The 3rd City and Science Biennial will be held in Barcelona and Madrid from 21 to 26 February 2023

Taula de la roda de premsa de la Biennal Ciutat i Ciència
29/11/2022 - 12:58 h - Science Ajuntament de Barcelona

The third edition of the City and Science Biennial will be held from 21 to 26 February 2023 and, as a novelty, will take place for the first time simultaneously in Barcelona and Madrid. The collaboration between Madrid and Barcelona to organise the third City and Science Biennial comes as a result of the cultural and scientific capital agreement, and will contribute to strengthening the bridges between the two cities through the collaboration of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and the promotion of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), which join Barcelona Science and Universities of the Barcelona City Council in the organisation.

After an edition marked by the pandemic, that of 2021, which was moved to June in order to be able to hold outdoor events, the next edition will return to its original dates and will be held in February. The third edition of the City and Science Biennial will explore the concept of life, combining perspectives and different knowledge, and focusing on an active and proactive approach. It will reflect on what it means to live on the planet, in the city and how to favour the coexistence of our species with that of other organisms or with machines. The event will share the lives of people who do science from academia, but also the commitment to a more participatory science that is attentive to social concerns.

Cities will appear as a prominent theme in the Biennial’s activities, taking them as scenarios where the tensions and contradictions of living today coexist, and where a discourse that connects diverse fields of knowledge, such as the one that links social, environmental and health sciences, is welcomed. In addition, during the Biennale, the arts will also allow us to see a living science from different formats and perspectives. The vital message will also be reflected in activities by members of the scientific community from universities and research centres, who will talk about what it means to live doing science. 

The curatorship of the Biennial City and Science 2023 in Barcelona is formed by Helen Cole, researcher at the Institute of Science and Environmental Technology (ICTA), Josep Perelló, professor at the Department of Condensed Matter Physics and director of OpenSystems at the UB, and Lluís Nacenta, curator, writer, musician and researcher at the intersection of art and science. The Madrid programme is curated by Elea Giménez, senior scientist at CSIC and co-director of ES-CIENCIA, and José Manuel Sánchez Ron, Emeritus Professor of History of Science at the UAM.

The City and Science Biennial is one of the most important events of scientific culture held in the city of Barcelona, which shows the firm commitment that Barcelona City Council has made to science policy. In fact, it is one of the actions planned in the Barcelona Science Plan 2020-2023 with the aim of strengthening science dissemination and communication activities, to generate critical capacity, knowledge and scientific vocation in all ages.