Project in Palestine

Science Festival in Palestine : context and current perspectives

Context : Celebrating scientific culture and empowering youth in Palestine

While science festivals have spread in many countries over the past twenty years, no nation-wide science festival had ever been organised in Palestine. For the Palestinian society, education and science are believed to be crucially needed to build a healthy society. A nation-wide science festival allows to stress the importance given to science, technologies and overall to education in general. Palestinian public organisations, NGOS, as well as the French cultural cooperation welcomed the project with enthusiasm and agreed that such an event was worth being initiated.

More specifically, for students in Palestinian universities, a science festival is an opportunity to share their passion for science with younger ones. They can encourage young ones to follow their own path in studying science. They are also empowered as crucial actor of a scientific event.

For the public who attends a science festival, this is a unique opportunity to hear about recent scientific discoveries and to learn about the way scientific research is done. Interestingly they learn about the scientific process that is made possible only through, intense questioning, refusal of any argument based on authority, cooperation of numerous people, from all over the world with different background and perspectives. They can thus experience values and attitudes that are at the core of scientific research but also at the core of the concept of citizenship.

A science festival is also an opportunity for schools to initiate various forms of work about science, that can be prolonged all year round.

This first science festival has been conceived as a cooperation between France and Palestine, this allows to share the expertise of experienced French institutions with emerging Palestinian ones. As well, training sessions have been offered to university students to empower altogether Palestinian organisations, universities and students to lead future festivals.

Perspectives and barriers to overcome :

Palestinian NGO active in science communication brought “creative games” that are sold on the market and offered one excellent clown show (originally produced by the Israeli “Bloomfield science museum” and given to them as a collaboration). We consider critical to empower more Palestinian NGOs, and even small ones. A diversity of actors is key to build a lively community involved in science communication. We also feel that it is critically needed to reinforce science communication about what scientific research is, that it to say science communication that enables kids to ask question and that shows the current research process, and not only science communication that presents facts and current knowledge.

There is an amazing potential to empower Palestinian universities (students and teachers). We shall not miss such an opportunity. They are the one who can easily address questions about how science proceed, letting the young public ask more and more questioning, enhancing his curiosity. We should also strengthen international collaboration as it will still be needed to circumvent the current lack of proper research in Palestinian universities. The barriers that prevent the development of a proper research in Palestine also prevent the production of science communication content that fully addresses what scientific exploration is about.

On the long term perspective, consolidating a yearly science festival is also a way to promote new educational tools that can be imported in schools, thus allowing kids to be exposed to science in an interactive way all year round.