A science experiment being demonstrated to the public during the festival
Edinburgh Science, founded in 1989, is an educational charity. It organises a two-week Edinburgh's annual Science Festival,[2] the world's first public celebration of science and technology, and still one of Europe's largest. Alongside the annual Festival in Edinburgh, the organisation has a strong focus on education and runs touring programme Generation Science[3] that visits schools around Scotland throughout the year. Edinburgh Science also operates a large-scale international programme of work under the Worldwide arm.[4] It regularly presents events overseas and has been the major programming partner of the annual Abu Dhabi Science Festival,[5] helping to curate, produce, and deliver the event.
Edinburgh Science holds various educational activities and events. Their portfolio includes more than 100 workshops, exhibitions, and shows which are delivered worldwide though festivals, schools outreach, careers events, collaboration projects, and health education programmes.
In January 2019, the organisation changed its name from Edinburgh International Science Festival to Edinburgh Science.[6]
Edinburgh Science Festival
The Edinburgh Science Festival[2] is an annual science festival taking place across the Easter school holidays in Edinburgh. Each year it delivers the UK's largest Science Festival with almost 270 events for families and adults over the course of two weeks. Its programmes include family days out, hands-on activities, talks and discussions. Family Festival goers enjoy five floors of science at City Art Centre, talks with scientists at the Pleasance and hands-on activities and more at the National Museum of Scotland and other partner venues across Edinburgh, including Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh Zoo, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Summerhall.
The Edinburgh Medal[8] was instituted by the City of Edinburgh District Council in 1988. Each year this prestigious award is given to men and women of science and technology whose professional achievements are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity. The Medalist then delivers a lecture at the Edinburgh Science Festival.
The 2019 Edinburgh Medal was awarded to Christiana Figueres, for her work as a recognised world leader on global climate change and her efforts in bringing nations together to jointly deliver an unprecedented climate change agreement. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was instrumental in the successful conclusion of the Paris talks. The Summit saw all of the world's nations agree for the first time to a binding commitment to avoid dangerous levels of global warming. Figueres served as the UN's Climate Chief from 2010 until July 2016.[8]
Edinburgh Science Learning
Generation Science
Generation Science[3] brings science lessons to classrooms all over Scotland with a programme of shows and hands-on workshops. The tour visits schools across Scotland from January to May each year. All Generation Science shows and workshops are linked to the experiences and outcomes of the Scottish Government's Curriculum for Excellence. The aim is to improve the teaching of science in Scottish primary schools and support teachers to deliver the curriculum. The next Generation Science tour will run from January–May 2020.
Careers Hive
Careers Hive[9] is a careers education event designed to give students in S1-S3 a new way to think about their futures, developed under the leadership of Head of Learning, Joan Davidson. It highlights the opportunities available to those who study STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths), as well as the cross-disciplinary skills and subjects that can support and enhance STEM careers. Careers Hive will run 24–29 February 2020 at the National Museum of Scotland.
Training
Edinburgh Science Learning is currently developing a career-long professional learning framework that will serve scientists, artists and science engagement professionals, including teachers and youth workers. The programme will be developed with practitioners and will cover individuals from entry level through to master practitioners.
Edinburgh Science Worldwide
Alongside the Edinburgh Science activities in Scotland the organisation also operates internationally.
Through Edinburgh Science Worldwide,[4] the organisation work with national and international partners to help with programming and event delivery at other science festivals, provide business planning support and tour the shows and workshops. Edinburgh Science Worldwide has been the content programming partner for the Abu Dhabi Science Festival since its inception in 2011.
Previous projects include the delivery of Cyber Quest[10] in Abu Dhabi which brings together young minds from across the country to compete on a series of cyber security challenges, work with the UK Space Agency and partners to deliver events and celebrate UK ESA astronaut Tim Peake's six-month Principia Mission[11] on board the International Space Station (ISS), and bringing large-scale exhibition Play On[12] to Germany in 2017.
Relationships to Other Festivals
The Edinburgh International Science Festival is one of 12 Edinburgh-based festivals who work collaboratively as Festivals Edinburgh[13] on audience development, promotion and similar activities, including the Festivals API.[14]
Notable Edinburgh Science Events
In 2012 a team from Edinburgh Science project managed the UK tour of Ottobock's Passion for Paralympics[15] exhibition, which raised awareness of Paralympic sport and athletes heading into the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
In 2013 the Science Festival hosted the first Mini Maker Faire in Scotland.[16] This Edinburgh Mini Maker Faire event (also run in 2014,[17] 2015,[18] 2016, 2017, 2018), bringing together artists, craftspeople, programmers, engineers, and other makers is an offshoot of the Maker Faire initiative, organised by MAKE magazine and O'Reilly Publishing.[16]
In the summer of 2013, Edinburgh Science joined forces with National Museums Scotland to deliver a brand new project called Rock the Lab.[19] This involved a creation of science busking activities for the project to highlight the science behind hedonism.
In 2015 and 2016 Edinburgh Science worked with the UK Space Agency and partners around Edinburgh to jump develop and deliver bespoke events to celebrate UK ESA astronaut Tim Peake's six-month Principia Mission on board the International Space Station (ISS).[11] This included a programme of hands-on activities for local school children, a live screening of the mission launch with Italian ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who had recently returned from her own mission on the ISS, and bringing Tim Peake and mission colleague astronaut Tim Kopra for an evening at the Usher Hall on 17 October 2016.
In 2017 Edinburgh Science brought band Public Service Broadcasting[20] to the Science Festival to perform their hit album The Race for Space from start to finish.
At the 2018 Edinburgh Science Festival,[21] Edinburgh Science engaged the work of US-based artist Jason Hackenwerth to create a giant balloon sculpture in the Grand Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland. Called Event Horizon, this sculpture included 26,000 balloons and represented the point of no return in a black hole.
The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,200, as of 2018, and an annual budget of about €7.08 billion, as of 2023.
Etihad Airways is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates and one of the country's two major airlines. Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Abu Dhabi International Airport. Etihad commenced operations in November 2003. It is the second-largest airline in the UAE after Emirates. The name Etihad is Arabic for 'Union'.
The Centre for Life is a science village in Newcastle upon Tyne where scientists, clinicians, educationalists and business people work to promote the advancement of the life sciences. The centre is a registered charity, governed by a board of trustees, which receives no public funding.
Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself (DIY) enthusiasts established by Make magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture.
The American International School, Abu Dhabi is a private international K-12 school offering an American curriculum. The college-preparatory IB Diploma Program (IBDP) is offered in grades 11 and 12, and the IB Primary Years Program (IBPYP) is offered from KG to Grade 5. The school is coeducational in elementary, and gender-segregated in secondary.
The Skinny is a monthly free magazine distributed in venues throughout the cities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland. Founded in 2005, the magazine features interviews and articles on music, art, film, comedy and other aspects of culture across Scotland and beyond.
The British space programme is the British government's work to develop British space capabilities. The objectives of the current civil programme are to "win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens."
Cinema of the United Arab Emirates began with a number of feature films that were broadcast on national television since the late 1980s.
Provision of education in the UAE began shortly after the establishment of the federation with the inception of the first university in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates University. Since then, the country has progressed with efforts of ensuring high literacy rates, modern programs and women's share in education. It works on improving its youths education which is why the agenda 2021 has been set. The UAE currently devotes approximately 25 percent of total federal government spending to education. As of 2019, the overall literacy rate is 96%.
Abu Dhabi is the capital and second-most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai.
The Abu Dhabi Film Festival, formerly the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 2015.
Newcastle ScienceFest is a 10-day event at venues across NewcastleGateshead, with the principal aim of increasing the North East's enthusiasm for science and encouraging young people to consider a career in this area.
Major Timothy Nigel Peake is a British author, Army Air Corps officer and European Space Agency astronaut.
Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in July 2010, six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. During the next six years she worked to rebuild the global climate change negotiating process, leading to the 2015 Paris Agreement, widely recognized as a historic achievement.
Stargazing Live is a British live television programme on astronomy that was broadcast yearly on BBC Two over three nights every winter from 2011 to 2017. The series was primarily presented by scientist Brian Cox and comedian and amateur astronomer Dara Ó Briain with support from TV presenter and biochemist Liz Bonnin and astronomer Mark Thompson. For the first six series, the show was broadcast from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, and featured live links from scientific facilities in locations such as Hawaii, South Africa, and Norway. The seventh series in 2017 was broadcast from Siding Spring Observatory in Australia, and a special episode filmed at Kennedy Space Center was broadcast in July 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
Edinburgh Skeptics is a nonprofit organisation that promotes science, reason and critical thinking in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland. It was founded in 2009. The Society hosts regular social and educational events in Edinburgh and has campaigned against the use of homeopathy and challenged claims of ghost sightings.
The Abu Dhabi Science Festival is a science festival organized by the Abu Dhabi Technology Committee (TDC) which takes place annually in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The festival features many exhibitions, workshops, shows and signature events, as well as school tours for children around the city. The festival was first held in 2011, and its sponsors and partners are Edinburgh Science Festival, Tawazun, Dolphin Energy, ADNOC, Etihad Airways, Masdar, Total, ADEC, Abu Dhabi Municipality, OSN, Radio 2, Abu Dhabi Media, Ferrari World, and produced by Flash Entertainment.
Unlimited is a commissioning programme that celebrates the work of deaf and disabled artists, originally conceived for by Arts Council England for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Since its inception, the programme represents a multi-million pound investment which to date has commissioned more than 70 pieces of work across theatre, dance, visual art, music, literature, film, poetry and performance art. Several Unlimited-commissioned pieces have gone on to have a global reach, such as Sue Austin's Creating the Spectacle, which has reportedly been seen by more than 150 million people worldwide. Others have won critical and industry acclaim within their field, such as Touretteshero's Backstage in Biscuit Land, which earned the company the 2014 Total Theatre Award for Best Emerging Company. Unlimited is currently delivered in partnership between Shape Arts and Artsadmin with senior producer Jo Verrent.
Al Wathba is a suburb of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates that has a wetland nearby. It is located not too far from the international airport.
Joan Yeats Davidson was a Scottish science educator, environmentalist and the Head of Learning at Edinburgh Science.
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