UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres) in Bristol, UK. Apply by 19 February.

Job: Science Content Director

At the International Centre for Life, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Apply by 11 March.

Two PhDs in Physics Education Research at CERN

Geneva, Switzerland. Apply by 25 March.

From Ecsite members

Hidrodoe appointed as SDG Voice 2019

The Belgium based water museum will promote the 17 SDGs for a year and raise awareness among its wide audience.

Hidrodoe - SDG Voice 2019

Ecsite thanks the writers who have generously contributed to this issue of Spokes. Have an idea for Spokes? Check out the contributors' guide and get in touch.

Spokes is the monthly digital magazine of Ecsite, the European network of science centres and museums. It is put together by the Spokes Editorial Committee:

Maarten Okkersen, Head of Communications, Museon, The Hague, The Netherlands – Chairperson
Julie Becker, Communications and Events Manager, Ecsite, Brussels, Belgium – Editor
Andrea Bandelli, Executive Director, Science Gallery International, Dublin, Ireland
Marie Couëdic, Special Projects Assistant, Ecsite, Brussels, Belgium
Emily Cronin, Partnerships Manager, Touring Exhibitions, Science Museum Group, London, UK
Raquel da Cunha, Events and Communications Officer, Ecsite, Brussels, Belgium
Wiktor Gajewski, Science and Art Events Director, Copernicus Science Centre, Warsaw, Poland
Aliki Giannakopoulou, Project Manager, Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Pallini, Greece
Antonio Gomes da Costa, Director of Scientific Mediation and Education, universcience, Paris, France
Pilvi Kolk, Member of the management board, AHHAA Science Centre, Tartu, Estonia
Lucie Steigleder, Administrative and Communication Assistant, Ecsite, Brussels, Belgium
Maria Xanthoudaki, Head of Education and International Relations, Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan, Italy

Responsible editor: Catherine Franche, Executive Director for Association européenne des expositions scientifiques, techniques et industrielles, aisbl

Frequency: monthly since April 2015 - issue 49, February 2019