Abstract:

Among the initiatives that bring people closer to science, a key role is played by public events organized by universities, research centres or associations, involving citizens in multiple scientific activities, often interactive and hands-on [1-3]. In some cases, these events are held in places other than those where scientific research is actually carried out, to instead occupy city areas usually dedicated to entertainment or cultural initiatives [4]. In these contexts, public events are able to reach a large and diverse audience, and become a place for discussion and aggregation, not only with the public, but also between the scientific promoters.

An example of such events is the European Reseachers’ Night organized by NET-scieNcE Together, a network that brings together 12 scientific Italian organizations including universities, institutes, associations, consortia [5]. NET Night was held on September 29 and 30, 2023 in Rome’s “Città dell’Altra Economia”, a place typically used as a market or faire trade, yet which often hosts concerts and festivals [6]. During this event, NET partners gathered with interactive booths, and engaged more than 10000 participants in hands-on activities, games, seminars and scientific challenges.

A scientific treasure hunt was also held during the event. Participants were asked to answer some questions, find clues, follow some activities, solve mysteries placed among the stands using their smartphones. The hunt is digitally managed by a mobile app that registers users, runs tasks, collects answers and manages scores. At the end of the two evenings, a ranking was then made, and the first-place winners were given a price.

In this contribution, we will discuss the scientific treasure hunt we organized, which proved to be not only a means of increasing public engagement, but also, in the planning stage, of strengthening dialogue and discussion between researchers. In this way, it can be considered as a successful example of Open Science implementation, that can be exported to other contexts as well.

NET Night is an event associated with the European Union's MSCA and Citizens initiative funded under the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions. Call: HORIZON-MSCA-2022-CITIZENS-01. NET Night is also supported by the ECS 0000024 Rome Technopole Project, - CUP B83C22002820006, PNRR Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.5, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU

References:
[1] Bertelli, et al. (2023) “INFN LNF public outreach program: experiences in bridging science and society”, INTED 2023 Proceedings, 17th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, pp. 8090-8094, ISBN: 978-84-09-49026-4, ISSN: 2340-1079, doi: 10.21125/inted.2023.2191
[2] Illingworth, S., Lewis, E. and Percival, C. (2015). ‘Does attending a large science event enthuse young people about science careers?’. JCOM 14 (02), A06.
[3] Canovan, C. (2019). ‘“Going to these events truly opens your eyes”. Perceptions of science and science careers following a family visit to a science festival’. JCOM 18 (02), A01. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18020201.
[4] M. Mazzotti (2019), The Genoa Science Festival, History of Science Society Newsletter, n. 48, pages 6-8., 2019
[5] https://www.scienzainsieme.it/notte-europea-dei-ricercatori/
[6] https://www.cittadellaltraeconomia.org/

Keywords:

Science communication, scientific public events, gamification, open science, STEM education experiences.