European Researchers' Night (ERN) events promoted by the SOCIETY Consortium will take place in 5 cities (Bologna, Forlì, Cesena, Ravenna and Rimini), with a program extended to both 2018 and 2019, for a total project duration of 18 months. SOCIETY aims to present research as the best tool to sort out the Societal Challenges that human beings face. SOCIETY will rely on interactivity and engagement at large: the project will aim to produce a Night co-design approach, in which researchers together with society will conceive the event programme. After the success of the previous ERN edition, the Consortium comes with a new proposal, inspired by the EU Year of Cultural Heritage. This is reflected by the new concept pointed out in the new title and acronym, where SOCIETY now stands for words that can be used to define our cultural heritage: Science, histOry, Culture, musIc, Environment, arT, technologY. The proposal stands at the intersection between these concepts. We’ll try to identify the features that shape and define our perception of ourselves and how we perceive who lives near and far from us. What is it that defines our culture? How and when is it that what we know, what we do, where we are, how we speak and move, and eat, and wear become culture? And finally, can our cultural heritage help us look ahead, understand the present, and to imagine the future? ERN events will explore the many ways in which research may help us understand, sustain,
preserve, and develop our cultural heritage, in all its various shades and declinations.They will be designed in order to attract different kinds of publics. However, secondary school students, who are about to make their choice in terms of career, will be a privileged target, also through the involvement of Eu and MSCA researchers. Specific effort will be devoted to involve female young researchers and students in the activities, to stress that research needs increasing contribution from women to reach its goals.
