In order to foster greater quality and density in the event, we invited for the plenary sessions researchers and professionals with renowned expertise who have contributed with their reflections to the agenda of theoretical and practical issues that orient the actions of museums and science centres in different countries.

Plenary Session 1: “Social Inclusion, Science and Citizenship”

We live in a world of contrasts. Social, economical and cultural barriers restrain a great part of society from fully exercising their citizenship. Scientific and technological applications enhance the separation of rich and poor, creating new inequalities and extinguishing cultural diversities. Science centres and museums have historically been engaged in the democratization of knowledge and in the  education of people. Considering the present moment, how can these institutions contribute to promoting social inclusion? Which challenges must be met in order to improve the effective participation of all citizens in the development and contributions of science and technology?

Convenor:

Walter Staveloz, Executive Director, ECSITE, Belgium

Speakers:

• Lídia Brito, Ministry of HE, Science and Technology, Mozambique
• Paulo Gadelha, Vice-president of Oswaldo Cruz Foundation/Fiocruz, Brazil
• Elizabeth Rasekoala, Founder & Director, African-Caribbean Network for Science & Technology, United Kingdom
• Jon Weinberg, MTN ScienCentre, South Africa
• Stanley Litow, President of IBM Foundation, USA

Plenary Session 2: “New Models and Challenges for Science Centres and Museums”

This plenary panel will deal with the question of new functional models for science centres. In this session, we will discuss the relevance of science centres in a broad cultural and social context, taking into account current trends in our societies and the behavioral changes that emerging patterns in science and technology bring about. The session will take the form of a plenary panel with four participants, each speaking for 15 minutes and a short discussion within the panel. After the panel session, there will be a breakout in small group discussions.

Convenor:

Per-Edvin Persson, Director, Heureka, Finland, and President, The Association of Science-Technology Centers

Speakers:

• Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science / AAAS, USA
• Mamoru Mohri, Diretor from MeSci - National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Japan
• Goery Delacote, Diretor, Exploratorium, USA
• Julia Tagüeña Parga, Executive Director of Red-POP, Mexico

Plenary Session 3: “Frontiers and Controversies of Science”

It is important that science centres and museums discuss the science boundaries which define strong economic and social changes. Controversial subjects will be approached in this plenary session. What is to be expected of the future?  The progress of science takes humanity to the frontier of its own ethical and moral limits. Sometimes the potential benefits of scientific discoveries are exaggerated and hide the possible harmful consequences of such innovations. How can science centres and museums contribute to those discussions? What are the new challenges that can be expected in the science communication field? Where will science and technology eventually take us?

Convenor:

James Marchbank, CEO, Science North, Canada

Speakers to be confirmed

Plenary Session 4: “Science Centres and Museums as a Learning Place”

In the last decades, science centres and museums have contributed to a transformation of the landscape of learning. Through their informal and participatory learning opportunities, visitors of all ages have discovered that learning is about active engagement rather than passive reception, that learning is about connections and relevance to personal life and not just about abstract theory, that learning can be entertaining and not just informative, that learning is a life-long activity and not restricted to the years of formal schooling, that learning can be an informal family and community experience and not confined by a curriculum. The defining and primary characteristic of science centres and museums has been, and continues to be that they are places of learning. This session presents important and timely inputs from around the globe to challenge our thinking on how to develop our role as learning places within our communities.

Convenor:

Brenton Honeyman, Manager, Executive Operations, Questacon, Australia

Speakers:

• Leonie Rennie, Curtin University of Technology, Australia
• Dennis Bartels, President of TERC (Technical Education Research Center), USA

• Ennio Candotti, Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science / SBPC , Brazil