From 13 to 19 March 2013, Grahamstown in South Africa played host to EU-UNAWE members from Germany and South Africa when they attended the country's annual National Science Festival, Scifest 2013. The festival was designed to promoting public awareness and appreciation for all science and technology, and it has been highly successful in it's ambitions — since its inception has grown into the largest science festival in sub-Saharan Africa and a true leader in the development of cutting-edge science communication and engagement. This year alone Scifest attracted over 72 000 visitors from all over South Africa and around the world, included a number of high-profile guests such as Dr. Horst Freitag, a German ambassador.
The theme for Scifest 2013 was “Science on the Move!” with a programme developed to explore and celebrate anything that moves, from transport and racing to the human body in motion and the Universe itself! An array of fun, interactive workshops were offered through the 6-day event based on this theme, including the popular EU-UNAWE Rocket Science workshop that was quickly fully booked due to high-demand.
The workshop was designed for children around 10-years old, who were invited to design and launch water and pop rockets, using only recyclable materials.Although it was designed for young children, the workshop attracted people of all ages; a large percentage of the 260 participants were actually between the ages of 15 to 18 years, including Dr. Freitag who launched a rocket of his own before he took the time to praise the EU-UNAWE project. Parents and educators were also eager to participate in the launching process, with many of them discussing how they would continue building on their rocket making skills at home and in their schools.
EU-UNAWE also hosted a three-hour interactive workshop about the exciting new EU-UNAWE resource “Universe in a Box”, that was attended by 11 science communicators from 7 different science centres in South Africa. The event was not only designed to show how the resource works, or to explain which astronomical topics the box covers, but also to start a discussion about teaching astronomy in the different hemispheres: how we can learn from each other and how we can modify Universe in a Box to specifically fit South African needs, culturally, linguistically and educationally. By the end of the workshop all the attending science communicators were requesting a box of their own and offering their own idea of resources that could be added.
The successful Rocket Science workshop was filmed for the popular South African teen TV programme called 'Hectic Nine 9', that was aired on 19th March.
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