November 2004
Contents
Biggest-ever Ecsite Annual Conference
Planet Science launches 'Hay-Wire'
Visitor Attractions Trends England 2003
Designing Exhibitions to Include People with Disabilities
DIARY DATES: BGEN annual conference; Doing Dialogue specialist meeting
NEWS FROM THE Ecsite-uk OFFICE
Biggest-ever Ecsite Annual Conference
Barcelona will be a ball! Annual Conference registrations are topping 700 and expected to reach the 750/800 mark on site. The Ecsite-uk office in London is closed for the week (2-7 November), as Director and Project Managers head for CosmoCaixa - the new Museu de la Ciència funded by Fundació 'la Caixa' - to lead/present conference sessions and catch up on pan-European news.
If you've missed the bus this year, mark next year's dates immediately: 10-12 June, at Heureka in Helsinki-Vantaa. From 2005 onwards, the Annual Conference will be not in November but in June, making northern venues far more attractive to delegates.
The call for session proposals for Ecsite2005 is out. Contact Michaël Renvillard for details at mrenvillard@ecsite.net
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SECTOR
Planet Science launches Haywire
Seeking new ways to motivate youngsters, and maintain their enthusiasm after a visit to a science centre/museum? If so, Haywire is for you … or rather for them.
Haywire is a new e-newsletter aimed at primary-aged children, containing a mix of facts, freebies, jokes and activities all related to science, with an exclusive 'clubhouse'.
Sign children up at [archived link - may not work] www.planet-science.com/wired/hay-wire
RESOURCE
Visitor Attractions Trends England 2003
The 'Visitor Attraction Trends England 2003' report presents visitor attraction trends in England for 2002-2003 by attraction category, admission type, size, Government Office Region, type of location, and by proportion of overseas and child visits (30% or less/over 30%). It also contains total visits figures for over 1,600 individual English visitor attractions for the years 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Since publication, it was discovered that one of the big London museums had included other sites they managed in their previous years' visits figures. This affected some of the trend data (for museums, urban, London, over 200,000 visits).
The report has been revised, and the revised version can be downloaded at www.tourismtrade.org.uk [archive - link removed]
RESOURCE
Designing Exhibitions to Include People with Disabilities
The Disability Discrimination Act is now in force, and science museums/centres would be advised to carry out an audit of their facilities.
Sally Montgomery, Director of W5 in Belfast, has recently done so and strongly recommends "National Museums of Scotland's useful publication on designing galleries for disabled access".
Gail Nolan's book 'Designing Exhibitions to Include People with Disabilities' is published by National Museums of Scotland Publishing, ISBN 1901663000.
DIARY DATES
BGEN Annual Conference
10-13 November 2004, Sunderland
BGEN (Botanic Gardens Education Network) are holding their Annual Conference on 'Ways into Learning', 10-13th November at Sunderland Museum and Winter Garden.
A programme, booking form and further information are available from
Dr Erica Bower, BGEN Co-ordinator, T/F 020 8241 8915, and bgen@kew.org
Doing Dialogue specialist meeting
23-24 November, Stroud
Some centres/museums are beginning to try out 'Dialogue' events, and have early lessons to share. Others have yet to dip a toe in the water, and would like to brainstorm ideas. The purpose of the specialist meeting is to share best practice and ideas now being developed, and to network face-to-face, establishing and reaffirming personal connections.
This builds on the meeting on this same subject held earlier in the year. Participants from the April event are invited to return and share their recent experiences. New faces are also most welcome!
Target participants are managers of education and public programmes - those who have a remit to develop and deliver programmes that address the Science & Society agenda.
The specialist meeting is supported by the Potential Trust - there is no registration fee.
For further information, e-mail enquiries@ecsite-uk.net
Ecsite-uk
Dr Melanie Quin, Executive Director Ecsite-uk: the Science and Discovery Centre Network
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