Scientific dissemination continues to be open during the holidays. Different research centers, civic centers or private facilities offer events or conferences in formats for all tastes: talks, guided tours, exhibitions or competitions that can be enjoyed with the family or individually.

We have made a selection of the most outstanding ones here.

Activities related to the observation of the Universe.

On the one hand, the Vil·la Urània Civic Center is organizing the Sun Festival (Festa del Sol) until July 19. A traditional celebration that welcomed the summer solstice and that was promoted in Barcelona by Josep Comas i Solà (1868-1937), director of the Fabra Observatory and president of the Astronomical Society of Spain and America. The festival, which combined recreational events and conferences, is being resumed to offer visitors a wide range of activities, such as workshops, visits, stories or monologues, some of them more focused on astronomy.

On the other hand, CosmoCaixa is organizing a series of conferences dedicated to reflection on the concept of infinity and the universe. Cosmonits-Nits infinites is held on July 17 and 31, and August 7 and 21. It is in fact an extensive proposal of afternoon-evening activities aimed at both a family and adult audience. Workshops on infinite shapes, planetarium projections, some mathematical challenges or film screenings are offered, among others.

Competitions/Escape Rooms

The CosmoCaixa Science Museum facilities also host two Escape Rooms on specific days. The first on July 24, which will take place in two sessions: 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., as part of the Extraterrestrials exhibition in the Universe Room. In this Moon Rescue, the different participants will be part of a mission to our satellite and will have to collaborate and test all their knowledge to recover lost biological samples.

And the second on Thursday, August 28, also in the afternoon, when the Science Challenges competition is reissued. The objective is to publicize the role of five key women in contemporary science: Maria Telkes, Daphne Oram, Leena Gade, Annie Esley, or Johanna Weber and their contributions in the fields of engineering, electronics, renewable energies or aeronautics. Here it will be necessary to decipher keys and conduct experiments related to the work of these pioneering women.

Biology and environmental awareness at the Centre de la Platja

The Centre de la Platja, a space that is part of the Xarxa d’Equipaments Ambientals de Barcelona (XEAB), and is located on Somorrostro beach, in front of the Hospital del Mar, does not close during the summer either. It organizes, in collaboration with institutions and other entities, activities aimed at all audiences, with the aim of bringing the environmental problems (and possible solutions) that affect coastal systems closer to the public. The most comprehensive program includes beach cleaning actions, conferences on marine cetaceans or snorkeling itineraries to identify and photograph coastal species.

Guided tours:

In addition to the exhibitions and the large list of activities at the Natural Sciences Museum, during the summer you can also visit facilities such as the Mare Nostrum supercomputer, the most powerful tool in the entire state in this area, located in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. The tours are scheduled between Monday and Friday, from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm, in groups of 30 people, and last from 30 to 60 minutes.

And the Fabra Observatory offers activities and conferences such as Dinner with Stars or also guided tours, which allow you to get to know the different spaces of this site, such as its museum, the different rooms or its large telescope (since 1904), which allows direct observations of the Moon, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.

Citizen science projects

All this while the projects carried out by the Office of Citizen Science do not stop, and continue to invite citizens to collect and share data, for example on the lichen species existing in Barcelona, ​​or on biodiversity in general, both marine and terrestrial, on the Minka platform. Any observation and contribution is important to know a little more about biology or the conditions of the environment, and contribute to making these databases more robust, which are the starting point for more concrete studies.