BGCN · Bristol Bright Night

Bristol Bright Night

The 2015 Bristol Researchers' Night action brought the Researchers’ Night programme to the South West of England for the second time. Bristol is a cosmopolitan and ambitious city, and is particularly well-known for its Aerospace, Computing & Engineering industries (being home to Rolls Royce and British Aerospace) as well as Media, Art & Creative Industries, with artists such as Banksy, Aardman Animations and others. The project brought together the two Universities based in Bristol, with the Bristol Natural History Consortium (which is a collaboration of research, media, policy and conservation bodies) and had the support of the City Council and the At-Bristol Science Centre. The main purpose consisted of enhancing public recognition of researchers and their work reaching out to the public at large in an inclusive and all-encompassing manner. Creative opportunities were offered to engage with researchers and their work; one main target consisted of those who were not especially interested in science by bringing researchers and their work to public spaces in an entertaining and spectacular manner. Researchers and their work were brought to some parts of the city, through travelling street theatre, where there are fewer opportunities for communities to gain even a first impression of researchers and what they do. Bristol’s programme for 2015 Researchers’ Night involved a wide cross-section of researchers across the city’s two universities centred on the theme "Bristol Bright Night" highlighting the innovative research undertaken by Bristol-based researchers addressing local and global societal challenges. The city’s waterfront was transformed into an "Innovation Laboratory" giving everyone equal access to ground-breaking research, in particular young and family audiences, taking advantage of the several nationally-renowned public venues within a short walk of each other in its historical centre such as At-Bristol (science centre) and the Watershed (cultural centre), which hosted the main activities of the 2015 event. From afternoon to midnight citizens were engaged with the latest research that is taking place in Bristol. From discovering how alcohol effects perceptions of attractiveness to getting children to talk about the latest innovations in science and technology and from pop-up science theatre in the streets of Bristol to cooking and eating with researchers while discussing their work, Bristolians (and visitors) could see a city that bursts with research.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз