EN/GER: Wie gesund sind deine Kartoffeln? DNA-Analyse im molekularbiologischen Labor des Naturkundemuseums

English description below -DEU- Welche Kartoffelsorten sind resistent gegen Kartoffelfäule, Colletotrichum-Welkekrankheit, Silberschorf? Dies sind die unterschiedlichen Krankheiten, mit denen sich das PataFEST-Projekt beschäftigt. Um einen Einblick in die Welt der Kartoffelforschung zu geben, lädt ECSA Kartoffelanbauende ins Naturkundemuseum ein, um ihre eigenen Kartoffelblätter zur DNA-Analyse mitzubringen, um sie auf krankheitsresistente Gene zu untersuchen. Gemeinsam mit dem Team aus dem Labor werden die unterschiedlichen Stufen einer DNA Analyse erklärt und durchgeführt: Isolierung der DNA, Quanitfizierung, PCR und DNA Sequenzierung. Neugierig geworden? Dann schreibt uns unter: patafest@ecsa.ngo oder meldet euch hier an: https://forms.monday.com/forms/b293b6583af626453f7e5c57b675a190?r=euc1 Leider dürfen Personen, die schwanger sind, stillen, unter 18 Jahre alt sind oder keine Kartoffeln anbauen, nicht ins Labor. Wir werden einen separaten Stand in der Ausstellungshalle des Museums haben, der für jeden zugänglich ist. -ENG- Which potato varieties are resistant to dry rot, black dot and silver scurf? These are the different diseases that the PataFEST project deals with. To give an insight into the world of potato research, ECSA, together with the Natural History Museum Berlin, invites potato growers to bring in their own potato leaves. You can then test them for disease resistant genes. Together with the team from the laboratory, the different stages of DNA analysis will be explained and carried out: Isolation of DNA, quantification, PCR and DNA sequencing. Curious? Then write to us at patafest@ecsa.ngo You can also register here: https://forms.monday.com/forms/b293b6583af626453f7e5c57b675a190?r=euc1 Unfortunately, people, who are pregnant, breastfeeding or under the age of 18 cannot enter the lab. We will have a separate booth in the exhibition hall of the museum accessible for everyone.

Let’s imagine training for facilitators in citizen science projects!

ECS and ECSA will be present at the Ecsite conference 2024 (https://ecsite.wildapricot.org/Programme/). Discover and share skills and training methods to facilitate participatory research and citizen science projects. Science centers and museums, universities and third-places are key players in participatory citizen science projects. These programs aim to give citizens their place in the production of knowledge, and can range from the simple collection of scientific data to the co-construction or even co-governance of research projects. In recent years, these approaches have beenstriving to become a mainstream approach to scientific research well beyond the classical topics connected to environment and biodiversity. But citizen science faces many challenges, such as reliable data, recruitment and participation of citizens or reluctance to use this approach by scientists and researchers. A less discussed issue, and perhaps a solution to some of these challenges, is that of the skills needed to facilitate this type of project. Indeed it is essential to create the conditions for dialogue and work for all stakeholders (research teams, citizens, partners, associations...). They need support to create together, transform their perspectives, adapt tools to their context, stay involved, understand each other in depth…What specific skills, knowledge and attitudes do facilitators need in these participatory projects? Could a training programme in facilitation and participation help? This session will offer a feedback from institutions involved in citizen science (inter)mediation and facilitation training. These short presentations will break down the problem into several sub-questions. They will form the basis of the workshop, during which participants will collectively identify the list of skills and training methods that are most relevant for the people in charge of facilitating particpatory citizen science projects. Speakers: Catherine Oualian (Universcience, France), Claudia Aguirre Rios (Groupe TRACES, France), Aoife Taylor (Trinity College, Ireland), Simona Cerrato (ECSA), Paul Boniface (Groupe TRACES, France).

ECS Satellite event on Science Communication

The 2023 Annual Conference of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) will be held in Cordoba (Spain) on 24-25 February 2023. The day before the Conference - 23 February 2023 - a Science Communication Training Workshop will be held as a satellite event, organised by the European Citizen Science (ECS) project in collaboration with the MCAA Communication Working Group. The overall objective of the European Citizen Science (ECS) project is to enlarge, empower and strengthen the European Citizen Science community through training, capacity building and awareness raising activities which encompass the whole range of needs and challenges. As a member of the project consortium, the MCAA is taking part in several work packages and tasks. More specifically, through the ECS project, the MCAA will support the co-creation of the European Citizen Science Academy by designing training for educators, trainers, and researchers. As part of the ECS project, the MCAA is organising the training workshop “Science Communication: How to create a successful research blog.” Blogging is a powerful and effective way to communicate research to a wider audience and engage citizen into the science endeavour. Within the general framework of citizen science, in this workshop participants will learn the ins and outs of what it takes to explain their research in a popular science blog that can be understood by anyone. The one-day full-immersion workshop will be highly interactive and aims to teach by doing. It will also be an introductory course into science communication for researchers with and without prior experience. During the training workshop, participants will: - have an overview of citizen science and the ECS project - learn how science communication can positively impact society as well as a researcher’s career - write a short popular science blog that can be published after the workshop - learn to adjust the text to the communication goals and audience - learn how to reduce the scientific complexity and make scientific insights accessible and interesting The training will be guided by Science Matters, a leading European science communication agency led by scientists, with extensive experience in supporting universities, companies, media, and museums. The training workshop is open to both MCAA members and non-MCAA members. In order to make it as interactive as possible and provide personalised feedback, the workshop is limited to only 30 participants. The deadline for registration is 30 January 2023, 23:00 CET. Selection of participants will be done on a rolling basis, until all 30 seats are filled. Thanks to the support of the ECS project, participants will be able to attend the workshop paying a fee of 150 Euro, which corresponds to a 50% discount on the full price.

The critical role of Citizen Science in the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity

In this virtual session of the Fifth Science-Policy Forum for Biodiversity, representatives from leading scientific agencies, natural history museums from around the world, and other global experts and engaged citizens will exchange experiences on citizen science, reflect on its contributions in support of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and discuss collaboration opportunities to scale up its impact. The outcomes of this event will be reported at COP15.