Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Researchers4ECO (European Researchers' Night 2020 in Malopolska (Malopolska Researchers' Night 2020))
Reporting period: 2020-05-01 to 2020-12-31
- presenting researchers as ordinary people who have an extraordinary job, but also have – like all of us - different passions and interests,
- presenting the outstanding discoveries of researchers that affect our lives, including by means of workshops, demonstrations, experiments, competitions and games that combine learning, education and entertainment, in a popular scientific manner,
- enabling participants of the event to look ""behind the scenes"" at the workplace of researchers where they work on a daily basis creating various solutions and experimenting, which is possible only once a year during the ERN (in 2020 in the online formula),
- presenting the extremely interesting work of researchers in a comprehensible and accessible manner, and thus encouraging children and young people to choose a career in science as their way of life in the future."
ERN in Małopolska was organised in the online formula (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) and over 30 from 7 cities (Kraków, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz, Niepołomice, Oświęcim, Chrzanów and Limanowa) were involved. Partners are various institutions, such as universities, research institutes, company research centres, museums, cultural centres, libraries, schools medium, open air (e.g. Astronomical Observatories in Krakow and Niepołomice), and their different departments, institutes, branches, etc.).
Above 1,200 activites were offered for participants.
There was also the art contest "" ECO Researcher"" organised as pre-event.
In 2020 all activities had the same motto: to show – through various examples – how the work of researchers affects our daily lives and that in fact science is all around us, and thus we can see the results of the work of researchers everywhere. Particular emphasis was put on the role of scientists in the fight against various environmental threats, as well as against air pollution. Type of activities: workshops, demonstrations, shows, lectures, chats with researchers, visit to laboratories, exhibitions, contests and games, science shows – all activities carried out in online formula. All activities were addressed to all segments of the public at large.
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: online surveys (for children and adults) distributed mainly via Facebook, developed through Google free tools, individual interviews with selected researchers, internet survey (use of tools such as Google Analytics), 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."
- Offer of about 1,200 activities;
- Active involvement of 600 scientists and employees, as well as over 500 students and about 75 research clubs;
- 7 cities (Kraków, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz, Niepołomice, Oświęcim, Chrzanów and Limanowa) and more than 30 institutions involved;
- Over 55,000 visitors attended the various activities offered during the Night.
Qualitative indicators of the ERN in Małopolska 2020:
Overall feedback about the event is very positive: according to most of participants the Researchers’ Night brings the scientists’ work closer to public and encourages to choose the scientific career. RN is considered as more interesting than other mass events. The most attractive activities are workshops, demonstrations and experiments. Organisational aspects were positively assessed (e.g. logging into events). ERN in Małopolska annually attracts the most numerous people from the younger generation – 90% of respondents are individuals under the age of 16 years. ERN annually attracts the most numerous people from the younger generation – 85% of respondents were individuals under the age of 16 years, among the respondents dominated by people between 13 and 16 years (junior high school students account for approx. half of respondents). The largest percentage of respondents are individuals who first appeared on ERN – almost 70% of adults and almost 47% of students. Research shows that 44% of adults participated for the third and fourth time in 2020 edition of MRN, among students’ this proportion of such people is 21%.