Conference Opening – Welcome from EUSEA and La Palma Research Centre

Welcome to the European Science Engagement Conference 2025! We are thrilled to kick off this year’s gathering with inspiring insights and valuable perspectives from EUSEA President Kenneth Skeldon and Ariadna Ortega Rodríguez, Communications Manager at La Palma Research Centre.

Ken Skeldon – #EUSEA25 Conference Welcome

Welcome to the 2025 European Science Engagement Conference in sunny Gran Canaria. We’re delighted to be spending a few days with the warm hospitality of the La Palma Research Centre and in such a beautiful set of islands.

We’ll begin as always with a welcome to all our existing and new members and friends joining us in Gran Canaria. We’ve certainly been true to our theme of raising sails and crossing oceans with over 20 countries represented across our exciting two-day programme. There are so many highlights, and we raise the sail with an inspiration keynote from leading research astronomer Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio reflecting on her passion for research and engagement and what it means to have the beautiful setting of the Canary Islands as a backdrop for her work.

Once again, the parallel programme is packed with a rich mix of Horizon talks, poster pitches, dialogue sessions and scenario workshops. Over the 2 days, we’ll learn about emerging approaches in AI, problem-solving and gamification and hear of new ways colleagues are using artistic approaches and story-telling to help encourage culturally relevant engagement. There will be a chance to get immersed in improvisational performance and to hear about different organisational approaches in the face of competing pressures and resources. Experiences across Europe will hallmark many sessions, for instance through the lens of long-established European Researchers’ Nights, including the Canary Islands very own MACARONIGHT.

The topics in this year’s poster pitches and Horizon talks are also truly wide-ranging, and we’ve even had to flex the programme to accommodate as many as we possibly could! From the design of citizen labs, exploring relationships between art and science, and experimenting with new approaches for widening access and evaluation – there’s something for everyone.  We’ll not be shying away from difficult topics either with sessions on the challenges of popularism, democratising science, tackling misinformation or facing up to the mental health challenges experienced by so many of today’s young researchers.  We’ll also be asking what EUSEA can do in our seemingly every more complex world where the values that come with participatory practice, evidence-based enquiry and involving underrepresented voices seem more important than ever.

As in previous conferences, we’ll close our main conference with a lively panel debate, before members gather for our General Assembly. For this year’s panel we’ve grasped the chance to be the first conference to publicly scrutinise and discuss the key outcomes of the European Commission’s Mutual Learning Exercise in Public Engagement with Research and Innovation, launched in Brussels just a few weeks before. We’re delighted to bring the collective mind of conference directly into forging next steps for this important initiative, that could shape funding and policy in years to come – a fitting climax to a thought-provoking couple of days.  

Of course, the EUSEA conference is always as much about networking and making new contacts as it is about learning and sharing new ideas, and Gran Canaria is no different. We’ve safeguarded lots of time to connect with friends and colleagues via many coffee and lunch breaks and the exciting social programme and dinner that our hosts at the La Palma Research Centre have planned for us!

Let’s set sail for a wonderful conference.