Potentially, our work in Macaronight could encourage young adults in the Macaronesian region to study STEM-related careers, improving competitiveness and research and development potential. Macaronight has undoubtedly highlighted the work researchers do for the islands and the many projects aimed at improving the quality of life and the future of the region.
Thanks to the high value contributions from participants and researchers collected through WP7 and WP8, a list of key lessons learned and suggestions for improvement can be elaborated. This includes, among other aspects, the crucial importance of selecting activities and designing the programme in a way that allows for accessible in-person participation, interaction among participants and between participants and researchers, and hands-on experiments. Participants highly value the opportunity to experiment and learn from scientific developments that have direct connections with their daily lives. For this, it is relevant that future editions of Macaronight continue to connect regional and local expertise with participants of different age groups and sociodemographic backgrounds, making science accessible and open to the broader society in the Outermost regions. Related to this, Macaronight IV experience points at the need to reconfigure the EU Corner, finding ways to connect the archipelagos with the European continent and research.
Furthermore, impact assessment results highlight the important role of researchers for society and young people in particular as role models. For this, future Macaronights will continue to improve gender balance and ensure a diverse representativity across age, geographic, sociodemographic, and professional backgrounds. As the majority of responses to the different questionnaires for participants emphasised, there is great consensus on the belief that research/ers contribute to improving the competitiveness of a country or region. They are also assumed to help resolve environmental and social problems, and considered to care about people’s needs when conducting their research. In sum, these trends highlight that further editions of Macaronight should continue to connect research and scientific developments with social and environmental aspects that are relevant for the society.
Lastly, another key aspect learned from this and past editions of conducting impact assessment before, during, and after the Night, is the fact that partnerships with local and regional stakeholders are crucial for ensuring turnover as well as effective data collection. For this, further work should go in the line of collaborating with local volunteers, increasing the pole of such group of important local actors by framing Macaronight as a learning opportunity, especially for students and the broader youth community. Finally, further strategies should be developed to ensure attractive incentives are offered to participants who decide to voluntarily contribute to improving the project by providing their valuable feedback and sharing their experiences through the designated data collection methods for impact assessment.
