About Us
Edinburgh Science Foundation is an educational charity, founded in 1989, which operates Edinburgh Science's Education and Festival programmes. We are best known for organising Edinburgh’s annual Science Festival – the world’s first public celebration of science and technology as a festival and still one of Europe’s largest – as well as our science education outreach programmes, Generation Science and Careers Hive and our community engagement work.
Our mission is to inspire, encourage and challenge people of all ages and backgrounds to explore and understand the world around them. As leaders in our field of Science Communication, we work year-round to create and deliver dynamic hands-on workshops and exhibitions and inspirational shows, discussions, debates and performances that continually push the boundaries of public engagement with science. Communication and engagement is at the core of all our work and we strive to ensure that this is embedded in all aspects of our organisation.
Festival
Our 2023 Festival ran 1–16 April and explored the theme Let’s Experiment – a wholehearted and very welcome return to hands-on science. The 2023 Festival was a living laboratory, where all ages could not just talk about but get up close with science of all sorts through a programme of exciting real-life experiments and special events. Highlights included our interactive, experiment-filled experience Experimental Life, outdoor photography exhibition Cherish which visualised how human activity is shaping our planet, and the explosive family adventure The Rocket Show.
Learning
Our touring education programme Generation Science has been providing unique science experiences to schools across Scotland for 30 years. In light of COVID-19 restrictions, this year's programme was made up of pre-recorded workshops, loan kits and make-along boxes which were designed to get pupils out of their seats and involved. Secondary schools careers event Careers Hive was hosted this year on Gather, an interactive online digital platform. Over 2,400 students from over 30 Scottish schools took part in the event, which highlighted the opportunities available to those who study STEM subjects.
Worldwide
Edinburgh Science also operates a large-scale international programme of work under our Worldwide arm. It regularly presents events overseas and is currently the Major Programming Partner of the annual Abu Dhabi Science Festival, helping to curate, produce and deliver the event. For international partners, the team at Edinburgh Science provide engaging content, curatorial advice on programming and business planning support, along with expert staff and training for local science communicators.
Our Impact
Click here to read more about the impact our work has.
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