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LPRC during 2020 – a summary

The past year was an atypical one, there is no denying it. Despite the many problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, LPRC still managed to keep up with its work plans. All team activities – where the EU-funded projects are of most importance – ran successfully. Although not without a certain degree of adaptation. A quick summary of our activities on each of our EU projects during 2020 is given below:

INTERMIN: LPRC participated in the project’s main discussions and contributed with dissemination activities. The team’s biggest workshare was done in 2019 regarding WP2 – Raw Materials Sector Skills, Gaps and Needs.

MACARONIGHT: In 2020, LPRC coordinated the second installment of  the MACARONIGHT project after its success in 2o19. Coordination included preparation and monitoring of activities in different islands as well as analysis of the outcomes.

PRO-ACT: For this space project, LPRC contributed with geological information for the preparation of the lunar analogues where the robotic elements shall be tested during 2021. LPRC also presented the project during the EGU 2020 event.

ROBOMINERS: LPRC leads WP8 – Active clustering and roadmapping – and during 2020 the team contributed to the exchange of information with several projects and initiatives, kickstarted Focus Groups discussions and launched the Horizon Scanning activities. LPRC also contributed with the dissemination of the project at several opportunities.

AGEO: Within AGEO, the team leads communication and dissemination efforts. In 2020, besides the outreach efforts, LPRC also contributed to strengthening the impact of the project by leveraging communication with other EU projects and initiatives.

CROWDTHERMAL: During 2020, LPRC’s role was two-fold. First, the team largely contributed to the communication efforts with the management of social media channels and preparation of material such as factsheets. Second, LPRC kickstarted activities for WP4 – Integrated Development Schemes, which it leads.

ENGIE: LPRC started discussions and prepared ENGIE-related activities for the Researchers Night in 2020. For this task, LPRC hosted a high number of (online) workshops. The team also contributed with dissemination of the project, as seen with its participation on the EGU 2020 event.

UNEXUP: Continuing LPRC’s tasks from UNEXMIN, in UNEXUP the team also leads dissemination efforts. Therefore, LPRC was responsible for the development of all outreach material – both online and physical. Another important task, was the team’s contribution to the market analysis and go-to-market strategy set for the project’s implementation.

MOBI-US: Within this education-based project LPRC had two main tasks. It led outreach efforts during the whole year with the development and implementation of dissemination actions. The other relevant task was the contribution to the major guidelines for the implementation of the MOBI-US network. Here, LPRC contributed with an extensive analysis on the current and future gaps of the raw materials sector.

Besides contributing to EU-projects LPRC was also active in other areas including policy analysis, science communication and use of foresight methodologies.

We hope to have an even better 2021 with more projects and more work!

Today is “MacaroNight” day!

On this 27 November 2020, all around Europe the European Researchers’ Night is celebrated. It is a series of public events that bring researchers and their activities to the public. It is the perfect place, once a year, to showcase the many research activities developed for the sake of science and their impact on our everyday lives. These events also aim to raise awareness and interest in research careers.

Macaronesia area, where the MacaroNight events take place.

The MacaroNight project, led by LPRC, is a Macaronesian focused project that exists to demonstrate the Macaronesian research on this day. Following its implementation during the European Researchers’ Night in 2019, MacaroNight will also contribute to this important event this year.

Today, the MacaroNight team will support the demonstration of research activities and knowledge sharing of the Macaronesia with the European public!

Learn more on https://macaronight.eu/en_gb/ and on the project’s social channels Facebook , Twitter and Instagram.

MacaroNight 2019 – Researchers Night of the Macaronesia

On the 27th of September 2019 the Macaronesia, represented by the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), Madeira, São Miguel (Azores) and São Vicente (Cape Verde), saw their streets taken over by researchers for the second time in this last edition of MacaroNight, following the success of last year’s event.

The coordinator of the “Night” is La Palma Research Centre, with a consortium that includes partners from three countries: Universidad de La Laguna, Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Fundación Canaria del Parque Científico Técnico de Las Palmas, Universidade da Madeira and Instituto Astrofísico de Canarias. And for this year, the Universidade do Mindelo, from Cape Verde, has joined MacaroNight for the first time.

For the 2019 edition, it is estimated that almost 7000 people were present in the various Nights, with over 300 researchers presenting their work on the Macaronesia during one day and night to different publics, including children and men alike.

MacaroNight is a Marie Curie Researcher’s Night two-year project, aiming to dispel stereotypes about researchers and raise awareness to the importance of science in the Macaronesia. A final objective is to encourage the next generation of Macaronesian researchers to take up a career in STEM – Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. Also, the project has been awarded the European Year of Cultural Heritage stamp, thanks to its numerous activities highlighting the Macaronesian common heritage.

LPRC presented at Congress for Social Communication of Science, Burgos

LPRC presented three posters and one oral presentation in the Congress for Social Communication of Science in the University of Burgos organized by AECC (Spanish Science Communication Association) on the 10th and 11th of October.

The two-day congress included roundtables, lectures, comedy stand-ups and a scientific social program focused on three main themes:

  • Receivers of science communication.
  • Strategies for science communication.
  • Channels for science communication.

These teams are very much inline with LPRC’s line of work and, therefore, this was a perfect place for LPRC to present its work and get connected to other stakeholders and interested parties within the same field.

LPRC presented two ongoing projects, MacaroNight and AGEO, and one upcoming one, ENGIE, each having a dedicated poster. The MacaroNight project’s poster and communication were enclosed in the “Receivers of science communication” theme, and were titled “Communicating science for islanders”, where the importance of the regional focus of MacaroNight was stressed. MacaroNight gathers parties from the archipelagos of Canarias, Madeira, Açores and Cape Verde.

AGEO targeted the way Citizen Observatories create a new channel to reach general society by making them part of the actual research and how the Interreg Atlantic Area funded would achieve this goal, while ENGIE tackles the strategies to close the gender gap in geo-sciences.

Coordinators’ Meeting of the Spanish European Researchers’ Nights

The 12th of June, LPRC attended a meeting of the national coordinators of all the Spanish European Researchers’ Nights that aimed to strengthen collaboration for the running Nights and brainstorm for future events and joint work.

The coordinators of the Nights of Madrid (MadriMásD), Andalucía (Fundación Descubre), Zaragoza (EsCiencia) and the Canary Islands (LPRC) met in the Department of Education, Youth and Sports of the Government of Madrid and discussed a series of activities to be implemented during the European Researchers’ Night 2019.

The possibility of further collaboration in the direction of national and even Iberian events and science communication activities was a primary theme of the meeting.

The European Researchers Night 2019 will take place the 27thof September. From 2018-2019, 55 projects have been implemented in 371 cities across Europe and beyond, of which LPRC is the coordinator of MacaroNight, a project that unites the region of the Macaronesia with parallel events on the archipelagos of Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde and the Canary Islands.

 

MacaroNight Consortium meeting, La Laguna

The consortium of MacaroNight met in La Laguna to review the event of last year, finalise the reporting and plan the upcoming activities for 2019.

During the day the representatives of the University of La Laguna, University of Madeira, the Regional Fund for Science and Technology, the Scientific Park of the University of Las Palmas, the Astrophysics Institute of the Canary Islands and LPRC discussed the event of 2018, jointly analysed the feedback the assistants had left in the questionnaires and identified the actions to be implemented for next year.

LPRC, as the coordinator presented the results of all Deliverables and actions of 2018 and laid out the expectations in terms of MacaroNight 2019. During the evening, each partner gave a presentation explaining how they are envisioning next year and the ways to create a cohesive event along all islands and both countries.

Amongst many other novelties, next year will count with the participation of Cape Verde, a livestream from the Astrophysics Institutes’ telescopes in La Palma and the theme for 2019, “The future of the Macaronesia!”

MacaroNight – Researchers Night of the Macaronesia

On the 28th of September 2018 the Macaronesia, represented by the islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Madeira and São Miguel, experienced a tsunami of researchers taking the streets and showing the islands that they, too, have a scientific identity, that their place of birth is full of richness to be discovered and that science has played a fundamental role in their history, from conquest times to today.

Leading this invasion of science is La Palma Research Centre as coordinator, with a consortium including Universidad de La Laguna, Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Fundación Canaria del Parque Científico Técnico de Las Palmas, Universidade da Madeira and Instituto Astrofísico de Canarias. For 2019 the Universidade do Mindelo, from Cape Verde, will join for an even bigger event.

MacaroNight is a Marie Curie Researcher’s Night two-year project, aiming to dispel stereotypes about researchers and raise awareness to the importance of science in the Macaronesia. A final objective is to encourage the next generation of Macaronesian researchers to take up a career in STEM – Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. Also, the project has been awarded the European Year of Cultural Heritage stamp, thanks to its numerous activities highlighting the Macaronesian common heritage.

In order to reach the goals of the project the consortium puts together a series of events including demonstrations, hands-on experiments, tours and other interactive activities designed with and for the public to submerge the attendants in the world of research.

Don’t forget to come and see us on the 27th of September 2019!

La Palma Research is proud to announce the launch of MacaroNight!

MacaroNight is an MSCA Researchers’ Night action funded by the European Commission’s H2020 Programme. The overall objective of our project is to organise a shared Researchers’ Night for the Macaronesia Region connecting the population of these islands under the umbrella of the universal language of science.

Macaronesia is a biogeographical region of five archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean of which four are inhabited: Azores (Portugal), Canarias (Spain), Madeira (Portugal) and Cape Verde (Cape Verde). These islands share common geographical traits and cultural heritage. The population of Macaronesia is around 3 million inhabitants, corresponding to the size of a smaller EU country.

MacaroNight aims at creating overall public awareness of science, research and innovation, especially in areas where the Region has outstanding performance and results even by international comparison. Our project will support the public recognition of researchers, creating an understanding of the impact of researchers’ work on citizens’ daily life.

The MacaroNight project Consortium:

1 Coordinator: La Palma Research Centre S.L. (LPRC), Spain
2 Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT), Portugal
3 Universidade da Madeira (UMa), Portugal
4 Fundacion Parque Cientifico Tecnico (FCPCT), Spain
5 Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Spain
6 Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Spain
7 Universidade do Mindelo (UoM) – as observer in 2018, Cape Verde

MacaroNight is the fourth Researchers’ Night project coordinated by La Palma Research. We will be building on the success and experiences gained from our VOLCANOES’ NIGHT project series (http://nochedevolcanes.es/) adapting the content and scope to better satisfy public interest. MacaroNight will be a two-year project, and both years will be packed with exciting activities.

Mark the date: Friday, 28 September as this will be the peak of the action this year, an amazing Researchers’ Night organised simultaneously on the Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira.

We will be back with more information, follow @macaronighteu on Twitter, Facebook.

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