Science Festival Report 2010

Midlothian Science Festival 2013 EVALUATION REPORT

For further information on this report please contact: Dr Iona Beange,c/o Sarah Keer-Keer School of Biology, University of Edinburgh Room 316c, Darwin Building Kings Buildings Edinburgh, EH9 3JF Telephone: 07790310859,Email: [email protected] Executive Summary

Midlothian Science Festival ran for the second time from 5th-20th October 2013.

The majority of funding was ‘in-kind’ in terms of venues and staff time. The main cash funding was received from The Scottish Government Science Festivals funding. Other cash was received from partners, of which many more joined this year, and included for the first time local businesses.

In 2013 Midlothian Science Festival became a registered charity SC044130 and a company limited by guarantee SC446006.

The Festival at a Glance

 70+ public events including family drop-ins, films, talks by scientists, book groups, author talks, outdoor activities, exhibitions, a rocket building competition.

 19 + School events including workshops, travelling exhibitions, shows and teacher training.

 Over 6000 visitors attended events (1728 schools, 4308 public). A six-fold increase on last year!

 Cash cost of approx. £10,000

 Midlothian Science Festival has 3 directors / trustees who gave over 100 hours of their time on organising and running the festival:

o Philip Wark, Library Services Manager, Midlothian Council o Fiona Maher, Arts & Creativity Team Manager, Midlothian Council o Sarah Keer-Keer, Outreach and Communication Manager, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh

 There was one paid member of staff, a part-time Freelance Festival Manager Iona Beange, who was paid for a portion of the hours she worked. The other hours were kindly volunteered.

 2 further members joined the core committee on a regular basis – Library Manager Rachel Archibald and Public Engagement Professional Kathleen Pullen.

 The Festival Committee were provided in-kind by their organisations including Midlothian Libraries, Midlothian Arts and Creativity Team, Midlothian Ranger Service, University of Edinburgh, Roslin Institute, EAE of Loanhead, Edinburgh Science Triangle, (and many more).

 Over 125 volunteers helped with events during the festival. These people came from a range of organisations including industry, higher education institutions and colleges (staff and students), and ‘other groups’. At least 7 of these were STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) Ambassadors.

 17+ library staff contributed to events at all levels, from participating on organising committee, to organising their own local events.

 25+ venues were involved, including libraries across Midlothian, Vogrie Country Park, The Lasswade Centre and Rosslyn chapel.

Events

There were more than 70 public events at Midlothian Science festival including:

 5 Gala days, which attracted over 100 people each  24 Library events  12 Outdoor events  14 Events for adults  6 Exhibitions  2 Competitions  3 Book Clubs  6 events from outside providers (Dr Bunhead and ComputerXplorers)  4 Other events

And 18 school events:

 11 workshops at primary schools  6 workshops at secondary schools  1 high school teacher training event

Magical Moments

Numbers never tell the whole story. Many magical moments took place across the festival. Some examples include:

 "I am just about to finish my degree as a mature student. I wished I had done it straight after school. Events like this will help my son avoid the same mistake"

 One lady to parasitologist "at school we had to choose between Art and Science. I chose Art and I think it may have been a mistake. It is too late to retrain?”

 A lot of young people [were] engaging and discussing options for future education i.e. one girl told me that it had broadened her idea of the possibilities for further education – volunteer at Science Alive Gala day

 From Bonnyrigg librarian ‘After The Big Squeeze demonstration, several young people (who don’t normally engage) went online to look up how the stuff worked!’

 Daughter: " I want to be a Scientist" Mum: "I thought you wanted to be a popstar"

 The Gala day at Danderhall engaged 196 people- a record number for this library in one day. It led to some new library members and people are still talking about it. The community were so inspired by the day that a 75 yr old women on crutches came along just so she could make tea for the volunteers.  I felt I had to contact you to say how much we have enjoyed our 1st Midlothian science festival. My daughter Maisie is 6 years old and we have had the best fun ever this week, and all our on doorstep in Midlothian. It has to be said its difficult to say who has had the most fun this week as Maisie and I both loved our adventures out. It was so great to be able to attend such an affordable array of quality events in the local area. We had hoped to get away on holiday this October break but it has to be said we have had the best fun ever and here in Midlothian. I am sure such a programme of events takes mammoth energy and enthusiasm and a very big thank you from Maisie and I for a very memorable, fun and educational week. We hope you have the energy and funding opportunities to make this an annual event. Many thanks. MJ, Newtongrange

Partners This year we made a concerted effort to get more local partners involved in the festival, including partners from businesses. We increased the number of partners from approximately 7 to 24. We now have three tiers of partner, depending on the value of their contribution with principal partners giving the most value to the festival.

Principal partners  Midlothian Libraries  Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology  The Scottish Government  The University of Edinburgh  Midlothian Council Major partners  The Roslin Institute  AOC Archaeology  EAE  Midlothian Ranger Service  The Royal Observatory  Edinburgh College Edinburgh Visitor Centre Normal partners included  Artemis Intelligent Power  Midlothian Tourism Forum  EAE distribution, EDF Energy  Roslin Biocentre  Edinburgh Science Triangle  Rosslyn Chapel  GMP Print Solutions  Sci-FUN  IKEA  Stewart Brewing  Lab in a lorry  Wind Prospect  MacTaggart Scott

Other organisations and people who got involved Midlothian Arts & Creativity Team Penicuik Community Development University of Edinburgh, Schools of Trust and the Pen-Y-Coe Press Biology, Physics, Neuroscience, Forest Research Geosciences, Chemistry, Maths, Bagatelle EPCC & SIBE Botanica Mathematica GMP Print Solutions Robokid, Heriot Watt University Moredun Research Institute Sing London Midlothian Voluntary Action STFC, Lunar Loans. Museum of Communication Newbattle Abbey College Moorflix community cinema Forestry Commission National Mining Museum Scotland Lewis Hou Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh Castle Rock Edinvar SRUC, Scotland’s Rural College

Full Evaluation Report

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements i) Funders ii) Partners

1. Introduction 1.1. Aims and Objectives

2. Content 2.1. Programme Structure 2.2. Form of Interaction 2.3. External Venues

3. Audience Participation 3.1. Audience Numbers 3.2. Schools

4. Economic Impact 4.1. Total Cost of Staging Festival 4.2. Total Income for Festival 4.3. How the Scottish Government Grant was Allocated 4.4. Content Provision 4.5. Total Number of Paid Staff 4.6. Total Number of Volunteers

5. Evaluation 5.1. Measures of Success 5.2. Evaluation Comments 5.3. Evaluation of Advertisement Methods

6. Conclusion

Table of Figures

Figure 1 – Audience Numbers ...... 13 Figure 2 - Number of attendees in Schools Programme ...... 16 Figure 3 - Total Number of Volunteers ...... 20 Figure 4 - Enjoyment of Public events (average score out of 5) ...... 21 Figure 5 – Enjoyment of School Events (average score out of 5) ...... 22 Figure 6 – Public events - visitor age distribution ...... 23 Figure 7 – Events for School pupils ...... 24 Figure 8 - Percentage of audience residing in each geographic area ...... 24 Figure 9 – Advertising mediums public visitors reported seeing ...... 31 Figure 10 – Advertising mediums primary school pupils reported seeing ...... 32

Table of Tables

Table 1 - Total [cash] Cost of Staging the Festival ...... 17 Table 2 - Total Income for Festival ...... 17 Table 3 - Allocation of Scottish Government Grant ...... 18 Table 4 - Audience Distribution ...... 23 Table 5 - Breakdown of visitors by area ...... 24 Appendix 1 - Table 6 - Audience Breakdown by Event ...... 35 Appendix 2 - Table 7 – List of School Visits ...... 37

Preface - Acknowledgements i) Funders See our principal, major and normal partners listed on page 4 ii) Committee Members

Chair / Director / Trustee – Philip Wark, Library Services Manager, Midlothian Council

Other Directors:  Fiona Maher, Arts & Creativity Team Manager, Midlothian Council  Sarah Keer-Keer, Outreach and Communication Manager, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh

Festival Manager – Iona Beange

Organisations represented on Committee:  Midlothian Libraries  Midlothian Arts and Creativity Team  Midlothian Ranger Service  University of Edinburgh - including Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, The Roslin Institute, The School of Biology,  Midlothian Council  EAE Distribution  Edinburgh Science Triangle iii) Other Partners See our partners list on page 4

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

The Midlothian Science Festival began in 2012 with over 30 events put together in just 4 months. The focus was on bringing science to the local area, with libraries playing a key role as venues and hosts.

In 2013 Midlothian Science Festival became a registered charity (charity number SCO44130) and a company limited by guarantee (Company number SC446006).

The 2013 Midlothian Science Festival was held from 5th-20th October 2013 and saw a greatly expanded programme. The number of public events was doubled to include over 70 public events, and a schools programme was added on top of that.

Plans are already in place for the 2014 festival which will run 4th-19th Oct 2014, celebrating Homecoming Year amongst other themes.

1.2 Strategy

Midlothian residents are surrounded by cutting edge science and technology, however the science industry is disconnected from the local community, who often feel distrustful of science and scientists. Furthermore, most of the excellent and interesting science and technology jobs do not go to Midlothian residents – in fact these jobs seem invisible to Midlothian residents. Within schools there is not a culture of aspiration towards these local jobs and careers. Midlothian faces a number of social and economic challenges including low wages, youth unemployment and a low number of school leavers entering higher education.

With this festival, we want to:  Build relationships and trust between local science industries and local communities  Encourage people to look towards these science industries as places of potential employment  Encourage communities to understand issues of controversy, empowering them towards active participation in issues that affect them and their community  Raise the aspirations of local school children

1.3 Key Messages

 Science is everywhere and is for everyone – regardless of age or background  Science and technology is a key part of Midlothian’s cultural identity and infuses into all areas including our natural and historic environment, our food and drink, our health care and sporting achievements, and our creative arts  Midlothian has rich history of science and technology and continues to be a world leader in this field  There are lots of career opportunities within science and technology in Midlothian  Our local libraries are a key location for accessing science resources throughout the year.

1.4 Aims and Objectives

a. to run stimulating and enjoyable interactive science activities for a wide range of audiences in Midlothian; b. to provide a non-threatening entry point for local people from a varied demographic area (including rural and deprived areas) to engage with science; c. to showcase, in an engaging way, the current and historical science originating from Midlothian; and d. to provide role models for careers in the form of festival staff, volunteers and presenters who work in STEM in the local area. e. To demonstrate Midlothian’s contribution and importance to science and technology at a global level and to broaden the horizons of future generations of scientists.

2 Content

2.1 Programme Structure

This year, Midlothian Science Festival had 2 main strands – public events and schools events. This was our first year of school events.

Midlothian Science Festival has a strong geographic focus and aims to bring science events to the doorstep of Midlothian residents. All of the events took place within the Midlothian Council area and as far as possible involved Midlothian or Lothian scientists and organisations.

The programme avoided prescriptive rules on event types or themes, aiming to be as inclusive as possible and promote involvement of local organisations.

2.2 Form of Interaction

Schools: There were 18 school events, 11 at primary schools, 7 at secondary schools including one teacher training event

There were over 70 public events at Midlothian Science festival including

5 Gala days  Mayfield Library – 170 visitors  Science in the Glen (Roslin Glen) 150 visitors  Big Bang Energy Day (National Mining Museum) 170 visitors  Science Alive Gala Day (Lasswade High School Centre) 461 visitors  Weird science at Danderhall Library 196 visitors

24 Library events – including:  Heart stoppers at Gorebridge Library  Supercomputing and you at Dalkeith Library  Discover archaeology at Loanhead Library  Biscuit city of the future at Penicuik Library

12 Outdoor events – including:  Gerry and the breadmakers at Vogrie Country Park  Plant a tree at Springfield Mill Nature Reserve  Science in the saddle bike ride with The Roslin Institute  The secret life of herbs at Newbattle Abbey College

14 Events for adults - including  Talk, tour and tasting at Stewart Brewery.  Mind yer brain (film and discussion) with Moorflix  Behind the scenes at Roslin Biocentre  Beauty Lab at Danderhall Library

6 Exhibitions - including  Travelling Museum of British Invention with Sing London  Great Scientists of Midlothian at Danderhall Library  Archaeological Detectives at Loanhead Library  CTR Wilson with Penicuik Community Development Trust.

2 Competitions:  Cake-a-licious – design a cake competition  Blast off – build and launch a water rocket competition

3 Book Clubs – in association with Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology.

2.3 External Venues

More than 25 different venues housed events for Midlothian Science Festival. These included:

Libraries:  Dalkeith Library  Mayfield Library  Danderhall Library  Newtongrange Library  Gorebridge Library  Penicuik Library  Lasswade Centre  Roslin Library  Loanhead Library

Higher and Further Education Buildings – all new for 2013  Edinburgh College,  Newbattle Abbey Dalkeith College  Langhill Farm  The Roslin Institute

Business Premises  Flotterstone Inn  IKEA Edinburgh (new for 2013)  Roslin Biocentre (new for 2013)  Stewart Brewing, (new for 2013)

Outdoors  Roslin Glen Country Park (new for 2013)  Springfield Mill Nature Reserve (new for 2013)  Vogrie Country Park  Boghall Farm (new for 2013)

Other  Rosslyn Chapel (new for 2013)  Temple Village Hall, Temple (new for 2013)  Private individuals’ houses (Book Groups)

1. Audience Participation

Figure 1 – Audience Numbers (see Appendix 1 for Table of figures, numbers as reported by event co-ordinators)

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

…

Storytelling

Planttreea

Mini WorldsMini

sciences daysciences

DNAOrigami

Ponddipping

Weird ScienceWeird

CraftyScience

Yarn Bombers Yarn

ArttheParkin

Meet theMeetcows

HeartStoppers

HandPrint Tree

Ye Olde Teatime Olde Ye

The Big SqueezeBigThe

Be ExperimentalBe

SweetPerfection

Geo

NaturalKnitswith

Mayfield Gala Day MayfieldGala

WildFoodRamble

SciencetheinGlen

BouncyCapersBall

StellarBathBombs

CookingupScience CookingupScience CookingupScience

WoodlandExplorers

Sciencethesaddlein

DiscoverArchaeology!

Smuts, Rusts andSmuts,RustsPlant

ScienceDayAlive Gala

The Secret Life of HerbsSecretofThe Life

Native trees & diseases diseases Native & trees

BiscuitCity theoffuture BiscuitCity theoffuture

RockandRamblingsRoll

Supercomputingandyou

Gerry & theBreadmakersGerry &

FeatheredFeedingFriends

BIG BANG EnergyBANGday Gala BIG Heavens Above:HeavensStar gazing

Gala Days Library Events Outdoor Events 500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

licious

Blast Off Blast

BeautyLab BeautyLab

Moonrocks

CosmicRays

PaperCapers

Ash Die Back Die Ash

RadicalReads

Cake

LegoRobotics

Café InventionCafé

thefar story so

ElectricFutures

BookclubRoslin

PCDTCTRwilson

StewartBrewing

Biocentre

BookclubEskbank

Mindbrainyer(film)

VideoStarworkshop

SolartourMeadows:

BookclubDanderhall

Aninconveneint Truth

TravellingBusmuseum

Genes, brainsandiPads Genes,

Dr Bunhead'sDr Coalshow

MoleculeHuntMadness

ArchaeologicalDetectives

Sciencestonebuildingsof

BehindtheScenesRoslinat

Ticks, Viruses & Nobel VirusesPrizes& Ticks,

The FutureThe orour Woodlands

Ash Die Back Die Ash

GreatScientistsMidlothian of AncientUncoveredMysteries

Adult Events Outside Providers Exhibitions Competitions Book Club Other

Audiences this year exceeded our expectations. Over 4000 people engaged with our public programme, compared to 1000 last year.

The most popular ticketed events in terms of speed to ‘sell out’ were:  Dr Bunheads Very Dangerous Coal Shows (Family Science Show)  Stewart Brewing – tour and tasting (adults only)

However, the majority of our events were non-ticketed, drop in style, several of which exceeded our attendance expectations including:  Science Alive Gala day (The Lasswade Centre)  Wild Food Ramble, with Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (Gorebridge Library)  Crafty Science at Mayfield Library  Travelling Museum of British Invention (various)

The events that attracted the largest audiences were the family drop-in days, where children and families could participate in interactive hands-on science activities with real scientists/students. These events were free and ran for several hours (10 am-4 pm typically). The Science Alive Gala day at the Lasswade High School Centre was particularly successful with 461 people attending in just one day. The Weird Science event attracted 196 people, a record for Danderhall Library!

The Artemis Blast Off competition (design a water rocket) received 89 entries and was a good way to attract people along to other events. There are requests for a repeat of this competition in 2014.

The outdoor activities were also popular. The most popular events at Vogrie Country Park were Gerry and the Breadmakers (which was attended by 150 people), and the pond dipping (which saw 70 people participate). The Stargazing event at Rosslyn Chapel was sold out and saw 33 people attend. Conversely no-one turned up for the Ticks Viruses and Nobel Prizes walk, perhaps because of the bad weather the night before, and its timing on a Sunday morning?

The book club events provided an in-depth experience for everyone involved – with participants and scientists learning from one another. Three events were run within the festival period. The opportunity for groups to borrow the books and meet with a scientist is ongoing and more events should take place throughout the year.

There was disappointing attendance at the talks, which were targeted towards the, notoriously difficult, adult audience. The future of our Woodlands at Newbattle Abbey College had 5 attendees. Other talks had between 9 and 20 attendees. This is an area for investigation and improvement in 2014. Cosmic Rays, a walk and demonstration at Flotterstone Inn had just 3 attendees, we are not definite why, though bad weather will have been a factor.

In order to increase attendance at all events, we will again review our promotions and advertising procedures (see section below).

3.2 Schools Programme

The schools programme was a new addition to Midlothian Science Festival in 2013.

18 Events were held for Primary and Secondary School pupils and one event for teachers. This added 1718 young people and 10 teachers to our numbers. The majority of the school visits were done by existing workshop providers whom we encouraged to attend Midlothian Schools. This ensured the events we provided were of high quality. This is a strategy we intend to repeat in future years. Areas of specific deprivation were particularly well catered for, because some providers funding insist on this for free workshops.

We had one paid workshop provider ‘The Real Science of the Circus ‘ we received sponsorship from EDF energy to cover the cost of the visit. This show reached 390 pupils in just one day.

There is much scope for growth in school involvement next year. We need more workshop providers to get involved and we need to give the schools more time to plan.

Figure 2 - Number of attendees in Schools Programme (see appendix 2 for table of figures)

1200

1000

800

600

400 No. of pupils No.of

200

0 High School Primary

Economic Impacts

Table 1 - Total [cash] Cost of Staging the Festival

Item Cost Festival Manager Salary 4,403.47 Brochure print and design 2,070.00 Website build & hosting 697.68 EAE distribution 157.87 Consumables 89.72 Staff travel 355.60 Volunteer food and drink £50 Dr Bunhead 750.00 Hire of mining Museum 350.00 Van hire 142.75 Courier costs 79.50 Marketing posters, balloons etc 660.55 Payment to other providers 225.00 Table hire 39.00 TOTAL Cost 10,356.14 Please note, the majority of our costs were met ‘in-kind’ by partners. 4.2 Table 2 - Total Income for Festival

Scottish Government Science Festival Funding £4,000.00 Scottish Government grant part 2 £1,000.00 Roslin Institute £200.00 Edinburgh Science Triangle £250.00 Roslin Biocentre £250.00 Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology £500.00 University of Edinburgh, Biology £500.00 Midlothian Tourism Forum £500.00 Midlothian Council Business £1,000.00 Bunhead ticket sales £772.43 AOC Archaeology £250.00 Royal Observatory Edinburgh £100.00 Edinburgh College £1,000.00 MacTaggart Scott £250.00 Newbatlle Abbey College £30.00 Wind prospect - energy fair £150.00 EDF - Energy fair £150.00 Edinburgh Optics £30.00 Eventbrite tickets £60.00 Eventbrite computer explorers £285.45 cash from 2012 £66.11 TOTAL incoming £11,343.99 Total outgoing £10,356.14 Balance bought forward to start work on 2014 festival £987.85 17

4.3 How the Scottish Government Grant was Allocated

Table 3 - Allocation of Scottish Government Grant

Total Cost % allocated to Allocated to Scottish Item Total Cost Scottish Government Government Grant Grant Festival Managers Salary 4403.47 68% 3000

Brochure Print and Design 2070.00 97% 2000

Total Cost 5000

4.4 Content Provision

Almost all of our events were provided by project partners or local organisations. The only ‘external’ providers for our public events were ‘Dr Bunhead’ and ComputerXplorers. In our schools programme, schools visits were donated in-kind to the festival with the exception of James Soper – The Real Science of the Circus.

4.5 Total Number of Paid Staff

One paid members of staff, a part-time Freelance Festival Manager (paid for a portion of hours.

4.3 Committee members were provided in-kind by their organisations including:

3 Public Engagement Professionals worked over 100 hours each on organising and running events for the festival. Their time was donated in kind by the University of Edinburgh and The Roslin Institute

3 members of staff from Midlothian Council (2 from Midlothian Libraries and 1 from Midlothian Arts and Creativity Team) worked over 50 hours each on organising and running events. Several other members of Midlothian Council spent time on the committee and assisted with organisational aspects such as schools liaison.

A Senior Ranger from Vogrie Country Park organised a significant number events and contributed to the committee

Several companies are represented on the committee including EAE and Edinburgh Science Triangle.

Figure 3 - Total Number of Volunteers

50 45 40 35 30 25 20

% of of volunteers% 15 10 5 0 Library Industry Higher / Rangers Other /Business Further Education

NB: This graph is based upon co-ordinator evaluation forms which were not completed at all events. The same member of staff may be counted more than once in the above graph if they attended more than one event.

Over 125 volunteers assisted in the delivery of events. These volunteers came from a range of organisations including:

Industry eg AOC Archaeology, Artemis Intelligent Power

Higher / Further Education Institutions and colleges (staff and students) eg University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College, Newbattle Abbey College

‘other groups’ eg High School Pupils, local groups (Girl Guides) and local people.

At least 7 of these were STEM Ambassadors

5. Evaluation

Aims and Objectives

5.1 Measures of Success

1. Run enjoyable events (objective a)

Figure 4 - Enjoyment of Public events (average score out of 5)

5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00

0.00

…

Vogrie

Cosmic Rays

Moon RocksMoon

Microscopes

Plant a Tree, a Plant

Pond DippingPond

LegoRobotics

Art in theArt park

Yarn Bombers

Mind yerMind Brain

Meet the Meetcows

Store BuildingsStore

Heavensabove

Smuts, Smuts, rusts and

Stewart BrewingStewart

Be experimentalBe

ScienceSaddle in

Mayfield Gala Mayfield Gala day

ScienceAliveGala

FeatheredFriends

Wild Food WildRamble

Secretof herbslife

Sciencethe Glen in

Rock & Roll Ramble Rock

Geoscience

Gerry & BreadmakersGerry& Genes BrainsGenes and ipads

*NB: The data in this table is from the evaluation forms, which were not collected at all events and which not all visitors completed.

Figure 5 – Enjoyment of School Events (average score out of 5)

5.00

4.00

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00

The average score from our public evaluation forms was 4.72 out of five and for the school events 4.33 out of 5. As can be seen from the graph above, all events had a very high average score. Thank you to all event providers for running such enjoyable events.

2. Engage a wide range of audiences (objective a)

Figure 6 – Public events - visitor age distribution

20 % of respondantsof % 15

0 Under 5 5-12 yrs 12-18yrs 19-64yrs 65+

NB: The data in this chart is from the evaluation forms, which not all visitors completed.

Table 4 - Audience Distribution Age in years Under 5 5-12 12-18 19-64 65+ 11% 32% 7% 43% 6%

The age distribution (based on evaluation data) is largely as expected. The majority of our visitors attend as family groups with adults and children attending together.

The graph shows a gap in the 12-18 year old category. This age group are difficult to attract to public events, however, they were targeted directly with our secondary schools programme and via our interactions with a Girl Guide company (see below). In 2014 it may be worth considering targeting events directly towards under 5’s and over 65’s.

Figure 7 – Events for School pupils

1200

1000

800

600

No. participants of 400

200

0 Primary School (5-12) Secondary School (12-18) Girl Guides (10-17) 2. Engage a Local Audience (Midlothian – objective b), as well as day-trippers and holidaymakers.

Figure 8 - Percentage of audience residing in each geographic area

80 70 60 50 40

30 % of of visitors % 20 10 0

Table 5 - Breakdown of visitors by area East West Borders Other Other Midlothian Edinburgh Abroad Lothian Lothian Scotland UK 66.8% 13.9% 8.1% 1.1% 2.7% 6.2% 0.8% 0.4%

In 2012 our focus was predominantly on engaging a very local Midlothian Audience, which we achieved with 80% of our visitors residing in the local Midlothian area. This is important for us, as nearby Edinburgh has a well established Science Festival, which struggles to attract visitors from the Midlothian area.

In 2013 we were looking to keep our local audience engaged and attending events, while also reaching out to other audiences, especially those visiting the area.

Our figures for 2013 show 67% of our 2013 attendees at public events reside in Midlothian thus achieving our aim of engaging a local audience.

A quarter of attendees at public events came from surrounding areas (Edinburgh, East and West Lothian, Borders), and may be classed as ‘daytrippers’. The remaining 7.4% came from further afield and are likely to have been on holiday or visiting relatives in the area.

Thus, we have demonstrated that running science events in Midlothian is a successful way to engage with both Midlothian residents and those visiting the area. We will continue to build on this success in 2014.

3. Engage people from rural and deprived areas (objective b)

According to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SMID), Dalkeith is amongst the 10% most deprived areas in Scotland. We ran 11 public events in the Dalkeith area which engaged over 200 people with science. We also ran 3 schools events in Dalkeith (1 primary, 2 secondary) which brought science to 440 young people. Finally, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh ran a CPD session for 10 teachers at St David’s RC High School.

Similarly, Mayfield is amongst the 10% most health deprived areas in Scotland. We engaged with over 300 people in Mayfield. We also ran had a show in the secondary school which engaged 200 pupils.

4. Showcase current and historical science originating from Midlothian and demonstrate its importance at a global level (objective c and f)

Many of our events showcased historical science originating from Midlothian eg:  Cosmic Rays – Midlothian Nobel Prize Winner CTR Wilson  Behind the Scenes at Roslin Biocentre – Ian Wilmut, Dolly the Sheep  Dr Bunheads Very Dangerous Coal show – featuring a retired miner

Other events specifically showcased current science originating in Midlothian and gave the public the opportunity to meet practising scientists and engineers eg:  Meet the cows – Langhilll Farm Tour, Roslin Institute  Big Bang Energy Day – various local companies including EDF Energy and Wind Prospect and MacTaggart Scott (marine handling systems)  Stewart Brewing – tour and tasting at their premises in Bilston Glen Industrial Estate, Loanhead, hosted by Steve Stewart, Master Brewer with assistance from brewing staff and students from Heriot Watt University.

Our schools programme also showcased Midlothian Science eg:  AOC Archaeology demonstrated their work at Loanhead Primary School

5. Provide role models for careers in the form of festival staff, volunteers and presenters who work in STEM in the local area (objective d and f)

Around 100 active scientists and engineers assisted with our public events, acting as role models as they presented their science to the public, for example:

Volunteers from Industry and local business assisted with several events including people from Artemis Intelligent Power, IKEA, MacTaggart Scott and AOC Archaeology. Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology assisted with events such as book groups and the Science Alive Gala day. Registered STEM Ambassadors assisted with the Artemis Rocket Blast competition (water rockets) and at the Cosmic Rays event.

Furthermore, the majority of presenters involved in the schools programme were practising scientists and engineers and researchers from institutions. By interacting directly with school pupils these researchers were providing inspiration to future generations. 26

5.2 Evaluation Comments

Magical Moments

Numbers never tell the whole story. Many magical moments took place across the festival. Some examples include:

"I am just about to finish my degree as a mature student. I wished I had done it straight after school. Events like this will help my son avoid the same mistake"

One lady to parasitologist "at school we had to choose between Art and Science. I chose Art and I think it may have been a mistake. It is too late to retrain?”

A lot of young people [were] engaging and discussing options for future education i.e. one girl told me that it had broadened her idea of the possibilities for further education – volunteer at Science Alive Gala day

After The Big Squeeze demonstration, several young people (who don’t normally engage) went online to look up how the stuff worked!

To see the delight of the little boy's tale as he saw the finished pixie with large google eyes and called it 'little elfie'

A boy resisted making a water rocket and tried to pretend he wasn’t interested. At the last minute he chose the smallest bottle and quickly wrapped it in black tape and silver stars. It was 2nd last to be launched, but he won the distance competition for that venue! He continued to talk his win for ages afterwards and wanted to know when he could do it again.

Daughter: " I want to be a Scientist" Mum: "I thought you wanted to be a popstar"

Lego robotics – one little boy “can I stay for the next session?” – he wanted to do the same thing again immediately!

The Gala day at Danderhall engaged 196 people- a record number for this library in one day. It led to some new library members and people are still talking about it. The community were so inspired by the day that a 75 yr old women on crutches volunteered to come along just to make tea for volunteers.

Lots of positive comments were received on the evaluation forms. This is just a tiny selection.

Quotes From Schools – What did you enjoy most?

 “ I enjoyed the game of tag. We played when were pretending to be neurons” - Get Connected (neuroscience)  “I held a massive asteroid” - Moon Rocks  “Learning about DNA and making DNA necklace” - DNA Extraction

Quotes From Adult Events – What did you enjoy most?

 “Open discussion, talking scientist made me feel confident to ask questions” - Mind yer brain (film and discussion)  “Excellent, interesting talk, very knowledgeable, lots about conservation and stone masonry” – Science of Stone Buildings  “Learning about science of beer” - Stewart Brewing (tour and tasting)  “A great talk about a current issue regarding brain degeneration and things we can do to enrich our mind” - Genes, brains and ipads talk

Quotes From Family Events – What did you enjoy most?

 “all the tips, tasting , book recommendations” – Wild Food Ramble  “best thing I’ve been to with my Gran” – wee lad at Mayfield Gala Day  “All of it. Great to see a variety of things to do with bread / dough, butter and cooking...and yum!” – Gerry and the Breadmakers  “Fascinating variety of information and the comet!!” – Heaven’s Above  “Squidging the mixture and having something worthwhile to take home” – Feathered Friends  “Learned lots of interesting information and also discovered new places” – Science in the Saddle  "We don't get enough science at school - this is cool!" – Science Alive Gala Day  8 year old boy after playing 'the firing synapse? Shouted "Yes I am a superstrong synapse!" -Science Alive Gala Day  “Impressed with very varied and informative events. Brilliant expert speakers” – commenting on festival as a whole

Quotes From Mayfield Gala Day – What did you think of the Gala Day?

 “Really interesting, Lauren spent over 30 minutes playing with the robots. This is the girls second year and they really enjoy coming.” (mum)

 “A great day out for all the family. Lots of different activities for all age groups. Would thoroughly recommend a visit next year! Samantha Duncan” (mum)

 “Brilliant!!!!!! So much to do and see – fun and interesting – a must every year!! “

 “A science activity based locally is always going to be well attended by local children who don’t always get the chance to go further afield. I am here with my grandchildren (9, 7 and 4) and there is something for each of them and they well entertained. Thank you, Mary Miller.” (gran)

 Science festival at Mayfield Library was an amazing resource and activity to bring into the local community. Hope to see more of this in the future Jan Guild (gran)

Many comments praised the Staff and volunteers  “The way Alan made a totally mind boggling subject accessible entertaining and thrilling” Cosmic Rays  “The enthusiasm and knowledge of all the staff” – Stewart Brewing  “Paul was excellent - really dynamic” – Secret life of herbs  “The lecturers enthusiasm” – Genes, brains and ipads  “Local knowledge of area by both guides enhanced walk” – Rock and Roll Ramble  “Talking to the people. The simple way everything was being explained” – Gerry and the Breadmakers “I felt I had to contact you to say how much we have enjoyed our 1st Midlothian science festival. My daughter Maisie is 6 years old and we have had the best fun ever this week, and all our on doorstep in Midlothian. It has to be said its difficult to say who has had the most fun this week as Maisie and I both loved our adventures out. It was so great to be able to attend such an affordable array of quality events in the local area. We had hoped to get away on holiday this October break but it has to be said we have had the best fun ever and here in Midlothian.I am sure such a programme of events takes mammoth energy and enthusiasm and a very big thank you from Maisie and I for a very memorable, fun and educational week. We hope you have the energy and funding opportunities to make this an annual event. Many thanks. “MJ, Newtongrange

Comment from volunteers – What went well? Mayfield Gala Day:  “The variety of drop in stands people stayed for hours!”  “Well organised. Venue was the right size for the number of visitors”  “Kids were really enthusiastic and the exhibitions contributed to that.”  “I am extremely impressed with the enthusiasm that kids showed for the science festival. At this early stage of their lives it is of the upmost importance to let them know that nothing is set for them and there are so many open doors to understand the mysteries of the world. And you guys make this happen. Keep up the good work! Tasos (volunteer- engineer student from Herriot Watt University).”  “A great event serving the local community. The kids were great and very enthusiastic, as were the local library staff. Bringing science and engineering out of the lab and into the community is an excellent way of building interest in these subjects. Jim Herd (volunteer – lecturer from Herriot Watt and inventor of Robokid).”

Science Alive Gala Day  “Good atmosphere, deep engagement”  “It was quite active, but just the right level of activity. The age groups were pretty diverse too.”  “Great variety. 'hands on' element very important and very effective. Nice vibe and feel, great venue space”  “Extremely well organised. Excellent layout plenty of variety” 29

Science in the glen  “Camaraderie and fellowship”  “The people on the walk said they learned a lot and hadn't realised there was so much industrial activity in Roslin Glen”

People want next year:  “keep up the good work”  “same again please”  “keep it going”  “Keep going really enjoyed talks and activities for adults”  “Do it again”  “Please do another Science  “Come back” Festival”  “more of the same”  “Brilliant keep it up”  “a program for adults’  “Bigger”

Summary of Evaluation Findings

Audiences this year exceeded our expectations.

Over 4000 people engaged with our public programme, compared to 1000 last year. As expected, most attendees came as family groups (adults with child 5-12), however we also targeted events at adults and under 5’s. Many of our most popular events highlighted current and historical science originating from Midlothian including Stewart Brewing and Dr Bunhead (mining).

The majority of attendees came from Midlothian (67%), confirming that we are engaging a local audience. We also attracted many Daytrippers from the surrounding area (25%).

Our new schools programme was a very successful addition for 2013 and allowed us to engage with an additional 1718 young people and 10 teachers, bringing our total audience figure to over 6000 people.

Both our public and schools events were scored very highly for enjoyment by participants.

Over 125 volunteers assisted in the delivery of events, including people from industry, Higher / Further education institutions and other groups such as high school pupils and local groups. At least 7 of these were STEM Ambassadors.

Around 100 of our volunteers and almost all of the presenters in our schools programme were practicing scientists and engineers, proving key role models for young people.

We ran several events in Dalkeith and Mayfield and engaged over 1000 people in these areas which are listed in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SMID).

5.3 Evaluation of Advertisement Methods

Figure 9 – Advertising mediums public visitors reported seeing

90 80 70 60 50 40

30 No. of responses 20 10 0 word of Program Program Facebook / Other mouth (school) (elsewhere) Twitter

This graph is based on evaluation data from public events (approx 580 responses). Respondents were asked to mark all applicable ways they had heard about Midlothian Science Festival.

Similar to last year last year, ‘Word of mouth’ was a key advertising medium, and something that we hope will grow year on year as the festival gains momentum.

Printed programs were also important. These were distributed mainly via schools (primary and secondary) as indicated in the graph. However, they were also put out by libraries, EAE distribution and by festival partners via their own networks.

Within ‘other’ the following were mentioned:  Newspaper (eg Midlothian Advertiser)  Websites (eg Google, Eventbrite, What’s On, Midlothian Council)  Local Groups eg PTA Meeting, Walking club, Friends of Roslin, Lothian Cyclists  Library  Email  Posters  Just passing by

Figure 10 – Advertising mediums primary school pupils reported seeing

30 No. of responses 20

0 Program poster website facebook twitter other

Responses from Primary School Pupils (211 responses) showed a slightly different pattern with regard to advertising medium. Many more of them had seen posters – presumably within their schools, and Facebook and Twitter were more likely to be mentioned, reminding us of the importance of social media when advertising events for young people.

Printed programme

The printed programme was designed and printed by GMP Print solutions. We doubled the number of pages from 4 to 8 page this year, to reflect the increase in events, but the style and use of symbols and colours was maintained. The cover image retained the circular ‘science’ image, but images of people were added to the cover and throughout. A timetable of events by day was included on the first inside page and then the events were listed by area (with nearby areas located proximal within the programme).

Feedback suggested that the programme design suggested a children/family festival and that it was unclear that events for an adult audience were included. We will consider this feedback for next year.

Website

A new website was created for the 2013 festival and launched at the end of August 2013. From that point until the end of the festival (20th Oct 2013) there were 5,097 visits to the website and 3,157 unique visitors.

823 visits were made using mobile devices and 665 with a tablet. 1,961 came via Google or another search engine, 1,692 came from directly to the site 632 came via Facebook People also used the Midlothian Council website (82), The List website (47) and Visit Scotland (38) amongst other routes.

Most visitors came directly to the home page (ie the first page they viewed was the homepage). However, 296 people navigated directly (either via a link or by typing it in) to 32 the Travelling Museum of British Invention Page and 147 directly to the Science in the Saddle page. 101 people navigated directly to the Artemis blast off competition page.

Social Media

Regular tweets / posts were made to Twitter / Facebook in advance of the festival, increasing to daily during the festival.

Midlothian Science Festival has 117 ‘likes’ (followers) on Facebook. The posts with the greatest reach on Facebook were those that were ‘shared’ by large organisations eg:  The images of the Mayfield Rocket Blast that were shared by the National Mining Museum and Totally Scotland (Travel and experiences in Scotland).  The post about Science in the Glen event which was shared by Cousland and Temple Village Hall.

Changes within Facebook make it a very difficult medium to use free of charge as an organisation. The inherent set-up means only a fraction of your followers will see your posts unless you pay to boost them. Nevertheless, if partners or individuals can be persuaded to repost, then it can still be an effective mechanism for publicity. This should be investigated further for 2014.

Midlothian Science Festival has 87 followers on Twitter and has posted 90 tweets. Twitter is set up to automatically repost MSF tweets to Facebook. Twitter again depends on followers and retweeting, thus building a following and persuading partners to retweet is something we need to work on in 2014.

Press Coverage

The 2013 Midlothian Science Festival achieved some Press Coverage including:

 The travelling museum of british invention was filmed at Danderhall Library and featured on STV news.  Several articles appeared in the Midlothian Advertiser and Midlothian News  The festival featured in the CAPS newsletter.  The evening news photographer attended and took photos, but these did not reach the newspaper.  Many of our events featured on the BBC ‘Things to Do’ website.  The List had a general listing on the festival but did not list each event.

Efforts will be made to increase press coverage in 2014.

Summary of Advertising Findings

The new website is a great addition and is being well used. The design is very functional and it works on a variety of platforms including mobile devices. The aim is that this design has sufficient functionality and flexibility to last us for several years. Uploading events for the 2014 Festival should therefore be much more straightforward than it has been in the past.

Word of mouth cannot be underestimated as an advertising medium, and building partnerships is crucial to this, as well as to social networking (Twitter / Facebook).

The printed program is a key element of publicity, however, we need to work with schools to ensure that these do not go to waste.

We should continue to engage with the media, but acknowledge the inherent difficulties in getting wide scale coverage for a small festival.

Advertising and promotions is again an area for improvement in 2014, but great steps forward have been made since 2012.

6. Overall Conclusion

The phenomenal increase in visitors to Midlothian Science Festival in 2013 (from 1000 in 2012 to over 6000 in 2013) has surprised and delighted the science festival team. The encouragement and support we have received from local businesses and organisations has been fantastic, and the willingness of the local people to participate in our events has been greatly encouraging.

Having a full year to plan made a big difference to organisational matters and advertising, and meant we had time to plan a proper brochure and website.

Organising the 2013 festival has taught us many lessons, and there are of course still improvements and developments that can be made. However, as the momentum starts to gather towards 2014, we look forward to seeing the festival grow and mature, and no doubt surprise us again!

Appendix 1 - Table 6 - Audience Breakdown by Event

No. return numbers Under 5-12 12- 19- Evaluation rate Event Title (max 100 chars) attended 5 yrs 18yrs 64yrs 65+ Responses (%) Crafty Science 70 Plant a tree 20 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 Mayfield Gala Day 170 6 23 4 16 0 49 29 Science in the Glen 150 8 26 5 48 4 91 61 Heart Stoppers 165 Biscuit City of the future 46 Supercomputing and you 75 DNA Origami 5 Beauty Lab 15 Radical Reads 14 Smuts, Rusts and Plant Diseases 7 0 0 0 5 1 6 86 Discover Archaeology! 18 Stewart Brewing 50 0 0 0 26 0 26 52 Moon rocks 55 Hand Print Tree 9 Cooking up Science 28 Bouncy Ball Capers 15 Be Experimental 62 2 9 0 1 2 14 23

Dr Bunhead's Very Dangerous Coal Show 240 Cooking up Science 12 Café Invention 12 Yarn Bombers 17 3 5 0 3 1 12 71 BIG BANG Energy Gala day 170 Video Star workshop 32

Natural Knits with Mathematica Botanica 8 Pond dipping 70 10 6 0 11 1 28 40 PCDT exhibition about CTR Wilson Science Alive Gala Day 461 17 31 21 2 0 71 15 Cosmic Rays 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 33 Feathered Friends Feeding Time 25 2 4 1 6 0 13 52 PCDT Film An inconveneint Truth 50 Storytelling 8 Native trees & diseases 6 Cooking up Science 32 Geo-sciences day 100 0 4 0 2 1 7 7 Solar Meadows: tour 5 Electric Future: Cars and Engineering 7 Beauty Lab 15 Ancient Mysteries Uncovered 9 Biscuit City of the future 57

Rock and Roll Ramblings : guided walk 8 0 0 0 5 12 17 213 Science in the saddle 18 0 0 3 26 0 29 161 The Big Squeeze 26 Solar Meadows 5 Electric Future: Cars and Engineering 7 35

No. return numbers Under 5-12 12- 19- Evaluation rate Event Title (max 100 chars) attended 5 yrs 18yrs 64yrs 65+ Responses (%) Sweet Perfection: science of pudding 19 Ye Olde Teatime: workshop 19 The Secret Life of Herbs 24 5 3 0 6 0 14 58 Ash Die Back - the story so far 15 Weird Science 196 Stellar Bath Bombs: workshop 12 Woodland Explorers 26 The Future or our Woodlands 5 Heavens Above: Star gazing 33 0 9 2 14 2 27 82

Behind the Scenes at Roslin Biocentre 28 Meet the cows: Langhill Farm Tour 13 0 8 2 7 0 17 131 Genes, brains and iPads 11 0 2 0 6 2 10 91 Mini Worlds 30 0 4 0 3 0 7 23 Wild Food Ramble 45 4 5 0 9 1 19 42 Lego Robotics 32 1 13 0 7 1 22 69 Paper Capers 40 Science of stone buildings 20 1 3 0 10 2 16 80 Art in the Park 35 0 13 0 13 0 26 74 Ticks, Viruses and Nobel Prizes (Pentland Hills) 0 Gerry and the Breadmakers 150 4 11 0 8 1 24 16 Mind yer brain 30 0 2 0 6 5 13 43

Exhibitions Molecule Madness Hunt 13 Ash Die Back - the story so far 300 Great Scientists of Midlothian 50 Archaeological Detectives 90 PCDT exhib about CTR wilson 25

Competitions Cake-a-licious 70 Blast Off 89

Other

Travelling museum of British Invention 423 Moon Rocks 60 2 6 1 10 1 20 33 Sarah book club Danderhall 4 Sarah Book club Roslin 12 Sarah Book club Eskbank 12 Total 4308 66 187 39 251 37 580 61

*NB: The data in this table is from the evaluation forms, which were not collected at all events and which not all visitors completed.

Appendix 2 - Table 7 – List of School Visits

No. School Classes Provider Workshop Participants High Schools Sci -FUN, Newbattle S2 University of Edinburgh SCI-FUN visit 200 Royal Observatory Edinburgh St David's RC S2 visitor centre Planetarium 150 Lasswade Lab in a Lorry Lab in a Lorry visit 200 Dalkeith Lab in a Lorry Lab in a Lorry visit 200

Primary Schools James Soper Lasswade Primary (Sponsored by EDF energy) The real science of the circus 240 James Soper Newtongrange Primary (Sponsored by EDF energy) The real science of the circus 150 Roslin Primary P6/P7 SIBE, University of Edinburgh DNA extraction workshop 65 Mauricewood Primary P6/P7 SIBE, University of Edinburgh DNA extraction workshop 65 Neuroscience, University of Stobhill Primary p7 Edinburgh getCONNECTED 17 Neuroscience, University of Danderhall Primary p7 Edinburgh getCONNECTED 34 Neuroscience, University of Roslin Primary p7 Edinburgh getCONNECTED 33 Neuroscience, University of Cuiken Primary p7 Edinburgh getCONNECTED 32 Loanhead Primary P1-P4 AOC Archaeology Archaeology 120 KingsPark Primary Lewis Hou Fiddling in the brain 90 Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology and the Royal Stobhill primary Observatory Edinburgh Moon rocks 22 Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology and the Royal Loanhead Primary p7 &P6 Observatory Edinburgh moon rocks 50 Wellcome Trust Centre for St Luke’s Primary School, Cell Biology and the Royal Mayfield P6 & P7 Observatory Edinburgh Moon rocks 50

Teachers St David's RC HS teachers Royal Observatory Edinburgh Exoplants CPD with teachers 10 visitor centre Total 1728