Ecsite-uk
Minutes of the 2002
AGM
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Place: National Space Centre
Date: 10 September 2002
1 Opening of the meeting
Sarah Rusholme, operations director of the National Space Centre welcomed all Ecsite members to the NSC. The meeting was chaired by Colin Johnson, chair of Ecsite-uk, and minuted by Melanie Quin (executive director).
2 Apologies for absence
Committee members sending apologies:
Tristram Besterman, Manchester Museum
Gail Bromley, Kew Botanic Gardens
Jonathan Bryant, Thinktank
John Durant, At-Bristol
Sally Montgomery, W5
All other Committee members were present, together with some 20 members.
3 Chair’s report
Colin Johnson reported on the four points that are Ecsite-uk’s aims:
- a major capital fund for the refurbishment of science centres and their exhibitions has now been established, jointly by the Millennium Commission, Wellcome Trust and Wolfson Foundation. The £33 million ‘ReDiscover’ fund was announced on 22 July. Formal thanks were expressed to the Trust and its funding partners,
- funding for national programmes was secured: from Science Year for ‘sciZmic, the science discovery clubs network’ (through to summer 2003), and from the EPSRC for ‘Meet the Scientist’ (pilot phase now completed),
- advocacy has been conducted with reference to the agendas of the three key spending departments: DfES, DTI (OST) and DCMS. Briefing documents have been provided to politicians and civil servants based on the members' survey of November 2001,
- members’ communication and information needs are addressed through www.ecsite-uk.net (live since February 2002) and a six-weekly e-Newsletter (first mailed in February), as well as the quarterly Ecsite newsletter. Thanks and appreciation were expressed to Rachel Fenton, Admin Manager, and Martin Glancy, Webmaster.
Colin then gave a personal and public vote of thanks to Peter Briggs, outgoing chief executive of the BA, for his support and experienced input over the last two years during which Ecsite-uk and the BA have developed a close relationship to mutual advantage; and looked forward to further strengthening of the links between the two organisations through working with his successor, Roland Jackson.
4 Treasurer’s report
Alistair Flett thanked Peter Briggs and John Gagg (the BA finance director) for making his job an easy one, noted that finances were healthy and that salary costs were below budget due to the executive director’s delayed appointment.
5 Elections to the committee
Paul Smith’s departure from Glasgow Science Centre and Alistair Flett’s imminent retirement from Satrosphere open two places on the committee. (Roland Jackson replaces Peter Briggs as ex officio committee member.)
Paul Jennings (of Sensation, Dundee) and Stuart Monro (of Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh) were elected by the AGM. Three names were on the ballot paper, and 44 votes – including 6 proxies – were cast.
Ecsite-uk’s committee 2002-03 consists of:
Colin Johnson, Techniquest, Cardiff (chair)
Tristram Besterman, Manchester Museum
Gail Bromley, Kew Botanic Gardens
Jonathan Bryant, Think Tank at Millennium Point, Birmingham
Linda Conlon, The International Centre for Life, Newcastle
Roland Jackson, the BA
Paul Jennings, Sensation, Dundee
Stuart Monro, Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
Sally Montgomery, W5, Belfast
Gillian Pearson, The Oxford Trust
Ian Simmons, Inspire Science Centre, Norwich
The committee will appoint one of its members as treasurer at its first full meeting in October.
6 Action Plan 2002/03
Melanie Quin outlined the 4-point plan:
- Following a breakthrough meeting of SDCs’ chairs and CEOs with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, the advocacy role will be expanded to address DfES, together with OST and DCMS. Up-to-date data will be essential and the survey conducted in November 2001 will be refined and repeated,
- sciZmic will expand to employ a second project manager and to involve a further four SDCs, thanks to continuation funding from Science Year (now rebranded ‘Planet Science’) – the project networks SDCs and science clubs, building on existing resources to widen youngsters’ access to science, and to support the professional development of SDC staff,
- funding is being sought for ‘Meet the Scientist’ phase-2 – a project designed to establish SDCs as a forum for the research community to engage in dialogue with the general public (At-Bristol and Techniquest were sites for the pilot phase; those interested in phase-2 include Inspire, NSC, the Oxford Trust, the Science Museum, Thinktank),
- the e-Newsletter attracts appreciative feedback and will expand with a section of news from the devolved administrations; the website too will expand, as the centres’ listing and archives grow – clarity and navigability will continue ‘as is’.
Ecsite-uk AGM 2003
The next AGM will take place during the BA annual festival, 8-12 September 2003, at the University of Salford.