Volcanoes’ Night

This is a course endorsed by EFG

Last Friday of every September (in connection with the European Researchers’ Night event series) European Researchers’ Nights (ERNs) are a pan-European series of events funded by the European Commission, organised on the last Friday of every September since 2005. ERNs mobilise scientific, academic and research organisations with the aim of giving the public the opportunity to meet researchers in an informal setting. The overall objective of ERNs is to achieve better awareness among the general public concerning the importance of science in everyday life and to combat stereotypes about researchers. The longer-term strategic objective of ERNs is to encourage young people to embark on a scientific career.

Volcanoes’ Night I-II-III was an ERN project series funded by the EC FP7 and H2020 programmes between 2012-2015 (EC contract No. 316558, 610050, 633310, www.nochedevolcanes.es). The objective of the project was to use volcanoes as a background against which the role of geoscientists could be explained to the public. The scope of Volcanoes’ Night was exclusively dedicated to geoscience, and in this respect it stands out among all other ERN projects, which are always more general in scope.

EC funding for Volcanoes’ Night ended on 1 December 2015. The project has now entered an official 5-year exploitation phase, during which our aim is to widely disseminate the achievements of this project. Accordingly, we are aiming to continue Volcanoes’ Night ourselves and encourage other institutions to organise such an event themselves with the aim of educating the public about the work of geoscientists.

The “training course” is thus in fact a single-night Event, during which a range of awareness raising actions takes place. There is a several-month long awareness raising period that precedes the organisation of the event. Past activities and programmes are described here: http://en.nochedevolcanes.es/nights/

Amongst the numerous activities previously offered to the attendees: hands-on experiments, shows, science cafés, movie theatre, live connections with scientists from all over the world, kids’ programme, poster session, contest rewarding ceremonies, live music, European Corner and similar actions, addressing the public at large with a strong focus on kids and young people. During the course of the activities the participating scientists are not only expected to talk about their field of research, but also share their experiences on how students can approach science and research institutions, providing a perfect scenario to attract young people to science careers. The main objectives of Volcanoes’ Night consist of enhancing public recognition of geoscientists and their work, of their impact on citizens’ daily lives and well-being, as well as of showcasing the researchers as ordinary people whose work is fascinating and fun, in such a way to stimulate young people’s interest for geoscience and geoscientific careers. In this context, the approach relies on the fascination and respect that volcanoes have always exerted over the public. Beyond the objectives referred to above, the Volcanoes’ Night also aims at bridging the gap between science and the general public of different ages, so as well intends to provide first-hand information about geoscientific topics to improve the understanding of Earth and geological processes/applications.

The course is free of charge for the participants.