There were organised 2 editions of the European Researchers' Night in Małopolska (2024 and 2025) and “Researchers at Schools” activities (part of planned activities for 2-year project).
All activities were accompanied by the common theme "SUPER-HEROS-RESEARCHERS SAVE THE WORLD". With this tagline and reference to the ideas and characters of super-heroes known to everyone, especially children and young people, we wanted to draw the public's attention more strongly to the role played by scientists in the development of the world, in the fight against environmental and climate threats, and how inventions affect our everyday lives. The vast majority of events were related to the EU Missions, mainly climate protection, protection of seas and oceans, the fight against cancer and health protection, healthy soil and food, smart and green cities.
Every year ca. institutions from more than 10 cities of the Małopolska Region were involved in the ERN. Partners: various institutions, such as universities, research institutes, company research centres, museums, cultural centres, libraries, schools, open air (e.g. Astronomical Observatories in Krakow and Niepołomice), and their different departments, institutes, branches, etc.
Approx. 3,000 activities were offered for participants every year.
There were also the art contests organised as pre-events.
Type of activities during the ERN 2024 and 2025: workshops, demonstrations, shows, lectures, chats with researchers, visit to laboratories, exhibitions, contests and games, science shows. All activities were addressed to all segments of the public at large.
There were also a series of scientific events throughout the school year – the “Researchers at Schools” activities. These events involve numerous workshops, demos etc. – the scientists meet up with the youth and teachers at schools, and also invite them to their laboratories.
To achieve all the goals and attract as many people as possible, from the beginning of the project we worked on promotional activities. The awareness campaign was addressed to different group of people, so that's why we used various tools (media, internet campaign, social media, the event website, radio, tv, press and direct communication to schools and other educational institutions etc.).
The impact of the event was assessed to analyse possible evolutions of the public perception of researchers and their work (in comparison with the previous years) and identify the types of activities that proved the most effective towards the achievement of the objectives. The tools used in the impact assessment methodology: surveys (for children and adults) filled in by participants of the stationary events and distributed mainly via Facebook (for online participants), developed through Google free tools, individual interviews with selected researchers, coordinators, internet survey (use of tools such as Google Analytics and FB PIXEL), as well as desk research (based on a detailed analysis of secondary data), and analysis of opinions sent electronically to the e-mail address dedicated to the event and on social networks, mainly Facebook, where everyone can submit their suggestions. All conclusions were included in the final evaluation report.
