Periodic Reporting for period 2 - STREETS (Science, technology and research for ethical engagement translate in society)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-05-21 al 2024-05-20
STREETS takes place in Campania and southern Lazio, where there is the highest presence of young people in Italy and among the highest one in Europe. But, for the “brain drain” these areas are also characterized by educational and cultural poverty. Therefore, the proposal of our activities is to contribute to the awareness of citizens of different age, showing that 'good science' can be done in these regions.
In recent years there has been a significant increase in tourism activities, and we would like to follow this development also in the cultural field, showing the social impact on the territory of the scientific and technological activities carried out locally.
The acronym represents the awareness of the researchers involved that roads, in their universal meaning of tools for spreading culture, represent the main instrument of development. Therefore, special attention was paid for reaching outskirts, such as small mountain villages and small islands, but also for reaching poor realities, such as prisons and schools in degraded areas.
The historical and cultural roads are the backbone that supports the various elements of our project that involves local universities, research centers, cultural and creative enterprises, places of culture, municipalities, institutions, associations and the productive world. The cities and villages, crossed by these roads or where they intersect, are the places of STREETS. The project, in fact, is based on the belief that science, technology, research have a strong impact on our society, in all its branches and declinations. The roads therefore represent the lines that connect history and economy, space and time.
The two main objectives the project are:
• to allow the scientists to interact directly with the public, tell their own stories, show who they are and what is their role in society, providing them the right tools to do so;
• to show the role of the researcher for the society and economy, as well as the impact of researchers’ work on citizens’ daily lives;
The activities of the project will combine education with entertainment (edutainment) in various forms, such as exhibitions, hands-on experiments, science shows, simulations, debates, games, competitions, quizzes to encourage formal and informal science education with the aim of improving the scientific knowledge base of the public.
Given so, the impacts that we intend to achieve are:
• Enhance engagement with citizens on R&I;
• Increase awareness among the general public of the importance and benefits of R&I and its concrete impact on citizens’ daily life;
• Contribute to the diffusion and the promotion of excellence research projects across Europe;
• Raise the interest of young people in science and research careers.
Finally, in periods of conflict such as these, mitigating ""ignorance"" can help strengthen a spirit of peace between cultures.
In recent years there has been a significant increase in tourism activities, and we would like to follow this development also in the cultural field, showing the social impact on the territory of the scientific and technological activities carried out locally.
The acronym represents the awareness of the researchers involved that roads, in their universal meaning of tools for spreading culture, represent the main instrument of development. Therefore, special attention was paid for reaching outskirts, such as small mountain villages and small islands, but also for reaching poor realities, such as prisons and schools in degraded areas.
The historical and cultural roads are the backbone that supports the various elements of our project that involves local universities, research centers, cultural and creative enterprises, places of culture, municipalities, institutions, associations and the productive world. The cities and villages, crossed by these roads or where they intersect, are the places of STREETS. The project, in fact, is based on the belief that science, technology, research have a strong impact on our society, in all its branches and declinations. The roads therefore represent the lines that connect history and economy, space and time.
The two main objectives the project are:
• to allow the scientists to interact directly with the public, tell their own stories, show who they are and what is their role in society, providing them the right tools to do so;
• to show the role of the researcher for the society and economy, as well as the impact of researchers’ work on citizens’ daily lives;
The activities of the project will combine education with entertainment (edutainment) in various forms, such as exhibitions, hands-on experiments, science shows, simulations, debates, games, competitions, quizzes to encourage formal and informal science education with the aim of improving the scientific knowledge base of the public.
Given so, the impacts that we intend to achieve are:
• Enhance engagement with citizens on R&I;
• Increase awareness among the general public of the importance and benefits of R&I and its concrete impact on citizens’ daily life;
• Contribute to the diffusion and the promotion of excellence research projects across Europe;
• Raise the interest of young people in science and research careers.
Finally, in periods of conflict such as these, mitigating ""ignorance"" can help strengthen a spirit of peace between cultures.
"STREETS' was realised according to six THEMATIC AREAS:
•Science: intentional and meaningful interactions that provide opportunities for mutual learning between scientists and members of the public
•Technology: society drives technological change, while technology change in turn shapes society
•Research: the organized and systematic method to find answers to questions
•Ethics: Ethics is a concern in scientific research
•Engagement: including non-professional researchers in scientific investigations
•Society: the public's commitment to science and the participation of citizens in the dissemination
Maintaining a terminology consistent with the title of the project, the activities are also organized in six CATEGORIES drawing by metaphor the concrete lines of development around the themes of sustainability, contamination, ethics of human activities in science and technology in a direct relationship between place, history and culture:
• lighting: science has the function of illuminating the path of our society
• Green landscapes: the sustainability of human activities is not only important, but vital for our survival
• urban furniture: scientific research cannot be conducted without contamination, dialogue and interaction with other disciplines
• signage: even for researchers there are ethical principles that apply to scientific investigation; • sidewalks: in science and research there are numerous opportunities for interaction with society and businesses
• Direction: even in science it is necessary to establish a direct relationship between place, history and culture.
A triple programming was reserved for schools:
-THE NIGHT FOR SCHOOLS: squares and research places set up and opened ad hoc for classes of students of all ages to give them the opportunity to experiment researchers, encouraging them to understand the social advantages of the research professions
-SCHOOLS FOR THE NIGHT: the locations of the Night were transformed into a privileged stage for the classes that presented the results of some scientific projects carried out together with their teachers, accompanied by a team composed of the representatives of some research institutions and universities belonging to the S.T.R.E.E.T.S. network
-RESEARCHERS@SCHOOL: tailor-made activities for young people and students carried out throughout the school year with methodological approaches different in age from primary schools to university students. 10 new formats: from Open Lab to eXperiscuola, from investigations on the connections between science and art with Dreaming Green Streets to School Strike 4 Climate; from Science Snacks freely borrowed from the Exploratorium in San Francisco to Investigators at School. And again, Educational Games and Science Show and Participatory Storytelling up to the Frontiers for young minds as a special opportunity to involve the researchers of Marie Skłodowska-Curie among the protagonists of the STREETS program
•Science: intentional and meaningful interactions that provide opportunities for mutual learning between scientists and members of the public
•Technology: society drives technological change, while technology change in turn shapes society
•Research: the organized and systematic method to find answers to questions
•Ethics: Ethics is a concern in scientific research
•Engagement: including non-professional researchers in scientific investigations
•Society: the public's commitment to science and the participation of citizens in the dissemination
Maintaining a terminology consistent with the title of the project, the activities are also organized in six CATEGORIES drawing by metaphor the concrete lines of development around the themes of sustainability, contamination, ethics of human activities in science and technology in a direct relationship between place, history and culture:
• lighting: science has the function of illuminating the path of our society
• Green landscapes: the sustainability of human activities is not only important, but vital for our survival
• urban furniture: scientific research cannot be conducted without contamination, dialogue and interaction with other disciplines
• signage: even for researchers there are ethical principles that apply to scientific investigation; • sidewalks: in science and research there are numerous opportunities for interaction with society and businesses
• Direction: even in science it is necessary to establish a direct relationship between place, history and culture.
A triple programming was reserved for schools:
-THE NIGHT FOR SCHOOLS: squares and research places set up and opened ad hoc for classes of students of all ages to give them the opportunity to experiment researchers, encouraging them to understand the social advantages of the research professions
-SCHOOLS FOR THE NIGHT: the locations of the Night were transformed into a privileged stage for the classes that presented the results of some scientific projects carried out together with their teachers, accompanied by a team composed of the representatives of some research institutions and universities belonging to the S.T.R.E.E.T.S. network
-RESEARCHERS@SCHOOL: tailor-made activities for young people and students carried out throughout the school year with methodological approaches different in age from primary schools to university students. 10 new formats: from Open Lab to eXperiscuola, from investigations on the connections between science and art with Dreaming Green Streets to School Strike 4 Climate; from Science Snacks freely borrowed from the Exploratorium in San Francisco to Investigators at School. And again, Educational Games and Science Show and Participatory Storytelling up to the Frontiers for young minds as a special opportunity to involve the researchers of Marie Skłodowska-Curie among the protagonists of the STREETS program
"A month-long night"
It was considered necessary and appropriate to involve not so much numerically as qualitatively a varied and heterogeneous audience to realize the events not only on a single occasion but - starting from the European Researchers' NIGHT - the events were distributed on different days throughout the following month. This has made it possible to bring specific public issues closer to the issues dealt with through proposals formulated ad hoc:
> prisons: through collaboration with universities that already have active training programs in juvenile and non-juvenile prisons, we have brought to the attention of the general public projects aimed at preserving the dignity and rights of prisoners to raise public awareness towards living conditions and the exercise of culture in places of punishment
> companies and trade associations: round tables dedicated to the construction of new projects and agreements, also with a view to the next Smart Specialization Strategy
> territorial associations: involved in identifying the problems of the suburbs as realities too often far from the spotlight
It was considered necessary and appropriate to involve not so much numerically as qualitatively a varied and heterogeneous audience to realize the events not only on a single occasion but - starting from the European Researchers' NIGHT - the events were distributed on different days throughout the following month. This has made it possible to bring specific public issues closer to the issues dealt with through proposals formulated ad hoc:
> prisons: through collaboration with universities that already have active training programs in juvenile and non-juvenile prisons, we have brought to the attention of the general public projects aimed at preserving the dignity and rights of prisoners to raise public awareness towards living conditions and the exercise of culture in places of punishment
> companies and trade associations: round tables dedicated to the construction of new projects and agreements, also with a view to the next Smart Specialization Strategy
> territorial associations: involved in identifying the problems of the suburbs as realities too often far from the spotlight