Luigi Amodio's Presentation for Design for All - Culture and Accessibility. Città della Scienza 3/12/2015

1. DESIGN FOR ALL
AND “MANAGEMENT” OF ALL…
new perspectives in the governance of
science centres and museums
Luigi Amodio
Director of Città della Scienza, Naples, Italy
Naples, “Design for all”, 3 december 2015

2. Last decade in Europe…
• Strong emphasis on
social participation in
science and
technology
• Institutions “obliged”
to take into account
society
• Society increasingly
willing to make its
voice heard
2

3. Three trends
• CULTURE: awareness of
post-academic (Ziman)
condition of science
• POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS: launch of
the 2001 EC report on
“Science Society and
Citizens” and programs in 6
and 7FPR&D (410 ML € in
13 years); RRI in Horizon
2020
• METHODOLOGIES: a new
“environment”, driven by
ICT and social media,
where interactive
participation is virtually
possible anytime, anywhere
3

4. The “boom” of social networks:
the case of Facebook in Italy
± 28 millions subscribers on ± 35 millions surfers (± 60 millions inhabitants); ± 12
millions connecting daily to Fb; the curve shows the boom of members in 30 months
4

5. 5
“In the last decade there has been a growing interest in Europe
concerning the role that science centers and museums play in
the governance of science. Science centers, in fact, have the
potential to be one of the most effective platforms for the
discussions and debates that enable citizens to inform and
participate in the democratic development of science. Exhibitions
and programs often offer learning opportunities and resources on
the ethical, legal and social issues of scientific research in
contemporary science and technology. Citizen science programs,
science cafés, workshops, discussions and festivals are just a
few examples of the wide variety of programs and activities in
this direction that have emerged in the field.”
Andrea Bandelli
Participation, science centres
and museums

6. 6

7. 7
“Participation and engagement pervade nowadays all
aspects and activities of science centers: from the
training of museum explainers, who are the first and
most important interface between the public and the
institution, to the design of new facilities and
infrastructure; some institutions, such as the Natural
History Museum in Trento, Italy, for example, make
participation the core element of their mission,
positioning their approach as an “invitation” for the public
to engage in the dialogue between science, nature and
society”.
Andrea Bandelli
Participation, science centres
and museums 2

8. Trends in science communication
and science museology
• Deficit model = museum
curators as “owners” of
collections (selection
criteria, choices in
displaying, etc.)
• “Dialogue” model = to
keep as much as
possible the needs of
receivers incorporating
them when the project
starts
8

9. Trends in marketing
• User-generated
content
• Consumers always at
work providing
contents, stimuli,
idea, etc.
• “End” of leisure time
in the age of
“cognitive capital”
9

10. • Since its foundation,
great attention to the
social and political
framework
• Mission
– Building a democratic
society of knowledge
– Enhancing
participation in the
great choices of
civilisation
10
Città della Scienza

11. “Exhibition games” based on the
European Awareness Scenario
Workshop methodology: Nanodialogue
11

12. Time4Nano
12

13. Corporea
Live focus groups involving
teachers, people suffering of
different diseases, NGOs
involved on the topics of
health, etc.
Topics:
values, ethics, taboo, scientific
subjects, social and cultural
subjects, points of view and
ideas for exhibits and contents
of the exhibition
13

14. PIER / Sea Horizon:
RRI in an exhibition
14

15. (Temporary) conclusions
• “Empowerment” of the public to take a stronger role
• To share the authority over the content, meaning and
purposes of museum activities
• Building networks, relationships and collaborations with
“committed” audiences
• Becoming comfortable with the idea that activities and
actions of the public are meaningful and socially relevant
• Museum needs the collaboration of the public in order to
achieve its civic and social goals; this collaboration cannot be
established if it is not implemented not only at the level of the
activities, but also in the “governance”, creating clear
channels and methods for the public to interact with the
decision making process of the museum
15

16. Tomorrow workshop
• A scenario workshop on
co-design where Italian
experts of different
disciplines will compare
and discuss with Dutch
experts
• Active reporting and
digital storytelling:
Creactivitas team,
through the combined
use of digital applications
and social media, will
produce a dynamic and
interactive real-time
narrative report about
works’ results to be
shared with the whole
community
16

17. The scenario workshop
on co-design
Vision making
• Users
• Designers
• Managers
Idea generation
• Cognitive accessibility
• Physical / architectural
accessibility
• Content production
accessibility
17
Results
• Solutions and suggestions for the design of the FabLab
and the future areas of Città della Scienza

18. Thank you for your attention!
amodio@cittadellascienza.it
www.cittadellascienza.it
www.facebook.com/cittadellascienza