Science for Everyone - Sustainability and Inclusion

Project Information

SCIEVER

Grant agreement ID: 101061524

DOI

10.3030/101061524

Project closed

EC signature date 21 April 2022

Start date 1 April 2022

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 292 614,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SCIEVER (Science for Everyone - Sustainability and Inclusion)

Reporting period: 2023-02-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This proposal uses the motto “Science for Everyone (SCIEVER) – Inclusion and Sustainability” as a point of departure to achieve two main goals: (i) raise Portuguese citizens’ awareness, particularly young people, towards innovation and research being conducted in Europe to promote (social, economic, and environmental) Sustainability and Inclusion while preserving ecosystems and natural resources; (ii) bring researchers closer to civil society and students, enabling meaningful opportunities for communities to express concerns and expectations about how research and science face climate change and promote sustainable growth. This direct connection with people's concerns allowed simple contact among all social players, responding to Responsible, Research & Innovation (RRI) goals, and brought the public attention to the need to promote social cohesion and inclusion while preserving cultural identity and promoting the relevance of science and research to contribute for inclusion and sustainability in the future. The consortium of this project, coordinated by the University of Lisbon through the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC-ULisbon), combined efforts between researchers of major universities in Portugal – University of Minho, University of Lisbon, Nova University in Lisbon, University of Évora, the Lisbon University Institute and the University of Coimbra. The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory activities allowed a direct approach to green technology. The Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies in Estoril contributed to promoting biodiversity conservation while disseminating sustainable tourism and food security practices. The Lisbon municipality was a central partner for engaging of diverse audiences in the city square near the MUHNAC and civil society stakeholders. This joined expertise was determinant to making a mixed onsite and online program possible: the onsite received 1344 participants in build-up activities, 9042 participants in ERN event and 955 in post-event activities in the four different venues from North to South of Portugal, bridging the gap between researchers and society and contributing to bringing societal actors together for the research and innovation process; the online program included a full day build-up event targeting schools - School’s Open Day - including 824 students as well as 19 national online activities from different scientific backgrounds in the ERN including 927 participants. The Researchers@school program was developed and activities started in the current school year with the delivery of 107 activities until December 2023, including the participation of more than 14 968 students.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The 2023 edition marked the return to pre-pandemic conditions. Nevertheless, following the good results of the ERN 2022, a mixed onsite and online program was developed to focus on Inclusion and Sustainability in scientific projects of all areas: Natural and Environmental Sciences, Physics and Chemistry, Technology, Health Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Architecture, Arts and Design. Both the build-up and the ERN event highlighted advantages from both contexts: the online event provided the opportunity to discuss and interact directly with researchers for participants who could not visit onsite, being a factor of inclusion, while the onsite made it possible to include participatory activities. The build-up activities received 1344 onsite participants and 21 researchers were involved in those, respectively. The four onsite venues received people from North to South of Portugal, 9042 participants in total, and the online format allowed the transversal work to present a national program using the SCIEVER website and social network channels, developed by the teamwork in between Universities and partners, aiming to join a national expertise to reach the participants unable to participate onsite, 927 in total; 1929 and 77 researchers were involved onsite and online, respectively. The build-up and ERN events in the four cities included a large heterogeneity of public and private spaces where the onsite event took place (e.g. streets, gardens, squares, shops, historic buildings, and institutions), highlighting relevance of taking a large number of activities to the city streets.
The Researchers@school program was developed and activities started in the current school year with excellent acceptance and the delivery of 107 activities until December 2023, including the participation of more than 14 968 students and 194 researchers.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The number of participants and researchers involved in the onsite and online build-up and ERN events, and in the Researchers@school program was even higher than the previous edition. Activities in the open air and using the city streets as the main stage are to be continued, once they reach more heterogeneous and numberous audiences, nevertheless collecting data for impact assessment in such places can be more difficult. This mixed format is proposed to be continued in future editions, considering the success achieved in optimizing inclusion, conveying the message, and participation.

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