Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SHARPER (SHAring Researchers’ Passion for Engagement and Responsibility)

Teaser

Researchers love to engage with nature, society, with future and ultimately with all the complex challenges that will allow them to contribute to a better world. Researchers also love to engage with other people to make the quest they’re involved in a collective endeavour...

Summary

Researchers love to engage with nature, society, with future and ultimately with all the complex challenges that will allow them to contribute to a better world. Researchers also love to engage with other people to make the quest they’re involved in a collective endeavour. All this make researchers persons passionate for engagement who are developing a growing sense of responsibility related to their work and their role in society. In such a professional life researchers experience strong driving forces such as enthusiasm, emotions, combined with new knowledge and innovative discoveries. All these elements are summarized in the acronym SHARPER - Sharing Researchers’ Passion for Engagement and Responsibility the name of the European Researchers’ Night in the Centre and South of Italy that took place on the 30th of September 2016 simultaneously in five cities: Perugia, L’Aquila, Ancona and Palermo – the four capital cities of the regions Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Sicily and in Cascina the city hosting the European Gravitational Observatory one of the cutting edge European research facilities. This network of cities combined with their Research Institutions and with their social and cultural actors provides a team of excellence and reliability both in the fields of research and science communication at national and international level. The SHARPER project will create effective communication bridges between researchers and the cities and communities they live and act within, through: street labs, exhibitions, performances in city squares or activities that will take place in focal city venues, where citizens use to spend their everyday life. SHARPER 2016-2017 will geographically broaden the impact of the communication actions of European Researchers’ Night in Italy massively engaging kids, young students, schools, associations and citizens at large actively involved by researchers since the planning phase of the activities.

The overall objectives of the project are:
- To establish meaningful connections between researchers and the citizens, namely with those audiences rarely involved in the discovery of research (hard to reach audiences), interested adults and young who want to know more about the researchers and their role in the future society (interested groups), kids and young students (possible future researchers);
- To convey the message that a researcher is a passionate person who loves to engage with complex issues and with other people to reach common goals sharing a common knowledge;
- To present the researchers as committed citizens that jointly with other citizens face the challenges to build a better future ;
- To tell that strong collaboration between researchers and citizens aiming together at excellence triggers innovation;
- To broaden the meaning of what we call researchers beyond any stereotypes;
- To provide motivated audiences with opportunities of deeper knowledge of the researchers work;
- To motivate young students to enter researcher careers and become key actors of the future;
- To encourage children to discover researchers as role models because they are passionate and knowledgeable;
- To use researchers’ emotions and enthusiasm to make excellent research accessible and comprehensible to everyone, from young students to adults;
- To develop a national community of researchers that are excellent communicators.

The project SHARPER has reached its objectives and proved to be successful.

Work performed

Conception, production and display of promotional material: posters of various formats, postcards, programmes, distributed in public spaces (bar, restaurants in cities downtown, university departments, public libraries, cultural stores, tourism offices and schools), as well as give away such as T-shirts, lapel mpins, shopping bags, sweaters, balloons, bracelets, lanyards, pens…;
- Public advertising: billboards, posters, banners, road posters, roll ups, totems, cardboard totems, tri-facial stands;
- Advertising on public transport (bus);
- Organisation of 4 press conferences;
- Publication of about 30 press releases;
- Publication of promotional articles in regional and local newspapers;
- Organisation of pre-events:
- Promotion of the event during Fosforo: la Festa della Scienza in Senigallia, Ancona;
- Teaser during FameLab Italia regional heat in L’Aquila;
- Science entertainment and exhibits in Gubbio during Gubbio Scienza;
- Promotion and science entertainment in L’Aquila
- Promotion during outreach activities and events organised by EGO: Open day (Science Festival of Cascina);
- Outreach activities, science entertainment and promotions in Perugia during Figuratevi! Kids Festival in Massiano Park;
- Airing of promotional radio and TV spots (local and regional stations);
- Revamping, constant updating and maintenance of project website www.sharper-night.eu and http://sharpernight.lngs.infn.it/home ;
- 8.444 unique visitors, 19.923 page visualisations, 2.386 downloads of programmes;
- Revamping, constant updating and maintenance of social networks profiles;
- Facebook: 7.882 total page likes;
- 144.066 total reaches;
- 1.100 FB video views;
- Twitter: 309 followers:
- Publication of a series of articles dedicated to the scientific activities scheduled for the event;

Offer of activities as described in the plans in the Annex I part B to the Grant Agreement, namely:
- 225 activities;
- Hands on experiments;
- Workshops
- demonstrations;
- Talks with researchers;
- Exhibitions;
- Guided visits;
- 5 European corners (one per city);
- 45 locations;
- 5 cities;
- 840 researchers have been involved directly in developing and implementing activities, of which
- 15 having benefitted from MSC Actions;
- 30 having benefitted from other EU support in FP7 or H2020 schemes;
Over 51.000 visitors having taken part in the activities offered, distributed as follwos:
--- Perugia : 7.000 ;
--- Palermo : 4.000 ;
--- L’Aquila : 30.000 ;
--- Ancona : 10.000 ;
--- Cascina : 500 ;

Final results

- Collection, processing and analysis of feedbacks based on pre and post event surveys, face to face flash interviews, observation chart and field observations;

- Main conclusions (details to be found in Deliverable 3):
o Typology of visitors median age is 54 , 56,5% women and 43,5% men, 37% in possession of a university degree or a specialization after the degree, 45% having a high school diploma and 14, 3% professional school or
middle school 73,9% strong or very strong interest for scientific research topics, while 26,1% declare to have a low or very low interest, over 84 % newcomers;
o Overall positive feedback about the events themselves (activities, contacts with researchers, venues and locations , concrete organisation, scheduling);
o Increased interest for science careers amongst young people;
o Increased understanding of the work researcher and its societal implications;
o Rather general impression that researchers should be more involved in communication activities.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.sharper-nigth.eu.