Scifest

SciFest is the top Finnish festival celebrating science, technology and the environment together with children and youths.

The Joensuu Science Society has been a pioneer in promoting interest in the sciences, technology and the environment among children and youths with its SciFest. With this aim in mind,  a wide variety of action models for scientific and technological education have been developed, tested and applied outside the confines of the classroom and in new learning environments over the last 10 years.

The Society’s major annual event, SciFest, is based on active participation, with the main focus being on multi-science workshops. The workshop organisers are typically individual faculties of a university or polytechnic, companies, associations, clubs or school groups, under the direction of a professor, researcher, student teacher or even a primary school pupil. Learning is done through study, experimentation and insight.

The event is an open assembly, where diverse workshops create a collaborative atmosphere. The creative milieu turns visitors into participants, who are encouraged to uncover their inner researcher.

SciFest is a model for recruiting young people for the adventure of a lifetime. It invites them to choose a career where they can change the world by means of science and technology.    

Complementary to science exhibitions, shows, and demonstrations that target a given public, SciFest is built upon the Finnish pedagogy that emphasises the participation of the whole learning community. Everyone contributes their own gifts and talents.

The collaborative spirit of SciFest makes the event a meeting place for youth, companies–both established and start-ups–school teachers and researchers, where all the participants make the event happen.

Inspired by SciFest Africa, this annual event was first held in 2007.

More information: http://www.scifest.fi/home_en.php

Twitter: @SciFestJoensuu

Photos from Scifest: http://www.scifest.fi/uploads/Kuvakirja_2017.pdf