MACARONIGHT II · Macaronesia's Researchers' Night

Macaronesia's Researchers' Night

Macaronight aims every year to organize a European Researchers Night of the Macaronesia, bridging the gap between researchers and civil society in some outermost regions of the EU. Citizens on remote islands are usually not very aware of the science being developed in their region nor of the opportunities and challenges the region offers to researchers. Macaronight works towards changing this situation. The overall objective of MACARONIGHT II, the second project followed up the first initiative covering the years 2018 & 2019, was to organise another round of events, a shared Researchers’ Night for the Macaronesia Region connecting the population of these islands under the umbrella of the universal language of science. In year 2020, focus was put on the scientific and technology areas identified in the Smart Specialization Strategies for the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores and the consortium aimed at raising public awareness for research areas that could be the greatest benefit for the Region. The project also contributed to increasing the public recognition of researchers, by providing an enhanced understanding of the impact of researchers' work on citizen's daily life. The general objectives of the project were: Research is fun and fascinating; Researchers are one of us, ordinary people with an extraordinary job as such they share with other people passions, hopes, problems, concerns, dreams...; Research is an amazing career choice and offering a range of opportunities for entrepreneurship; In addition, MACARONIGHT 2020 also pursued the below specific objectives: Highlighting the excellent research centres in the Macaronesian region; Reaching the most remote islands of the archipelagos, as well as rural areas of the main islands; Researchers' job is very useful, and it contributes to citizens' daily lives and well-being in the Macaronesia region; Obtain first-hand information about the state-of-the-art research conducted in the Macaronesian region; Better understand the opportunities science may offer you and problems researchers face within the Macaronesian region; Europe cares for its researchers – even in an outermost region; Researchers’ Mobility in Europe is an existing opportunity even for islanders. The Macaronesian region serves as a live lab for science centres of excellency such as PLOCAN, IAC or ITC but, unfortunately, the society at large and young adults, in particular, are not aware of the scientific richness of their region and the chances for a career in research in their own backyard. Creating new generations of Macaronesian researchers is paramount for the future of the islands and European science.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union