The research, development and innovation (RDI) system in the Republic of Moldova is experiencing serious challenges due to internal social and economic situation. In the last 2 decades, the national RDI system was marked by the implementation of reforms, which conditioned quite radical changes. According to data of the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova, the number of young researchers under the age of 35 decreased from 26,4% to 20,9% during the last 10 years in Moldova.
This alarming situation is confirmed by the results of the pre-event survey conducted among Moldovan researchers within European Researchers’ Night (ERN) project carried out in 2020. Almost ¾ of the surveyed researchers believe that young researchers’ situation after the reform in the RDI system did not change (35%) or worsened (40%), while only 14% consider that it has improved.
At the same time, in terms of the interest for RDI activities conducted in the country, more than half of Moldovan public (51,4%) believe that the society is interested in national science.
Aiming to counteract these challenges, the main idea of GreenSCI project is to bring together researchers, innovators, children, young people, adults from different regions of Moldova who have and who do not have a background in research, in order to show the impact of RDI and STEAM disciplines on everyday life. The 2022 and 2023 editions of the Night were organised, in premiere, in 2 locations – the capital city of Chisinau and the north region - city of Balti. It allowed the project to reach a wider audience and boost citizen engagement with researchers.
The 2022 edition of the Night event organized in the Republic of Moldova, with the topic “Green STEM” focused primarily on ecology, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, renewable energy technologies. The topic of the 2023 edition was “Green HEALTH”, focusing mainly on health sciences, food technologies, ecological agriculture and food security.
