Get Up Close and Personal with Science

If there is a gap in your knowledge of science which you want to fill, come and talk to one of the Croatian or foreign scientists and researchers at the 2nd Science Picnic which is to take place on September 15th at Boćarski Dom. Make sure to attend, because knowledge is always popular.

If you like physics, mathematics or chemistry, and would like to participate in a hands-on experiment, or if you want to learn something from other scientific fields, we are inviting you to attend the 2nd Science Picnic, which will take place on September 15th in the Boćarski Dom park.

The Science Picnic is an event where everybody can get up close and personal with science in an informal setting and in a non-traditional way. Very early on, it has proved that such gatherings have a great future. Although its first edition was launched last year, the Science Picnic attracted more than nine thousand visitors of all ages. They participated in workshops and attended presentations, entertainment programmes and other concurrent events which were prepared for them by numerous Croatian and foreign researchers and promoters of science. The value of this project was recognized by the international network ERRIN (European Regions Research and Innovation Network), which invited the organizers to share their experiences with participants in a workshop in the Spanish city of Marcia.

Representatives of various institutions and associations, private companies or individuals may participate in the Science Picnic. The only criteria are good will, lots of imagination and creativity, and of course, enough patience to answer the visitors’ numerous questions. The application deadline for this year’s event was July 21st, by which time applications arrived from ten different countries. Such events are largely aimed at younger generations in order to popularize science among them. According to a survey taken during the first edition of the picnic the target audiences should be families with children up to the age of 12. Therefore, most of the presentations in this year’s programme will be aimed at younger visitors. In other words, the event will be dedicated to the promotion of science with a view to sparking interest in scientific work from a very tender age. Workshops can be attended by anyone interested in gaining new knowledge or expanding their existing knowledge in certain scientific fields, while the third part of the programme gives room to non-profit organizations to showcase their products with a view to possibly selling them.

The Science Picnic is organized by the Professor Baltazar Association and the Aquis company, with backing from numerous business partners, and under the auspices of various national and city institutions. More info about this project can be found online at www.znanstvenipiknik.hr.