/ Town Hall
Friday 10th June 2022
THE CSIC CELEBRATES WITH CALVIÀ TEN YEARS OF THE CIUDAD CIENCIA DISSEMINATION PROJECT
• Representatives of the 52 municipalities belonging to the initiative have met at the central headquarters of the CSIC
• The president of the CSIC has recognised its involvement and commitment so that science reaches all of society
• During the day, the new image and the next actions of Ciudad Ciencia, which has the support of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, were presented.
Madrid, 10th June 2022.- Ciudad Ciencia, the scientific dissemination project promoted by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) with the support of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) has celebrated its first decade of activity with the conference '10 years of shared science'. More than 40 representatives of the municipalities belonging to the project network have attended this meeting that has taken place at the central headquarters of the institution. The scientific and technical staff of the CSIC have also joined the conference, who have participated throughout this decade in the activities organised in the localities in multiple formats (exhibitions, conferences, workshops, tastings, theatre, reading clubs and guided visits to research centres).
The president of the CSIC, Rosa Menéndez, has transferred to the municipal representatives the organisation's commitment to give continuity to this initiative, which has achieved "a priority objective for the Council: to bring the research that we do in our centres to society, and put our staff in contact with the neighbours of your municipalities”. In addition, she thanked the town halls for their contribution to "creating this network of scientific dissemination in the local environment, unique in Spain".
Currently, 52 towns throughout Spain are part of Ciudad Ciencia. Since it was launched in 2012, more than 1.000 activities aimed at all ages have been carried out, in which more than 300 researchers from the CSIC have participated and which were attended by more than 220.000 people.
Pura Fernández, deputy vicepresident of Scientific Culture of the CSIC, has highlighted the involvement of mayors and councillors as mediators between the CSIC and its neighbours, and has also recognised the work of the CSIC's research and technical staff. “For science to permeate society, it must be told in an affordable way by those who are dedicated to research. We have used this formula for ten years with very good results, since both the scientific community and the inhabitants of the Ciudad Ciencia localities highly value this opportunity to dialogue and share doubts about the science and technology present in our lives”, she pointed out.
For his part, Sergio Esteve, director of Citizen Services, Transparency and Publications of the MCIN, has emphasised the Ministry's commitment to this type of programmes that connect directly with citizens and reach where other large-format actions or spaces such as museums of science are not present.
The councillor of Ubrique Town Hall, Manuel Ángel Chacón, has intervened on behalf of the municipalities of the network. According to the mayor, “Ciudad Ciencia has meant a qualitative and quantitative leap in the cultural offer of our localities. Never before have we had such varied activities continuously over time with the rigor and quality offered by the CSIC staff”.
The culinary presentation 'Open innovation: from the laboratory to the market' has closed the programme of this day. The researchers of the Food Research Centre (CIAL) of the CSIC Marta Miguel and Marta Garcés, founders of the company I LikeFoodInnovation, have offered a talk and a tasting of the products and preparations developed in the CIAL laboratories, some of them in collaboration with the chef Mario Sandoval.
The projects' new image and future actions
'Because with you, science is another story' is the message that shapes the new stage of Ciudad Ciencia initiated jointly with the Ministry of Science and Innovation. Intense and striking colors and illustrations made by Miguel Ángel Camprubí will be part of a campaign carried out on social networks and in municipal spaces of the participating towns.
In addition, the project's future actions were announced during the day. One of them will be the Ciudad Ciencia scientific fair, which will be organised in various municipalities of the network. It will be a special event with programming for a week aimed at different types of public, so that all inhabitants can enjoy and participate in various activities. An exhibition, a gymkhana, conferences for students, theatre and children's workshops or scientific tastings for adults will be part of this proposal.
In addition, the network will continue growing with the incorporation of new municipalities, such as the recently joined Llíria (Valencia) and Tomelloso (Ciudad Real). The next planned additions will be Novelda (Alicante) and Béjar (Salamanca).
