Designed by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) in collaboration with the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT), “Gara and the Energy that Surrounds Us 3.0” is an educational dissemination project aimed at young people and students to encourage scientific vocations. It aims to promote knowledge about energy generation, storage, distribution, and consumption from the perspective of energy transition and sustainability.
Thanks to its itinerancy, “Gara” could be visited during 2022 at the Jordi Rubió i Balaguer Library (Sant Boi de Llobregat), the Sant Josep Cultural Center (l’Hospitalet de Llobregat), Moià, the Arts and Memory Center of Ponent (Juneda), the Energy HubLab of Balaguer (Lleida), and in Zaragoza. During 2023, it has been exhibited at the Olius Town Hall, the Concactiva headquarters in Montblanc (Tarragona), the La Violeta Cultural Center in Gràcia, and the Joan Oliver Pere Quart Civic Center, both in Barcelona. In addition, educational activities, talks, and workshops have been held at various outreach events such as the European Researchers’ Night at CosmoCaixa, the Energy Week in Barcelona, the Science Week in Balaguer, the Education Fair, the 10alamenos9 festival, the Nanoscience Vermouth, and several visits from students of different educational centers in the region. Throughout this itinerary, more than 14,000 people have participated in the project in person. The initiative has been supported by the Catalan Institute for Energy of the Government of Catalonia (ICAEN), the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRi), and the Association of Micropobles of Catalonia.
The target audience is mainly secondary and high school students, as well as students from rural areas, with an approach to primary education. Furthermore, the project continues to focus on inclusion, paying attention to students with special needs.
In this second edition, the major innovation lies in adapting the exhibition to the digital format. Various innovative tools have been incorporated: two online educational modules in breakout format (for primary and secondary education) accompanied by an escape game, a didactic unit for teachers as a resource for pre and post-visit work, five downloadable infographics on this subject (with audio reading), and a virtual tour of the exhibition itself.
Thanks to the introduced interactivity and the renewal of formats, the exhibition allows a real approach with the researchers, promoting diverse models through practice, play, and experimentation. In this sense, the initiative aims to stimulate interest and commitment to science through gamification to create original and new solutions in energy transition, showcasing the current research results for energy management and the challenges of the future.
As an itinerant and modular exhibition, it makes it possible to reach locations and audiences further away from science, technology, and innovation, enhancing scientific and technical education at all levels in society.
This project is led by Marta Fonrodona and Anna Magrasó from the CD&KTT area at IREC, in coordination with all the research groups at the institute who contributed with providing the materials and necessary input for the project.
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