Once again, the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) has had the pleasure of hosting the Science Congress organised by the Barcelona Education Consortium. The 11th edition of this children’s scientific meeting took place between 8 and 12 April under the slogan “The sea is life!“. It coincided with the UN Decade of the Ocean Conference, a meeting between the scientific community and Decade partners to assess the work done in recent years and set priorities for the next period.
The Science Congress is an initiative that promotes experimentation and scientific research among students from P5 to 6th grade. Thanks to the support of the Pedagogical Resource Centres and scientific staff, teachers accompany the children in investigations on a common theme (this year, the sea). This is an opportunity for children to ask themselves questions and discover the scientific method.
Of all the participating centres, 40 are selected to present their research at a closing event at the PRBB auditorium – the event is already available on YouTube. A day where the students are accompanied by scientific staff who, after listening to the presentations, evaluate the work carried out. This year, they had the pleasure of being accompanied by some researchers from PRBB centres: Heura Cardona from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Eider Arenaza-Urquijo, Joana Llauradó, Ramon Mateo and Miquel Vallbona from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Tanit Guitart from the Centre for Genomic Regulation and Marta Espinosa from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute.
This year’s Science Congress brought together nearly 1,500 students between 5 and 12 years old. The presentations dealt with subjects as diverse as ocean currents, the origin of the sea and its salinity, waste and pollutants in the sea and how these can affect its biodiversity, and the impact of climate change on the aquatic environment, among many others. And, as the scientists who accompanied them have commented, they have followed the scientific method rigorously, adapting the research questions when the results were not as expected.
We would like to congratulate the young researchers on their work, and also thank the teachers for their work and dedication, without which these splendid results would not be possible.
Marine activism
The closing speech of the Congress was given by the Catalan environmental activist Olivia Mandle. Aged just 16, Mandle is an ambassador for the European Commission’s European Climate Pact and presenter of the 3Cat programme “Kanviem?”, where she shows the consequences of climate change without filter.
During her speech, Mandle explained her path, which began when, at the age of 12, an exhibition on the effects of global warming opened her eyes. And which continued, among others, with the promotion of the initiative #noesPaísparaDelfines, which since 2018 has been creating campaigns to collect signatures to ban the captivity of dolphins. Or the design of the Jelly Cleaner, which collects plastics from the sea surface.
Olivia also emphasised the need for action to save the planet: “Our silence and inaction make us accomplices of the destruction of the planet. The relationship we have with nature is one of exploitation and we are depleting its resources. We need to change the way we walk the Earth, and achieve a relationship of respect and understanding. And we can achieve this by making our habits more responsible and sustainable, always linking them to the impact they leave on the planet”. Messages that reached the audience – and even stirred many emotions – and will surely motivate them to take action in their daily lives.
Indeed, saving the seas, oceans and their biodiversity is in our hands – now is the time to act, both by doing activism and science!
