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N E W S L E T T E R

issue 83summer 2010

: CONTENTS >>>

Mike Bruton: iBuyambo ye Afrika - ascience centre renaissance in Africa?

page 02

Sylvia Neuman-Samuel: Mexicanexperiences of internationalexchange

page 05

May Pagsinohin: Philippine ScienceCentrum’s 20 Year-Journey

page 06

Gary Foxton: Asia-Pacific: Haveexhibit, will travel

page 08

Listingspage 11

Courses, conferences and competitionspage 12

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Depending a little bit on how you wish to define ascience centre, the world today contains about3000 of them. Over my quarter-of-a-century-longcareer in this field, I have personally had a chanceto visit over 400 of them, often talking to theirsenior leadership and trustees. What I have foundis that they are strikingly similar all over theworld. They are usually inhabited by enthusiasticpeople, they are serious about experientiallearning and their visitors, their stakeholders aremore or less the same (the scientific community,the education sector, local and nationalgovernment, private enterprises) even if theindividual mix varies, they depend on diversesources of income and usually have to competefor their resources, and they all believe in theimportance of science and knowledge.For us Europeans, I think it is important to realisethe diversity of our field across the world. Themajority of science centres and museums in theworld are actually outside Europe! We have a lotto learn and a lot to give. Our co-operation can

Science centres - a globalmovement

range from information exchange, partnerships inexhibitions and programmes to physical circulationof exhibitions in various parts of the world. I wouldpersonally encourage all Ecsite members to becomean Associate Member in one of the other regionalscience centre networks to open up communicationand information exchange.I welcome you to this special issue of the EcsiteNewsletter, giving you a flavour of the globalscience centre community. Read and enjoy!

Dr Per-Edvin PerssonDirector, Heureka, the Finnish Science CentreGuest editor of this issue of the Ecsite Newsletter

Playing the Ibn Battuta touch screen game in the Sultans of Science exhibition made by MTE Studios in the MTN Sciencentre, Cape Town, South Africa

GLOBALISATION

Tunisia, and four in Egypt, a total of 28. A sciencecentre that was previously established in Gaberone,Botswana, has recently closed down. Namibia has ascience centre in an advanced stage of planning, andan array of traveling exhibits, but no permanentfacility as yet. Although career centres and variouskinds of educational centres exist throughout Africa,we are not aware of any other permanentlyestablished interactive science centres. Of course, Africa has many traditional museums, over2 000 by some counts, of which more than 400 arein South Africa. Some of them, in Egypt, Kenya,South Africa and elsewhere, are comparable with thebest in the world, and they play a very important rolein non-formal education. An increasing number ofthese museums have interactive displays, but theirexhibits are predominantly artifact-based. Thesemuseums nevertheless have tremendous potential asseeds for the development of a strong interactivescience centre network on the continent. There is, nevertheless, a clear imbalance between thedevelopment of science centres in Africa and in the restof the world. Surely the African community, and thedeveloped science centre networks in the northern andsouthern hemispheres, should not allow this situationto persist? Are there not exciting opportunities to assistwith the development of science centres in Africa on awin: win basis? We think so. Of course, there are many examples of ways inwhich non-African science networks and countrieshave already assisted with the development ofscience centres in Africa and surrounding islands.India established the Rajiv Ghandi Science Centre inPort Louis, Mauritius. The NAMES network, whichcovers the circum-Mediterranean region, is

Africa is a huge continent, over 30.2 million km² inarea divided into 61 countries and dependencies witha combined population of over one billion people. Ithas 14.72% of the world’s population (but only1.2% of its science centres). According to UNESCO,over 2000 languages are spoken in Africa, and it isthe most linguistically and culturally diverse continentin the world. Nigeria alone has over 250 languages!Africa is widely accepted as the cradle ofhumankind, and it is the oldest inhabited territory onEarth. Some of the greatest early civilizations, andthe most influential learning institutions in the world,existed in Africa, and the roots of many fields ofscience and technology (geometry, trigonometry,navigation, cartography, astronomy, metallurgy,maritime engineering, animal domestication, herbalmedicine) can be traced to the continent. Indigenousknowledge systems developed in Africa lead tosubstantial improvements in the quality of life of itspeoples, and continue to provide ideas andopportunities for modern science. Furthermore, Africa is on the rise. Foreign investmenthas quadrupled since 2000. In 2006, foreigninvestment reached $48 billion, overtaking foreign

aid for the first time, according to the OECD. Chinaalone has injected over $106 billion into Africa overthe past 10 years. The IMF puts Africa’s averageannual growth for 2004 to 2008 at more than 6% -better than that of most developed economies, andpredicts that the continent will buck the globalrecessionary trend and grow at 3.3% this year. An article published by Oxford economist Paul Collier inthe online journal allAfrica in February 2010 noted thatAfrica now offers the world’s highest return oninvestment. Stephen Hayes, CEO of the CorporateCouncil for Africa, states that, “Africa offers moreopportunity than any place in the world.” The successfulstaging of the largest sporting event in the world, theFIFA World Cup, in South Africa in mid-2010 furtherdemonstrates that Africa has got its act together. Africa would therefore appear to be prime territory forthe establishment of a network of interactive sciencecentres: cash is starting to flow, the economy is movingaway from commodities towards technology-basedservices and information, yet there are still severeeducational imbalances to overcome. Furthermore, themodus operandi of science centres exactly matchesAfrica’s developmental needs: they offer cost-effectiveways of strengthening the science and technologyculture, and their relatively language-free exhibits, andhands-on, experiential teaching methods, are ideallysuited to educationally-disadvantaged but smartlearners in multilingual societies. Science centres areTHE most efficient tool for demystifying science andmaking it accessible to learners of all ages and cultures- they belong on the African continent. There is no doubt that a strong, collaborative networkof science centres in Africa would release the potentialof millions of young people, and promote scienceawareness on a continent that is rapidly entering theinformation age. However, the stark reality is thatscience centres, which I define as ‘science educationfacilities that primarily use interactive techniques forteaching and learning’, are poorly established on theAfrican continent, being confined almost exclusively tothe extreme north and south.Using the above definition, there are 21 sciencecentres in South Africa, one in Mauritius, two in

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Professor Mike Bruton is Director of Imagineering at MTE Studios. The founder of the MTN Sciencentre in CapeTown and the Old Mutual-MTN Sciencentre in Umhlanga, he has played a role in the establishment ofnumerous other science centres and museums in South Africa and the Middle East. He is the chair of the LocalOrganising Committee and the International Programme Committee of the 6th Science Centre World Congress.

iBuyambo ye Afrika - a science centrerenaissance in Africa?

Banner advertising an exhibition on ‘Great South AfricanInventions’ in the MTN Sciencentre, Cape Town, South Africa

Hand-powered water pump on display in the MTNSciencentre, Cape Town, South Africa

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promoting science centre development in NorthAfrica. Ecsite, ASPAC, RedPOP, NCSM and ASTC, aswell as individual science centres in these regions,have all assisted with the development of sciencecentres, and their teaching programmes, in theSAASTEC region of southern Africa. The hosting of the 6th Science Centre WorldCongress (6SCWC) in Cape Town, South Africa, inSeptember 2011 will be a tremendous boost forscience centre development in Africa. The 6SCWCwill bring leading science centre and museumexperts to Africa, and focus international attentionon the need to invest in science centre developmenton the African continent.

The theme of the congress, Science acrossCultures, addresses the role that science centresshould play in recognizing that science is an integralcomponent of our universal human culture. It is notan endeavour that arose out of one culture, nor doits impacts affect only one culture. This theme alsohighlights the multi-cultural roots of science andtechnology and recognizes the value, to allhumankind, of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). The Congress has four sub themes: Science as Part ofCulture, Empowerment through Science, Recognizingthe Multi-Cultural Roots of Science and Technology,and Recognizing the Global Value of Indigenous

Knowledge Systems, all of which have strongrelevance to the African condition. In addition, a pre-congress workshop will focus on developing thecapacity of African science centre personnel. The organisers of the 6SCWC are going to considerablelengths to encourage professionals in the museum,university, educational NGO, heritage institution and

government sectors throughout Africa to attend thecongress, as we see them as key role players in thedevelopment of an African science centre network.Furthermore, the annual SAASTEC conference inNovember 2010 in Saldanha, South Africa, is beingused as a ‘dummy run’ for African delegates to presentpapers in preparation for the 6SCWC. Workshops onhow to design and make a presentation at a worldcongress have already been held in South Africa underthe auspices of the South African Agency for Scienceand Technology Advancement (SAASTA). South Africa’snational science festival, SciFest Africa, which will beheld in Grahamstown from 25-27 March 2011, hasalso adopted the theme ‘Science across Cultures’,which will further prepare African delegates to presenton this theme at the World Congress. iBuyambo ye Afrika means ‘a rebirth in Africa’. Let usmake the decade from 2010-2020 a period duringwhich the great learning institutions that Africa firstbrought to the world are reborn, for the benefit of allAfrican people!

YOU can make a difference - we look forward toworking with you.

Find out more about the 6th Science Centre WorldCongress: www.6scwc.org

GLOBALISATION

How can Ecsite members help to develop thescience centre network in Africa, before and afterthe 6SCWC?

• Be cognisant of the commitments that all delegates to the 5SCWC in Toronto made, as stated inthe Toronto Declaration, inter alia, ‘We will use our collective expertise and experience in helping toexpand the activities of our sector to places and communities where science centres are neededand wanted but not yet established.’

• Attend the Second General Assembly of NAMES in Kuwait on 16 and 17 October 2010 to promotescience centre development in North Africa (www.names2010.org)

• Attend the annual SAASTEC conference in Saldanha near Cape Town on 22-24 November 2010 topromote science centre development in sub-Saharan Africa (www.saastec.org.za)

• Attend and participate fully in the 6th Science Centre World Congress (www.6scwc.org), its pre-congress workshop and its post-congress excursions, to promote science centre development inAfrica. The deadline for session proposals is 31 August 2010.

• Exhibit your products and services at the 6SCWC • Stay in Africa after the 6SCWC, visit African countries and assess their needs• Establish contact with existing African science centres and develop twinning or partnership agreements• Identify a country or region in Africa in which you would like to support science centre

development. Through contact with the nearest regional network (SAASTEC or NAMES), andexisting educational institutions (universities, colleges, museums, educational NGOs, governmentdepartments), initiate the process of starting a science centre network in that region

• Consider donating pre-used exhibits to science centres in Africa• Offer your educational aids and training services to African science centre staff• Establish foreign aid or UNESCO programmes from your country that allow you to cover the cost of

assisting with the development of science centres in chosen African countries• Invite African science centre developers and staff to your science centre for in-service training and

exposure to your education and staff development programmes• Subsidize attendance of African science centre delegates and developers at the annual Ecsite conference.

Two young visitors at the MTN Sciencentre, Cape Town, South Africa, looking at the 'Perpetual Flute' exhibit in the 'Sultans ofScience' exhibition made by MTE Studios

‘Looking through the Universal Astrolabe in the ‘Sultansof Science’ exhibition made by MTE Studios in the MTN

Sciencentre, Cape Town, South Africa’

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GLOBALISATION

The Federal Electricity Commission had a51,000m2 warehouse called Dolores, inside thebiggest park in Mexico City, in the second sectionof the ancient forest of Chapultepec. This is wherethe Technological Museum of CFE opened itsdoors on November 20, 1970. Built in Mexico Cityas a pioneer in Mexico and Latin America, thiswas the first interactive museum, specialized inthe electric power industry.

Its mission today is to be an interactiveeducational centre to reveal and popularisescientific and technological progress, thereforecontributing to integrate education anddevelopment for people - mainly children andyoungsters - to use their perception, emotions andexperience to encourage and boost theirimagination and innovation. Thanks to theprestige and support from an electricity companylike ours, entry to the MUTEC has been free for 40years, for all age groups; giving the opportunity toserve a population with limited resources.

Many multidisciplinary events have taken place,including the First International AstronauticalCongress; headquarters of the World ChessChampionship and two debates betweenpresidential candidates. Spark and Prisma, sciencechildren's magazines were created and designedat the Museum. The Program Science SundayConferences with the Mexican Academy ofSciences began in December 1982 and have sincespread to 500 sites around the country.

We are part of the Mexican Association ofMuseums and Centres of Science and Technology

(AMMCCyT), since 1996. We are members ofASTC (the Association of Science-TechnologyCenters based in North America) and Red-POP(the Network for popularization of Science andTechnology for Latin America and the Caribbean).We have been working with the Europeannetwork Ecsite since it began. Back in 2008,during the XI National Colloquium of AMMCCyTentitled “Earth today: Our future”, we had thechance to organise and plan an environmentalexhibit, in a workshop run by Walter Staveloz,Director of International Relations for ASTC. Heinspired us to fulfil the needs and learning aims ofour diverse audience. He underlined that impacton our community shows that our museums andscience centres are worth it and that is onlypossible when we generate emotional experiencesto catch their attention.

At the time, Alan Leshner (Chief Executive Officerfor the American Association for the Advancementof Science and Executive Publisher of Sciencemagazine) gave a presentation entitled “Scienceand Technology for an Earth in danger”, where heput science in a global context, underlining theimportance of public engagement involved in thesolutions, since “scientists don’t change thebehaviour of people but museums can”.

Several generations of Mexicans have seenMUTEC’s founding in the 70s, its development inthe 80s until it remained static for some years,and from the second half of 2000, itstransformation became apparent, through theefforts of Alfredo Elias Ayub, the current directorof the Federal Electricity Commission. WhenMUTEC’s exhibition space was remodeled, thesubjects were diversified with a contemporaryapproach, interactive and international exhibitswere mounted to provide a scientific and culturalsight of advancements in science and technologythat improved educational provision for the newcentury.

Among the signs of global cooperation, we canmention our permanent exchange with La Cité

des Sciences et l'Industrie of France; Heureka, theFinnish Science Center; Clear Channel Exhibitions,Evergreen Exhibitions, NASA and the NationalScience Teachers Association (NSTA) from USA;and Pfizer Inc. We also have the internationalsupport of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Mad Science Spain, the European Space Agency,Science Alive, Science Center New Zealand, theNational Directorate of the Antarctic, DNA, theDirectorate General of Cultural Affairs, the Ministryof Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship,the Argentina’s National University of Tres deFebrero and the Argentine Antarctic Program;Jerusalem Hebrew University of Israel; UnitedNations, UNESCO, the International Federation ofHuman Rights, the embassies of the RussianFederation, People’s Republic of China, Republicsof Korea, Argentina; and very soon, Switzerlandand Spain; the French artist Jean-Marc Philippecreator of KEO Project and the in-site artistAndrea Juan, curator of the SOUTH POLAR, ARTIN ANTARCTICA; all for the implementation oftemporary exhibitions in MUTEC. Mexicanmuseums and interactive centres as well asacademic (UNAM and IPN) and other institutionsare working in coordination with us in differentprojects, at the time.

The MUTEC, in its efforts to popularise a widerange of scientific concepts, technological andcultural, has provided an opportunity for morethan a million visitors per year to interact with theknowledge of scientific and technological progressworldwide, with elements to understandinformation in a didactic, interactive, playful andexperimental way.

Sylvia Neuman-Samuel is the general director of the MUTEC, the Technological Museum of the MexicanFederal Electricity Commission. Here, she shares the story of the museum and gives some ideas of the types ofopportunities that international science centres and museums can take to collaborate with Latin America.

Mexican experiences of internationalexchange

MUTEC’s collaboration with Heureka, the Finnish ScienceCenter, led to this music exhibit coming to Mexico

GLOBALISATION

After 20 years of operations, the Philippine ScienceCentrum (PSC) is still committed to pursue its missionby providing quality and exciting venue for scienceeducation and promotion and to operate despitetough ‘adversities’ that come along the way. The PSChas survived an earthquake, lack of governmentfunding, years of financial crisis and donor-fatigue, andjust recently, a flash flood brought by a typhoon.In each and every adversity, the PSC has recovered

and continued to get the job done with more zest anddetermination. In between these challenges areaccomplishments that truly overshadow the obstacles. The science centre and its travelling exhibitions have

now welcomed 5.2 million visitors over 20 years. Thetravelling exhibitions have visited 120 provincialcapitals, municipalities and cities. The PSC hosts 300interactive exhibits and travelling exhibitions and hasfabricated 400 interactive exhibits for variousentities, local and international. 5,000 teachers weretrained in ‘teaching science through interactive &integrative approaches’ workshop, and the PSC hasbeen instrumental in the creation and establishmentof 9 Regional Science Centrums all over the country.A lot more could be listed but allow me to proceedby taking you on PSC’s 20-year journey…

20 YEARS OF UPS ANDDOWNSThe Philippine Science Centrum is managed andoperated by a local private foundation: Philippine Foundation for Science and Technology(PFST). In addressing the government’s call forprivate sector assistance in popularising science andtechnology among Filipinos, on February 1, 1990, thePhilippine Foundation for Science and Technologylaunched the Philippine Science Centrum as the firstscience centre in the country. With a meagre budgetof 1.8 million pesos (€400 000) solicited fromvarious sponsors and donors, PSC’s first home at the5th level of the Manila Film Center in Pasay City wasjust about 800m² with 38 locally-fabricatedinteractive science exhibits. Droves of people from allwalks of life flocked to the newly-opened facility. A major setback came in July 16, 1990 in the form ofan earthquake. The Manila Film Center sufferedstructural damages during the earthquake (6.5 on theRichter scale in Metro Manila; 7.1 in NorthernPhilippines including Baguio City) and the buildingwas declared unfit for occupancy. The PSC’smomentum stood still with its facility closed.The major buzz and impact made by the PSC duringits first few months of operation did not go unnoticedby the Department of Science and Technology. Thedepartment offered one of its annex buildings at theUP-Manila Compound, Manila for PSC’s newtemporary home. In this location, the foundationrebuilt the PSC facility and made it a premiereducational field trip destination among students andteachers. During PSC’s stay in its second temporaryhome, lobbying for government support through theSenate and Congress were intensified. Bills for thecreation and establishment of a permanent home forthe Philippine Science Centrum were drafted andfiled. Sadly, none of these bills even reached at the‘appropriations committee level’ of both houses. While trying to get a bill passed for a permanenthome, partnerships with several governmentagencies were forged to secure an idle land for thePSC. These agencies were benevolent in givingparcels of land. There was just one problem - the lotswere teeming with illegal settlers! A big chunk of

cash is needed to evict, evacuate and relocate theseillegal settlers such that PFST’s efforts in getting aland for the PSC have also stood still. The second major setback in PSC’s museumoperations came in 2003 when its occupancy leasewas not renewed for another year. PSC’s transfer toanother temporary location was imminent. PSC wasto be homeless unless another place was secured.The PFST Board and the Management Team doubledits efforts in getting another temporary home for theScience Centrum. By the 1st quarter of 2004, PFSTfound the third temporary home of PSC inRiverbanks Center, Marikina City. The RiverbanksDevelopment Corporation (RDC) and PFST forged arental agreement for the 2,800m² space where theRDC received 40% of gate receipts.After months of building renovation and exhibitinstallation, the Philippine Science Centrum re-opened to the public on October 2004. Eventually, more good things came with the transfer.The exhibition hall is bigger and more spaciousallowing for more and new exhibits to be featured.More visitors can be accommodated in one timeslot.Parking space for tour buses is no longer a concern.By designing and creating a more colourful andplayful environment and featuring new and excitingexhibits, the PSC has become a favourite venue fortelevision shoots on their educational TV programsgiving ‘free’ advertising and commercial exposures.Sponsors and partnerships with various stakeholdershave started to come in.Everything was doing well and projections werebeing met beyond expectations until the fatefulSeptember 26, 2009 flooding from typhoon Ondoysubmerged the Philippine Science Centrum and therest of the Riverbanks Center into 9-feet deepmuddy waters for several hours. It was a disaster!However gloomy that 15-hour ordeal was, a ray oflight was still experienced as the five PFST personneltrapped inside the centre miraculously found a wayto unlock the main entrance and swam againstrushing waters to higher grounds. A day after the flood, almost all PFST/PSC personnelvoluntarily reported to work to start the challengingtask of restoration. Upon learning of PSC’s fate,

Science centres around the world have many challenges in common with Europe’s science centre community.However, it is not every science centre which is hit by first an earthquake and then a typhoon, as PhilippineScience Centrum executive director May Pagsinohin describes.

Philippine Science Centrum’s 20 Year-Journey

Young students and parents trying the ‘Finger Tingler’ exhibit

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Seminar workshop for science teachers

benevolent friends and partners donated cash or in-kind items for the PSC. After assessing the realdamage and estimating the needed amount for fullrestoration, a fundraising project was conceived,collecting money and in-kind donations with a targetof 9 million pesos. After three weeks of clearing the entire facility andexhibits of mud and silt, sorting out recoverablematerials/documents and classifying exhibits forminor or major repair, the road to rehabilitation,restoration and re-building began. The PSC achievedthe target of re-opening on November 2 2009featuring 50% of the exhibit collection restored andcomplemented by the exhibits from PSC’s travellingexhibitions. By December 2009, 80% of the pre-Ondoy exhibit collection was restored.

By PSC’s20th

Anniversarycelebrationheld lastFebruary10, 2010,the restoredexhibitcollectionalreadyreached90%.Deeplycommittedto address

environment-related phenomena, two exhibit-prototypes werefeatured during the event: the ‘Feel the Shake’ Bench -simulating the horizontal movement of an earthquakeand the ‘Wind Zone’ exhibit - simulating strong windsbrought by typhoons with wind speed of 40mph.Last June, the 9 million peso target was still short by

3.5 million pesos and yet the PSC hasalready fully recovered and has evenadded new exhibits. The full recoveryof the Philippine Science Centrum was

achieved with the assistance of generouslocal and international sponsors and donors. Kudos to all!

HOW HAS PSC SURVIVEDFOR 20 YEARS?The PSC continued to subsist through its gate receiptsand proceeds from several income-generatingactivities. Among its two major ‘profitable’ endeavoursare its exhibit development and fabrication projectsand the travelling exhibitions. Through the years, PSC’sexhibit development and fabrication group hasdeveloped its expertise in interactive exhibitconceptualization, design, prototyping and fabrication.Some of its engineers were trained at theExploratorium in California. About 95% of PSC’s current collection of 150interactive science modules and all exhibits of the 4travelling exhibitions were developed and produced‘in-house’. Proceeds from exhibitfabrication contracts with localmuseums, provincial science centresand a handful of internationalscience museums like the Oil andGas Development Center of Brunei,Newcastle Regional Center ofAustralia, BP Koirala Museum ofNepal and the National ScienceCenter of Malaysia provide steadyincome. The PSC travelling exhibition, on theother hand, was developed in 1995to address the growing clamour fromthe provinces to experience the‘edutainment’ brought about by thescience centrum.

The creation of mobile exhibitswas also done to bridge thegap of distance among thecountry’s numerous islands,address the high cost ofeducational field trip expensesof students going to Manilaand to widen PSC’s reach to theregions. Even if there is no regulargovernment financial allocationfor the PSC operations, somegovernment agencies are stillvery supportive of PSC’sprograms and projects. Amongthe most benevolent agencieswere the Department of Science

and Technology, Philippine Amusement GamingCorporation, Department of Education, NationalCommission on Culture and the Arts, etc. Throughthe years, these government agencies have extendedfinancial grants when the need arises or when PFSTcalls for assistance, especially, for PFST-initiatedprojects.The Philippine Foundation for Science andTechnology will likewise ‘resurrect’ the PhilippineScience Centrum time and again for any ‘fall’ it willencounter in achieving its mission. An earthquake,financial crises, a typhoon and flood have beenweathered - what else cannot be overcome?

GLOBALISATION

From left to right: Photo taken of the flood by PFST staff after swimming to higher grounds, PSC signage damaged, the ‘Sympathetic Swing’ exhibit (green) saved the staff from the rising waters, staff doing the clean-up drive

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‘Feel the Shake’ exhibit

Through PSC’s traveling exhibitions, Filipino students and children in the provinces got thechance to experience the ‘interactive science exhibits’

PFST Executive Director, Ms. May Pagsinohin and PFST Chairman, Engr. Meneleo Carlosreceive the 1st GAWAD LIDER Exemplary Leadership Award from Philippines’ Vice President

Noli de Castro

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GLOBALISATION

Perth, Western Australia is one of the mostisolated capital cities in the world,geographically closer to Singapore than Sydney,it comes as no surprise that its local sciencecentre, known as Scitech, has strong andproductive links with its counterparts across theAsia Pacific region. Open since 1988, Scitechstarted its foray into the international travellingexhibition market in 1995 when its “Sports”exhibition was exhibited at the Hong KongScience Centre. Since then the exhibition hasalso travelled to New Zealand and Singapore,as well as further afield to Dubai and Jeddah.

New Zealand has been a primary receiver ofScitech-built exhibitions, taking no less thaneight exhibitions, with “Special Effects” beingespecially popular and returning twice in a 10year period. In 2008, Kuala Lumpur alsobecame a regular customer of Scitech, rentingboth its “Speed” and “Space” exhibitions in

2008; it’s all down to the exhibitions’ simple,but broad appeal.

Scitech’s main aims in developing exhibitionsare interactivity, scientific integrity, fun, andsimple graphics. By integrating these keyaspects into all our exhibitions, we providevisitors with an opportunity to become activelyengaged in each exhibit.

Developing science exhibitions isn’t aboutproviding a passive experience. You can’tunderestimate the hands-on aspect to creatinga successful exhibition – both for domestic andinternational markets.

We want visitors to touch and feel their wayaround the science content, which, by the way,is thoroughly checked for its integrity andveracity. Presenting science content in anexciting and enjoyable way doesn’t mean it hasto be dumbed-down.

One major challenge Scitech has met indeveloping exhibitions for the Asia Pacificmarket is overcoming the language barrier. AllScitech exhibitions are initially developed withan English-speaking audience in mind, so whenwe start negotiations with a would-be hostcentre whose visitors may not speak English,language is a vital adjustment that has to beaddressed as part of the process.

We identify early on in the negotiations whichlanguages need to be included in the exhibitionpresentation. This is not just for visual purposessuch as reading exhibit panels, but also anyaural requirements for an exhibit that includesrecorded audio content. For example, whenMission Earthling went into Hong Kong in2006, we needed to modify the exhibitionpanels so the information was presented inthree languages – English, Cantonese and theStandard Mandarin dialect known asPutonghua. To do this the English text andaudio were translated in Hong Kong and thenemailed back to Perth where it wasincorporated into the exhibition.

Beyond the language barriers, there are other,

more subtle challenges to establishingproductive and subsequently, fruitfulrelationships with science centres in the AsiaPacific region. It’s all about developingrelationships and networks, so both sides canunderstand and appreciate what their travellingexhibition has to offer the potential host centre.The language issue is the obvious challenge,but the host centre’s unique visitor market,cultural and educational needs also have to betaken into consideration. This sort of thing takestime, effort and patience, as you need to get toknow each other, not just as organisations, butalso as individuals, so obstacles that may ariseduring the course of negotiations, or during theexhibition’s season can be tackled with a senseof trust and faith.

One of our greatest challenges is breachingmisconceptions and preconceptions which canprevent the hire or exchange of each other’sexhibitions. Scitech is extremely proud of theexhibitions it creates, as is the case for manyother science centres, however, taken too far,pride can be a problem if it hampers centresfrom being able to change their exhibitionofferings regularly.

If someone came to you and said they weregoing to reinvent the wheel, you would thinkthey were mad. Why change something thatworks perfectly well and has a proven trackrecord? The same applies for science centreexhibitions. We don’t all need to be producingexhibitions about the human body if anestablished centre has one available for hirewhich has solid science behind it and a provenvisitor appeal.

Contracts for hiring Scitech exhibitions forperiods of more than three months arenegotiated with host venues on an individualbasis to ensure all requirements are fulfilled. Animportant aspect of Scitech’s experience in thismarket has been its recognition that whereverpossible, opportunities for inserting localcontent into the exhibition are provided. Beingable to add local content to an exhibition

Scitech in Perth, Western Australia has a long history of creating and marketing exhibitions that appeal to theAsia Pacific region. Scitech’s Manager of Travelling Exhibitions, Gary Foxton gives us an insight into thisdiverse market.

Asia-Pacific: Have exhibit, will travel

Scitech’s Space exhibition has been to Kuala Lumpur aswell as Portugal

GLOBALISATION

makes it much more attractive – not just for theAsia Pacific region, but for any region –because it allows a host centre to put its ownstamp on it, thereby enabling visitors toexperience the science embedded within theexhibition from a local perspective. We’vemanaged to do this quite simply with anexhibition we have on the Scitech floor at themoment, called ‘Climate Change: our future,our choice’.

This exhibition was developed in partnershipwith the Australian Museum, and first appearedin Australia’s domestic market in Sydney. Oneexhibit shows how global warming can have animpact on rising sea levels, and in the Sydneyversion of the exhibition it demonstrated thisfrom the perspective of the New South Walesmetropolitan coastline. Obviously, visitors toScitech in Perth would be more interested inthe potential flooding of coastal properties inand around their city, so we worked with theAustralian Museum to modify the exhibit to onethat showed the impact rising sea levels wouldhave on the Perth metropolitan coastline.Simple, but effective, and having a huge impacton the value of the experience to the visitor.

Scitech also provides assistance in determiningthe best layout for the chosen exhibition on thehost centre’s floor, which ideally measures 500-700 square metres, is climate-controlled andsecure, or can design a suitable exhibition floorplan from scratch. Exhibitions are also installedand tested by the Scitech technical andengineering staff, who ensure that they areready to open on-time and in perfect workingorder.

Once a centre decides to hire one of ourexhibitions, Scitech staff travel over to workwith the host centre staff during the bump-inprocess. This allows us to give the host centre athorough induction into the workings and

development of the exhibition as it is installed,and means they are more capable of trouble-shooting any issues that might arise during itsrental. Host venue staff are also trained to carryout regular general checks and perform minormaintenance tasks to keep the exhibition inexcellent condition during its season.

There’s a wide scale range of technicalexpertise across the Asia Pacific science centres,which means that some centres require littlesupport, whilst others need morecomprehensive training.

Part of my role as the co-convenor of thetravelling exhibition component of the AsiaPacific Network of Science and TechnologyCentres, known as ASPAC, is to maintain andimprove relations between those membercentres who travel, or aspire to travel,exhibitions in the region. Over 20 countries arerepresented in the group and they meet

annually with an aim to facilitate the ongoingexchange of exhibitions between each other.

When developing contacts and enteringnegotiations for exhibition exchange in thisregion, as far as Scitech goes, we’re looking forexhibitions that have a popular theme and areproven to be marketable. As well as being amajor exporter of exhibitions, Scitech is alwayson the lookout for quality science exhibitionsthat it can rent from other science centres andmuseums to add value to the visitor experienceand to keep them coming back for more.Underpinning this must be scientific integrity,interactivity and engagement. We wantexhibitions that match ours in scientific veracityand visitor appeal.

Scitech is now establishing itself as a player inthe European travelling exhibition space.Scitech exhibitions were recently hosted bycentres in Paris and Bristol, a Portuguese centrehosted Space in 2008, and the Speed exhibitionhas been to Finland, Estonia and theNetherlands in the past two years. So it’s clearthat the science centre in the second mostisolated capital city in the world is doinganything but isolate itself from the travellingexhibition market.

Sharing ideas and keeping the channels ofcommunication open are vital to successfullymeeting the needs of science centres andmuseums in the Asia Pacific region. Do this, andyou’ll get to know both the market andmachinations, and have a better chance ofdeveloping some positive and enduringrelationships.

Mission Earthling went into Hong Kong in 2006, and was presented in three languages - English, Cantonese and theStandard Mandarin dialect known as Putonghua.

Scitech’s Speed exhibition has been to Malaysia, Finland, Estonia and the Netherlands

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FEUERLÄNDER -REGIONS OF VULCANThis exhibition of Ruhr.2010 has a transatlanticfocus. It comprises 200 paintings illustrating themining, iron and steel industries from around1800 until today. This project results in thecontinuous growth of international partnerships,especially with the Westmoreland Museum ofAmerican Art (US) as a lender of numerouspaintings and as a partner for educationalexchange programmes, such as Building aTransatlantic Bridge!

LVR-Industriemuseum, Oberhausen, GermanyContact: transatlanticbridge2010@yahoo.comwww.feuerlaender.lvr.de/transatlanticbridge

MURDERCASES:BECOME A FORENSICRESEARCHER!This interactive exhibition was developed byMontreal Science Centre. Museon has producedthe European version. Visitors become detectivesresponsible for solving a murder. They look forclues, from the scene of the crime to the autopsy-room and the archives, and conduct analyses inthe ballistic, genetic, biometric, fibre analytic andchromatographic labs. The exhibition can now be seen in Heureka inFinland and will be available for rent in spring2011.

Museon, The Hague, NetherlandsContact Maarten Okkersen:mokkersen@museon.nlwww.museon.nl

SURFING ANDWALKING: MUSEUMS ANDTHE 2.0 CHALLENGESThe International conference on Saturday, 2nd

October 2010 aims at fostering the exchange andthe sharing of practices, experiences and evaluationson the new opportunities both of international andnational level that new technologies and theInternet (web tools) offer to museums in terms ofaccess, interpretation, communication and listening.The conference is organised by FitzcarraldoFoundation, within the framework of DNA Italia, fairon museums and technology.

Fitzcarraldo Foundation, Turin, ItalyContact training@fitzcarraldo.itwww.fitzcarraldo.it / www.salonednaitalia.it

FIRST® LEGO® LEAGUEThe FIRST® LEGO® League is an internationalscience competition for children in the age of 8 upto 15 years old. As a hand-on experience they enjoy thinking,planning and creating a robot with LEGO®

MINDSTORMS® materials. At the same time theydive into doing research about each year’s theme,placing science and technology in its socialcontext.

Stichting Techniekpromotie, Eindhoven, NetherlandsContact Sander Ezendam:s.j.b.ezendam@techniekpromotie.nlwww.firstlegoleague.org

FUTURE ENGINEERS OFSOUTH AFRICA PRESENTAWARD WINNING STADIAFOR A WORLD CLASS CITY43 primary schools shared their innovation andtechnical ability in a Lego Soccer Stadium Buildingcompetition coordinated by LEGO Education, theGauteng Department of Education (GDE) and theSci-Bono Discovery Centre. Hands on Technologies (a South African agent ofLEGO Education) co facilitated the technologybased project worth over € 100 000. Winningschools were formally awarded prizes byvisiting Danish Minister of Culture and Sports,Mr. Per Stig Møller and the stadia are onexhibition at Sci-Bono, Newtown,Johannesburg.

Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Johannesburg, South AfricaFor more information contact Thandi O’Hagan:thandi@sci-bono.co.zawww.handsontech.co.za/StadiumBuild.html

Glenanda learners make final touches to their stadium

TESTING ANDMEASUREMENTA new travelling exhibition on testing andmeasurement for the general public iscurrently being developed by institutions fromIsrael and the US: the Bloomfield ScienceMuseum, Jerusalem, National Institute forTesting & Evaluation, Israel, the USEducational Testing Service and the FranklinInstitute, Philadelphia. We face the project together to encourage localand global dialogues between visitors to theexhibition and measurement experts on issuesrelated to testing and society.

Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem, IsraelContact: Diana Alderoqui Pinusdianap@mada.org.ilwww.mada.org.il/en/exhibitions/testing

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Ecsite Directors’ Forum2010: Change2-4 December 2010, Natural HistoryMuseum, LondonThis year’s gathering for directors of Ecsite Fullmember institutions tackles the theme of “change”.Faced with an ever-changing society and economy,how do science centres and museums adapt to thechallenges that these changes bring? This year’s EcsiteDirectors’ Forum takes us to the Natural HistoryMuseum London. Among this awe-inspiringinstitution’s 70 million specimens, we will look at thetypes of change that affect us, and the changes wemake as an institution.

It is with great pleasure that we invite all Ecsite Full members to this historic institution for our annualDirectors’ Forum.

For more details and to register (Full Members only), see www.ecsite.eu or contact Michael Creek: mcreek@ecsite.eu

Ecsite Annual Conference2011 - Session proposals dueOctober 29thMay 26th - 28th, 2011, CopernicusScience Centre, Warsaw, PolandThe Ecsite Annual Conference 2011 will take place inthe Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw, Poland May26th - 28th, 2011. If you are interested in proposing asession all you need to do is visit our new Ecsiteconference website and make your submission. Thenew website gives you the opportunity to apply for asession to share your proposal with other participants,to edit your session proposal and to submit by thedeadline. The call for proposals will end on the 29thOctober 2010. The theme of the next conference isFreedom. In the first announcement on the conferencewebsite you can find compact information on theconference (registration fees, pre conference info,hotels, business bistro etc).

For more information please see http://conference.ecsite.eu or contact Michael Creek,at conference@ecsite.eu

Beyond the leaky pipeline- Challenges for research ongender and science19-20 October 2010, Brussels, BelgiumThe purpose of the “Meta-analysis of gender andscience research” study is to collect and analyseresearch on horizontal and vertical gender segregationin research careers, addressing the underlying causesand effects of these two aspects. The main objective ofthe conference is to present the conclusions of thestudy and to discuss with experts and policy-makersthe possibilities and challenges for European andnational research on gender and science and policiestowards gender equality in science.

Please visit the conference website for more information: http://www.genderandscience.org

European In-service trainingcourse: School and sciencemuseum: cooperation for improvingteaching, learning and discover7th-14th November 2010, Munich, GermanyThe objective of the course is the development ofknowledge and competences relative to scienceeducation through the use of museums as educationalresource. After the great success of the first threeeditions, the fourth edition of the course takes placeagain at the Deutsches Museum of Munich. The coursewill be held by a group of experts from Belgium, France,Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain specializing inmuseum education, science education, teacher training,research and evaluation, new technologies, etc. Thecourse consists of lectures, round tables, museum visits,interactive workshops and practical activities. Thelanguage of the course will be English but the materialsused will be available in different languages.

For more information see http://www.museoscienza. org/smec/courses_fifthed_eng.htm

Audience for Science:Symposium on scientificmuseologyNovember 26 and 27, 2010, Corunna,SpainThe Museos Científicos Coruñeses are setting up asymposium on scientific museology under the title"Audience for Science", within the framework of the25th anniversary of the Casa de las Ciencias. TheUniversity of Corunna (Scientific Culture Department)will join the activity. This symposium, aimed to theworkers of science museums and to the professionalson scientific popularization, will be supported byexperts from science museums, companies andinstitutions from several Spanish and Portuguese cities.Around the main topic, the understanding betweenthe science museums and the public, other matterswill be also addressed, such as the strategies forpopularization, the visitor's profile, the infrastructuresavailable to surf through modern science, etc.

More information: www.casaciencias.org or contact prensa.mc2@gmail.com

Ecsite Corporate DonorsBruns International

www.bruns.nl

Electrosonicwww.electrosonic.com

Exhibits.nlwww.exhibits.nl/

Hypsos Leisurewww.hypsos.com

Magianwww.magian.com

MTE Studioswww.mtestudios.com

SMG Science Center Serviceswww.smg-deutschland.de

Sky-Skan www.skyskan.com

Techniquestwww.techniquest.org

Triad Berlinwww.triad.de

Ecsite wishes to thank its Corporate Donors, who support Ecsitenetwork activities. In return, the Donor gains prominence in theEcsite Newsletter, on the website, and at the Annual Conference.

If you wish to receive information about the CorporateDonorship programme, please contact the Ecsite ExecutiveOffice in Brussels: info@ecsite.eu • http://www.ecsite.net

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for Ecsite - the European Network of ScienceCentres and Museums

Ecsite Executive Office 70 Coudenberg, 5th Floor • B-1000 BrusselsT +32 2 649 7383 • F +32 2 647 5098E info@ecsite.eu • www.ecsite.eu

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