Eusea

🌀 Staff at science museums, science centres, botanic gardens, zoos and other informal learning providers are invited to spare 15 minutes to help shape a new competence framework for the sector.

As part of the development of a European Competence Centre for Science Communication, a framework outlining the science communication and public engagement skills needed by staff in this sector is being created. It will inform the training portfolio offered through the European Competence Centre for Science Communication, powered by COALESCE.

📝 A draft framework for , science centres and other informal learning providers has been developed with input from professionals and organisations across the field. The final step is to validate it more widely through a short survey — professionals are invited to review the framework and suggest amendments.

Competences are structured across four levels (foundational, intermediate, advanced and expert), though respondents will only need to comment on a subset to keep the survey manageable.

➡️ Take the survey here: https://lnkd.in/ekw5k5Bx

Please share with relevant networks or colleagues.

✨ Get hands-on. Turn your next event into a space for curiosity, experiments and happy accidents!

🔧 Tinkering Spaces

What if your audience learned by doing, not just listening?

✔️ Choose what people will tinker with: a game, an experiment, or a pile of interesting materials

✔️ Pick a venue and gather your tools and materials. Local organisations may be happy to donate old tools and bits and pieces

✔️ Match the kit to your audience, since what suits young children will differ from what works for teenagers or adults

✔️ Have an expert on hand if the tools need to be used safely

✔️ Promote your activity, then invite participants to build, take apart, investigate and create

✔️ Expect dead ends and a bit of frustration. Slowing down, getting curious about everyday things and thinking with your hands is the point

✔️ Also known as Maker Spaces or STEM/STEAM rooms, and a proven, playful way to build a lasting relationship with science and technology

👉 Great for adult citizens, children 3–6 and 7–12, families, policymakers, stakeholders and teenagers, and works just as well with professionals from public engagement or the cultural and creative sector.

👉 Discover more and get inspired: https://eusea.info/activity/tinkering-spaces/

💡 Tip: get in touch with your local community of tinkers!

🔬 Do you work with cool equipment and love talking about what it does?

Spread the Nerd wants to hear from you! They're creating a new card game — "The Researcher's Deck" — based on the classic game Quartets. Each card will spotlight a piece of research equipment, giving a fun, accessible glimpse into the daily work of scientists across a huge range of fields.

Want to feature your work and the tech you use? Get in touch before the deadline.

📅 Deadline: September 30th

🔗 Learn more and submit: https://spreadthenerd.net/en/researchers-deck/

🧠 Brain Awareness Week Grants — Applications Open Soon 🧠

Applications for Brain Awareness Week (BAW) grants open 15 September and close 15 October 2026, supporting events across Europe in March 2027.

Organised by the Dana Foundation, BAW celebrates progress in brain research and conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and depression. FENS offers up to €1,000 per event on the Dana Foundation's behalf.

Why apply?

🔬 Spark curiosity across all ages
🌍 Reach underserved and rural communities
🤝 Build lasting partnerships

"BAW events in Seville had a very positive impact — students, families, and teachers better understood the brain and the importance of mental health, and several educators now want to bring neuroscience into their classes." — Isabel María Martín Monzón (Spain, 2023)

Tips: Pick a relevant topic, set clear goals, target a broad audience, and detail your budget.

👉 Apply now: fens.org/careers/grants-and-stipends/grant/brain-awareness-week

📖 Learn more: fens.org/engagement/outreach/baw

✨ Think outside the box. Turn a single problem into six different perspectives at your next event!

🎩 6 Thinking Hats

What if instead of one opinion, your group explored six at once?

✔️ Pick a topic or issue for the group to discuss, gather some pens, paper, and a stopwatch

✔️ Assign each person (or subgroup) one of six hats, either metaphorical or real, each representing a different way of thinking: facts, creativity, optimism, caution, emotion, or process

✔️ Give everyone time to research or gather their thoughts, viewed strictly through their hat's lens

✔️ Have each hat share their perspective with the group, building a fuller, more rounded picture of the issue

✔️ Swap hats and repeat for extra depth, or move into a co-creation activity to tackle the issue using what's been shared

✔️ Works in small groups or larger ones, with participants grouped by hat colour

👉 Great for adult citizens, children 7–12, families, policymakers, stakeholders, and teenagers, and works just as well with professionals from public engagement or the cultural and creative sector.

👉 Discover more and get inspired: https://eusea.info/activity/6-thinking-hats/

👥 Are you looking for partners to apply for funding and projects?

If so, head over to the European Competence Centre for Science Communication, powered by COALESCE.

On their platform, you can search for science communication organisations among more than 1,350 profiles already created that could be a good fit for your consortium.

Find you future partners using the link below:

https://scicommcentre.eu/

25 years of EUSEA – Riding the learning curve

Although it is hard for me to believe, I have now been with EUSEA for a fifth of its lifetime! Where has the time gone?

In this slightly different version of the “25 years of EUSEA” blog, you will hear a little from me - Chris Styles - EUSEA’s Senior Project Officer - about my journey through science communication and EUSEA over the past 5 years.

https://eusea.info/news/25-years-of-eusea-riding-the-learning-curve/

✨ Think outside the box. Turn a night at the pub into a science engagement activity with your next event!

🍻 Drink Up Science

What if science wasn't a lecture, but a conversation over a drink?

✔️ Set up a few tables, each hosted by an expert, like a professor or researcher, with a strong opinion on the evening's topic
✔️ Let participants pick a table, chat, and challenge the expert's point of view, just like any normal night out
✔️ Add a facilitator at each table to keep things moving if the discussion stalls or gets heated
✔️ Rotate the audience between tables every 20 minutes so everyone hears different perspectives, while the experts stay put
✔️ Wrap up after four rounds, then let people linger at the pub for last orders
✔️ Great for adults, teenagers, and children alike, and works just as well with professionals from public engagement or the cultural sector

👉 Discover more and get inspired: https://eusea.info/activity/pub-talks/

The Royal Society's new "Science for Society" report highlights a striking paradox: the UK public wants more engagement with science, and researchers want to provide it - yet the connection keeps breaking down.

The report finds that engagement spaces like science centres and university outreach programmes are under threat, while online misinformation crowds out credible science news. Researchers, meanwhile, lack the time, funding and support to engage well.

The report's key message: public engagement shouldn't be an "extra" - it should be core to research and teaching culture.

https://royalsociety.org/news-resources/projects/science-for-society/