Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MACARONIGHT II (Macaronesia's Researchers' Night)
Reporting period: 2020-06-01 to 2021-03-31
Macaronight aims every year to organize a European Researchers Night of the Macaronesia, bridging the gap between researchers and civil society in some outermost regions of the EU. Citizens on remote islands are usually not very aware of the science being developed in their region nor of the opportunities and challenges the region offers to researchers. Macaronight works towards changing this situation.
The overall objective of MACARONIGHT II, the second project followed up the first initiative covering the years 2018 & 2019, was to organise another round of events, a shared Researchers’ Night for the Macaronesia Region connecting the population of these islands under the umbrella of the universal language of science. In year 2020, focus was put on the scientific and technology areas identified in the Smart Specialization Strategies for the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores and the consortium aimed at raising public awareness for research areas that could be the greatest benefit for the Region. The project also contributed to increasing the public recognition of researchers, by providing an enhanced understanding of the impact of researchers' work on citizen's daily life.
The general objectives of the project were:
Research is fun and fascinating;
Researchers are one of us, ordinary people with an extraordinary job as such they share with other people passions, hopes, problems, concerns, dreams...;
Research is an amazing career choice and offering a range of opportunities for entrepreneurship;
In addition, MACARONIGHT 2020 also pursued the below specific objectives:
Highlighting the excellent research centres in the Macaronesian region;
Reaching the most remote islands of the archipelagos, as well as rural areas of the main islands;
Researchers' job is very useful, and it contributes to citizens' daily lives and well-being in the Macaronesia region;
Obtain first-hand information about the state-of-the-art research conducted in the Macaronesian region;
Better understand the opportunities science may offer you and problems researchers face within the Macaronesian region;
Europe cares for its researchers – even in an outermost region;
Researchers’ Mobility in Europe is an existing opportunity even for islanders.
The Macaronesian region serves as a live lab for science centres of excellency such as PLOCAN, IAC or ITC but, unfortunately, the society at large and young adults, in particular, are not aware of the scientific richness of their region and the chances for a career in research in their own backyard. Creating new generations of Macaronesian researchers is paramount for the future of the islands and European science.
The overall objective of MACARONIGHT II, the second project followed up the first initiative covering the years 2018 & 2019, was to organise another round of events, a shared Researchers’ Night for the Macaronesia Region connecting the population of these islands under the umbrella of the universal language of science. In year 2020, focus was put on the scientific and technology areas identified in the Smart Specialization Strategies for the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores and the consortium aimed at raising public awareness for research areas that could be the greatest benefit for the Region. The project also contributed to increasing the public recognition of researchers, by providing an enhanced understanding of the impact of researchers' work on citizen's daily life.
The general objectives of the project were:
Research is fun and fascinating;
Researchers are one of us, ordinary people with an extraordinary job as such they share with other people passions, hopes, problems, concerns, dreams...;
Research is an amazing career choice and offering a range of opportunities for entrepreneurship;
In addition, MACARONIGHT 2020 also pursued the below specific objectives:
Highlighting the excellent research centres in the Macaronesian region;
Reaching the most remote islands of the archipelagos, as well as rural areas of the main islands;
Researchers' job is very useful, and it contributes to citizens' daily lives and well-being in the Macaronesia region;
Obtain first-hand information about the state-of-the-art research conducted in the Macaronesian region;
Better understand the opportunities science may offer you and problems researchers face within the Macaronesian region;
Europe cares for its researchers – even in an outermost region;
Researchers’ Mobility in Europe is an existing opportunity even for islanders.
The Macaronesian region serves as a live lab for science centres of excellency such as PLOCAN, IAC or ITC but, unfortunately, the society at large and young adults, in particular, are not aware of the scientific richness of their region and the chances for a career in research in their own backyard. Creating new generations of Macaronesian researchers is paramount for the future of the islands and European science.
Following the steps of MacaroNight I (2018-2019), MacaroNight II aimed at showcasing the research made in the region of Macaronesia to young adults, teenagers and families in order to spearhead the next generation of researchers in the islands.
Undoubtedly, 2020 has been marked by unexpected challenges which the consortium has been able to transform into opportunities. During the kick-off, it was decided to have a physical event with hygienic measures and crowd control, which would lower the attendance but not damage the impact on the participants. Unfortunately, the increase in Covid cases has meant that there was a conscious decision to change the format. In an attempt to complement each other and facilitate a working method that was, at this point, new to all the partners, certain considerations were made, such as using each partner’s previous knowledge and institutional strengths.
As the rest of the world, MACARONIGHT II saw every aspect of their plans repeatedly disrupted due to the pandemic and the evolution -and in some cases devolution- of the safety measures. Nonetheless, even having to monitor and adapt to four different situations (measures in Portugal and Spain were different per province, meaning four provinces: Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Madeira, Açores) the Consortium has shown remarkable flexibility and creativity dealing with changes and new formats.
WP1
During 2021, it was decided to create a Portuguese language Facebook and Instagram profiles to better reach all the population in their own language.
Main tasks undertaken: preparation of the project communication plan, specific communication guidelines for internal and external communication, audiovisual promotional material, posters, leaflets, agendas, animations etc;
Main results:
Creation of Portuguese Instagram and Facebook profiles
In total app 168000 people were made aware of the night via the awareness campaign;
5.753 pageviews at the event website;
700 followers on Facebook (SP);
935 followers on Facebook (PT);
300 followers on Instagram (SP);
325 followers on Instagram (PT);
1571 followers on Twitter;
13 videos on YouTube;
6 radio interviews conducted;
7 podcast collaborations
2 TV ad run in prime time in regional TV;
2 appearances on national/regional TV channels before the event;
1959 Pre-events attendants;
1144 Post- events attendants;
WP2
The NIGHT 2021 was organised in sixteen islands thanks to the online resources and live online events.
Main results
40869 participants in almost all islands of the Macaronesian archipelago.
24 stands, 31 hands-on experiments, 5 contests, 82 live talks, 59 science videos, 7 lab virtual walks, 8 TV show episodes.
40 different entities collaborated with the project, 214 researchers and 52 schools participated;
The online EU Corner was composed of 24 EU projects, 1 original online game, 14 EU games and 2 games created by EU projects;
WP3
Tasks undertaken: preparation of guidelines for data collection and training of volunteers and related questionnaires/QR surveys and the evaluation of the data. Due to the online nature of the event, it was extremely difficult motivating attendants to answer questionnaires.
In total:
151 questionnaires on schools (12 to 18 years old)
34 questionnaires for attending adults.
Main results:
Even though a lot of comments centered on recuperating the physical event for 2021, the online nature of the event was actually praised by those schools situated on rural areas, which is a feature that will be kept for future editions of Macaronight.
Undoubtedly, 2020 has been marked by unexpected challenges which the consortium has been able to transform into opportunities. During the kick-off, it was decided to have a physical event with hygienic measures and crowd control, which would lower the attendance but not damage the impact on the participants. Unfortunately, the increase in Covid cases has meant that there was a conscious decision to change the format. In an attempt to complement each other and facilitate a working method that was, at this point, new to all the partners, certain considerations were made, such as using each partner’s previous knowledge and institutional strengths.
As the rest of the world, MACARONIGHT II saw every aspect of their plans repeatedly disrupted due to the pandemic and the evolution -and in some cases devolution- of the safety measures. Nonetheless, even having to monitor and adapt to four different situations (measures in Portugal and Spain were different per province, meaning four provinces: Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Madeira, Açores) the Consortium has shown remarkable flexibility and creativity dealing with changes and new formats.
WP1
During 2021, it was decided to create a Portuguese language Facebook and Instagram profiles to better reach all the population in their own language.
Main tasks undertaken: preparation of the project communication plan, specific communication guidelines for internal and external communication, audiovisual promotional material, posters, leaflets, agendas, animations etc;
Main results:
Creation of Portuguese Instagram and Facebook profiles
In total app 168000 people were made aware of the night via the awareness campaign;
5.753 pageviews at the event website;
700 followers on Facebook (SP);
935 followers on Facebook (PT);
300 followers on Instagram (SP);
325 followers on Instagram (PT);
1571 followers on Twitter;
13 videos on YouTube;
6 radio interviews conducted;
7 podcast collaborations
2 TV ad run in prime time in regional TV;
2 appearances on national/regional TV channels before the event;
1959 Pre-events attendants;
1144 Post- events attendants;
WP2
The NIGHT 2021 was organised in sixteen islands thanks to the online resources and live online events.
Main results
40869 participants in almost all islands of the Macaronesian archipelago.
24 stands, 31 hands-on experiments, 5 contests, 82 live talks, 59 science videos, 7 lab virtual walks, 8 TV show episodes.
40 different entities collaborated with the project, 214 researchers and 52 schools participated;
The online EU Corner was composed of 24 EU projects, 1 original online game, 14 EU games and 2 games created by EU projects;
WP3
Tasks undertaken: preparation of guidelines for data collection and training of volunteers and related questionnaires/QR surveys and the evaluation of the data. Due to the online nature of the event, it was extremely difficult motivating attendants to answer questionnaires.
In total:
151 questionnaires on schools (12 to 18 years old)
34 questionnaires for attending adults.
Main results:
Even though a lot of comments centered on recuperating the physical event for 2021, the online nature of the event was actually praised by those schools situated on rural areas, which is a feature that will be kept for future editions of Macaronight.
Macaronight is the first of its kind with potential long-lasting beneficial impacts that could extend beyond the immediate objectives of the project as it aims at creating overall public awareness of science, research and innovation, especially in areas where the region of Macaronesia has outstanding performance and results even by international comparison. Public recognition will then result in public support that is much needed for the implementation of the smart specialisation strategies themselves. MacaroNight will also highlight the importance of understanding the connection between investment in science and regional development, also in its actions aimed at building science capital in remote regions.