Join the International Science Center and Science Museum Day webcast

On Sunday, November 10, 2019, the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) held a webcast to celebrate International Science Center and Science Museum Day (ISCSMD). Featuring speakers from Mexico, Portugal, Belgium, and Egypt, the event explored how science centers are engaging their communities on local and global sustainability topics.

Watch the archived webcast now.

This year, students partnered with their local science centers to participate in the Eco Hero Lab. Inspired by the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, the Eco Hero Lab encourages students to take five steps—meatless meals, reducing waste, exploring nature, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing well-being—to gain the title of Eco Hero.

Each presentation includes an expert discussion on one environmental challenge facing their region and videos students created about their experience and the topics they learned about with their science centers.

  • Universum, Museo de las Ciencias de la UNAM in Mexico City, Mexico, will address air quality.
  • Centro Ciência Viva da Floresta in Proença-a-Nova, Portugal, will address deforestation and forest degradation.
  • Hidrodoe in Herentals, Belgium, will address water quality.
  • Planetarium Science Center in Alexandria, Egypt, will address soil health.

Young researchers from the UN Major Group for Children and Youth discussed their choice to pursue scientific careers and the importance of science engagement to tackle global challenges.

The free 90-minute webcast was held on Sunday, November 10, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. EST.

ISCSMD is an annual, global event illustrating the impact and reach of all the world’s science centers and science museums. It demonstrates the role these institutions play with their millions of visitors in raising awareness of—and engagement in—sustainable development and the solutions to global challenges. Science centers and science museums worldwide take the opportunity of this day to celebrate and promote their missions through widely diverse informal science education and engagement activities addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The day is a reminder to all about the universality of science and its capacity to build bridges across geographical, cultural, and religious boundaries while addressing common concerns.