About the event
Shaking up science & society relations together
An energizing Sparks Forum!
On 3 and 4 May 2018 the Sparks Forum gathered in Brussels more than 100 participants ranging from science communicators to policy-makers, from DIY scientists to academics.
The event that spanned over one day and an afternoon really did shake-up science and society relations: a keen participative audience, passionate speakers, atypical formats with surprising elements, earnest animated discussions, fruitful exchanges resulting in a coming together of ideas for citizen engagement in science, research and innovation.
A space to network and exchange experiences
In order to provide the Sparks partners with a privileged space to network and exchange experiences, the first half day was dedicated to reflecting sessions for Sparks partners and their invited local organisers (yet it was open to ‘external’ delegates eager to learn more about the processes and lessons learnt by partners during the Sparks project), the second day was a full day of conference and workshops open to the public.
“Thank you for the great formats coming from the Sparks Forum” said MEP Michał Boni, “these are more open, participatory and much more effective. We need to use them at the European Parliament!”
“I wish the Sparks Forum would be the world” concluded Catherine Franche, executive director of Ecsite: “So much energy, intelligence, so many conversations!”
The Sparks journey started as a campaign which resulted in a community of individuals and organisations ready to rethink science and science communication, step out of their comfort zone and embrace Responsible Research and Innovation.
“The Sparks forum was an exciting yet challenging event to organise” reported Clémentine Daubeuf, Sparks project manager at KEA: “interactivity was the motto for designing the event, in line with the project’s goal to engage citizens in RRI. We wanted to create an engaging event that would gather the Sparks community, related stakeholders and policy makers to mark the end of the project with a momentum and inspiration to follow up on the project beyond its formal closure”.
