National Science Week 2022

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Background
Theme
Objectives
Implementation Approach

National Science Week (NSW) is an annual event aiming to exhibit and communicate awareness in science. It is an initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), a countrywide celebration of science connecting various stakeholders and role players conducting science-based activities during the week, an annual celebration of the role and value of science and technology in people’s daily lives.

The NSW was established in 2000 and has developed over years towards national coverage. As the coordinator, NRF-SAASTA is responsible for the national coordination of the NSW through deployment of resources, reports and overall bringing together of the project. The NSW 2022 will be launched on Saturday, 30 July 2022 and will run from 01 – 06 August 2022. Keeping up with the practice of recognizing the United Nations (UN) international observances, the NSW 2022 will incorporate activities to celebrate the UN’s International Year of Basic Sciences 2022.

The NSW 2022 will be conducted under the theme “Celebrating the role of basic sciences in the modern world”.

The celebration of NSW 2022 will also recognise the resolution adopted by the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on the 2nd December 2021. “The International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD)”. IYBSSD appreciates that the applications of basic sciences are vital for advances in medicine, industry, agriculture, water resources, energy planning, environment, communications and culture, and that basic sciences rupture technologies respond to the needs of humankind by providing access to information and increasing societal well-being, and promoting peace through improved collaboration toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The objectives of celebrating the NSW 2022 under the aforementioned theme are to:

(a) illustrate the role of science in tackling problems and challenges encountered in creating and sustaining a prosperous society;
(b) demystify the myths surrounding some of the innovations that are important to the advancement of society;
(c) display that South Africa is a home of some discoveries and innovations that influence the world; and
(d) raise science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career awareness.

As the world is slowly returning to the new normal which allows some limited gatherings, it provides an opportunity for NSW 2022 to adopt a hybrid approach. A hybrid approach will combine elements of a blended physical, virtual and media content dissemination methods into a unified experience.

The NSW 2022 blended approach will maximise access and participation by the citizens because it caters for the needs of different sectors of the society. Having successfully handled all elements of hybrid approach at different times in the past; i.e. face-to-face and mainstream media since NSW inception until 2019, and all virtual /online with both mainstream and social media in 2021, it is now the time to put them together in 2022 as hybrid.

The NSW 2022 will take a hybrid approach through information and communications technologies (ICT), media and face-to-face in strategic locations. In 2021 it was evident that South Africans are ready to exploit the convenience brought by digital platform to participate in different events. Just recently, the Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) has just concluded the hybrid census where a multiple-methods approach including telephone interviews, online and fieldworker visits were used for data collection. The advantage of this type of approach is to give a live and reliable data excellent for necessary interventions and on time at a specific location. Likewise, NSW 2022 will combine a number of methods customised to different sectors of society to maximise their participation. This will further ensure that the content is directed to the relevant groups of society.

Find out more …

NSW Grants

Invitations to apply for grant funding towards science engagement programmes are open to institutions/organisations that are specified in each Grant Call for Proposals.

How to apply

NSW Branding Guidelines

The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) is the main sponsor for National Science Week
(NSW) and therefore the following branding guidelines should be applied for co-branding:

Resources

“These resources were distributed firstly to underprivileged schools, then to other schools and at science festivals around the country,” says National Project Co-ordinator.

Exhibitions

Live virtual exhibitions will take place on an interactive floor plan to showcase and demonstrate the application of science by the selected scientific institutions, particularly those that are funded by government.

Webinars

Webinars will also allow the hosting organization/company to interact with an audience. The audience would ask the speaker or moderator (who is leading the webinar) questions in real-time through an instant messaging tool, chat or e-mail.

Documentaries

The production and dissemination of documentaries is meant for entertainment and educational (edutainment) purpose as a tool for science communication, popularisation and public engagement with science towards scientifically literacy.

Pre-NSW Activities 29 July 2022 (Friday)

Full Programme

National Science Week 2021

The NSW 2021 was conducted through information and communications technologies (ICT). Investigation conducted revealed interesting association of South Africans with various ICTs, which if adequately exploited could exponentially expand the reach of the science engagement campaign.

The NSW 2021 was conducted under the theme “Making it possible through science”.

NSW 2021 took place from 1 – 7 August 2021.

#NSW2021