Curiosity to Connect
Today marks International Science Centre and Science Museum Day; celebrating access to science for all and access to science education as a human right.
We believe this is vital to deliver our vision of ‘a Scotland where all people value science and technology to inform decision making, empower individuals and enrich lives.’
Here at Glasgow Science Centre, we believe that science is about being curious: curious to ask questions like 'What is this?', 'How does this work?', 'Why does it do that?', 'What happens if I do this?'.
This curiosity helps us to begin to understand the world around us; connect to nature, science, technology and more. Offering people of all ages and backgrounds a chance to learn to play and be curious; this is far more than the spread of knowledge but is a skillset and a culture that is deeply rooted in empowerment, that encourages everyone to explore science in the everyday. That can be everything from brewing the perfect cup of tea or baking a cake; to understanding our place in the universe.
Here at GSC we offer an environment to play with that curiosity, to empower young and old alike to ask these questions, interact with science and experiment with what they know (and find out things they don’t).
We recognise that there are barriers that sometimes prevent people accessing Glasgow Science Centre and science education: they can be social, financial, language, accessibility, geography, mental health, and many other factors. We work to try and overcome as many of these barriers to allow the as many people as possible to experience more of science, technology, engineering and maths. This ranges from taking our exhibits on tour so people living in the most remote areas of our country get the same GSC experience, designing autism friendly hours, providing education resources and training for teachers, to fully funded community group visits (with food and transport provided) as well as welcoming thousands of pupils into GSC.
We try to give everyone access to science, curiosity and skills development through interactive exhibits, shows and workshops; regardless of their income, background, gender or any other factor. We wholeheartedly believe that access to science is a human right because access to science doesn’t always mean sitting in a lab. Access to science and STEM learning is understanding and connecting to the natural world, where our energy comes from, nutrition and diet and spelling and counting; skills we use every day and empower our daily lives. This ranges from increasing skills that can help us with daily challenges to revolutionising medicine, astronomy or physics.
"It has been great to see how many people signed up and continually attended the Healthy World course, and I hope this can be the beginning of more partnerships between Flourish House and the Science Centre."
Wesley Chung, Flourish House Manager
Access to science education and knowledge is as much about the everyday activities of our lives as it is about travelling through space and through microscopes.
We are beginning to reshape Glasgow Science Centre so that our experiences and exhibits are accessible for as many people as possible. This project is called Connect. We are also looking at how we can all be involved in the co-creation of how our future will be shaped by technology exploring artificial intelligence, big data, automation and robotics. (This can sound scary, but we can help!)
Find out more about some of the ways we support nourishing curiosity to connect, here:
