Running between 2015 and 2018 and funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework programme of the European Union, SPARKS is an awareness-raising project to familiarize and engage European citizens with the concept and practice of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) through the topic of technology shifts in health and medicine. SPARKS intends to bridge the gap between the super-fast pace of scientific innovation and society through an interactive exhibition entitled “Beyond the Lab: the DIY Science Revolution”and over 230 participatory activities aimed at getting the public involved, taking place across 29 European countries. SPARKS is led by Ecsite – the European Network of Science Centres and Museums in the partnership of 33 organisations from all EU Member States and Switzerland.
At each exhibition location, interactive and participative events are held to communicate more effectively on the topic:
- reverse science cafés
- science espressos
- pop-up science shops
- incubation workshops, hack/make-athons
- scenario workshops
Interactive activities offer people the opportunity to identify priority research questions and co-design scientific solutions together.
In addition to the main content of the exhibition, there is also a small event space that can accommodate 15-20 people for activities and workshops, and a small display area that host venues can use to create a local case display.
The theme of our local case study was “Noise Pollution”. We described on a panel how noise pollution affects our health on a daily basis and we made a noise map of Mali Lošinj.
We worked on a project about noise pollution with the Centre for Healthy Development “Idem i ja” (NGO), the county Centre for Public Health, high school childrenand Vizor – a company that provided noise measurement and testing.
Tourism is the most significant economic activity on the islands of Lošinj and Cres as well as the entire coastal region. Entertainment, which is a major part of the tourism offer, is a major contributor to noise in the urban environment. Noise pollution diminishes the quality of everyday life, it affects mental health as well as the tourism offer. Because of this, we collaborated to develop a project with the aim to raise public awareness on the effects of noise.
