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Bringing Earth Sciences to the public through actions designed to raise interest in geosciences Balazs Bodo and Adrienn Cseko*

improved as a direct outcome of the Night. The objective of Volcanoes Night III was to address the still remaining gaps between geosciences and society. During the event participants were provided access to research facilities, and a complementary scheme of workshops, science cafés, excur- sions, presentations and challenge games eople have been fascinated by volca- !e project and the Night followed up on were arranged to fuel the public’s curios- noes ever since the dawn of mankind the successes of the previous initiatives ity, interest and understanding of research Pand have treated them with utmost La Noche de los Volcanes I and II, both activities. Participating scientists not only respect. Our modern life has brought a #nanced under the EC’s FP7 Programme. talked about their field of research, but change to our perception of volcanism, and On 26 September 2014 the Night was organ- also shared their experience on how stu- there are no longer superstitious elements ised for the third time, this time simulta- dents can approach science and research associated with volcanoes in Western socie- neously on all seven islands of the Canary institutions, providing a perfect scenario ties. !e connection between plate tecton- archipelago (Fuencaliente, Puerto de La to attract young people to science careers. ics, earthquakes, and volcanoes has been Cruz, La Frontera, Hermigua, Ingenio, As a backdrop to the Night volcanoes were studied and understood. Four-dimensional and Pajara and also in Almagro, Ciudad used not only to explain the work of volcan- models are being developed to simulate Real, mainland ), where the volcanic ologists but also to explain what science is eruptions, cutting edge equipment is used environment is part of the local heritage about and what scientists and researchers to record even the tiniest seismic events and culture, but at the same time represents do during their daily work. Activities during and a broad array of remote sensing sen- a potential hazard as well. Although the Volcanoes Night III attracted over #ve thou- sors are used on a routine basis to monitor islands’ population (around 2 million) lives sand participants this year, and as such, this volcanic activities from space. At the same in volcanic areas, the gap between geoscien- action remains a successful example of rais- time a dramatic gap has formed between the tists/volcanologists and the public is huge. ing public awareness about the work of geo- professionals and the public. Research and At the same time, the science of volcanoes scientists in Europe. Detailed evaluation of studies on volcanism use more and more can be used to mobilise the public: a survey 1 the surveys conducted during the Night is specialised language, which does not trans- conducted in 2013 during Volcanoes’ Night underway, and will be made available for late into popular science or public commu- II indicated high public interest in the topic download on the project website, together nications. !e media o"en delivers inaccu- of geology, volcanology and the work of with photos and other documents of inter- rate information, going for sensational facts geo-scientists. About two-thirds of the est. http://www.nochedevolcanes.es when they should be factual, and failing survey responders marked high or very to report #ndings, when they should use high interest initial interest for the topic, their power to disseminate information. It and this was raised further during the event. seems that in our world there is no longer Similarly, initial public interest in the work time for explanations, only for some quick of geoscientists is also high as a baseline; quotes in the news if some exciting develop- the absolute majority, three quarters of the ments need to be broadcast. As a result, in respondents, stated that they consider their today’s world, the work of volcanologists is work “Useful for society” . Yet, according to nearly as mythical as the work of volcanoes the past surveys, the daily work of geosci- in ancient times. entists still appears to be somewhat of a “La Noche de los Volcanes III (i.e. Vol- mystery to the public. Volcanoes’ Night I canoes’ Night) – Researchers’ Night of the (La Palma) and II (La Palma, Tenerife, El ” is a Marie Skłodowska- Hierro, ) already addressed this Curie Action #nanced by the European challenge, with almost 60% of the partici- Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. pants indicating that their understanding about the work of geoscientists substantially * La Palma Research Centre for Future Studies, El Frontón 37, E-38787 Gara€a, La Palma, Islas Canarias, Spain, 1 Evaluation was based on 479 collected [email protected] questionnaires (282 online and 197 on paper).

European Geologist 38 | November 2014 73