Any Scottish University takers for Child Universities?
Children's Universities which have been known as innovative science communication events in many European countries are to become truly European when the European Commission signs a grant agreement to support the formation of a European network of Children's Universities - of which the University of Tubingen is a part. Founded in 2002 as the first of its kind, it is a cooperative project of the University of Tubingen with the newspaper Schwabisches Tagblattâ. In 2005 it was awarded the Descartes Prize for Science Communication of the European Community.
The concept of Children’s Universities represents the most radical opening towards the general public that universities can undertake. By addressing girls and boys from the earliest age possible, universities intend to counteract a falling interest in science and research among the young and help to overcome stereotype notions – and to widen participation all across diverse sectors of populations.
The European Commission also acknowledges this as an “innovative and excellent approach.” It has now assigned five well-established Children’s Universities in Basel, Bratislava, Strasbourg, Tübingen and Vienna to create a European network and introduce the approach to other European countries.
Going far beyond isolated pilot projects, Children’s Universities have become a reliable and popular element of extra-curricular science communication. More than 100 universities in Europe organise science events for the young on a regular basis.They offer children and young people a chance to get in touch with academic science and research – some of them for the very first time.
In view of an ongoing expansion of the Children’s Universities approach, the need for exchange of experiences is rising and networking among organisers is more in demand, especially beyond language and national boundaries. EUCUNET (European Children’s Universities Network) will inventory existing activities in the field of Children’s Universities all over Europe. An interactive web portal and international symposia will stimulate the transfer of know-how and the exchange of existing expertise.
Mentoring partnerships will allow for targeted cooperation between well established organisers and those who are raring to start activities. Standards and guidelines for planning and organising such science events will be developed, as well as the basics for sustainable impact analysis procedures.
EUCUNET is funded under the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological developme (FP7) in Science in Society, for the next two years. The consortium is formed by organisations which played a leading role in the initiation of Children’s Universities in their respective countries and thereby serve as reference models.
Source: http://eucu.net/
Kinderbüro der Universität Wien (AT), http://www.kinderuni.at/
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (DE), www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/qvo/kinderuni-2008/kinderuni.html
Universität Basel (CH), http://www.zuv.unibas.ch/kinder-uni/index.html
Université Louis Pasteur Strasbourg (FR), http://science-ouverte.u-strasbg.fr/KUSweb/
Max Reinhardt Foundation - Arena Theater Bratislava (SK) http://www.divarena.sk/
“Unsere neue couch” (DE) covering the technical parts of the project. http://www.neuecouch.de/