The cities of Trento and Bolzano both hosted some of the events organised under the umbrella of the 2019 European Researchers’ Night. This was a great chance for the local partners of the EU-funded project STARDUST to present the project and its interventions to make Trento smarter and more sustainable.
The European Researchers’ Night consists of activities taking place in hundreds of European cities each year on the last Friday of September. The purpose of the event is to offer citizens the opportunity to meet informally the researchers and to discover their passion and motivations, while understanding the methods they apply and the results obtained.
In Trento, the event took place at MUSE – Science Museum and in the surrounding district “Le Albere”. The event had been organized by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (partner in STARDUST), the University of Trento, Fondazione Edmund Mach and MUSE, in collaboration with the Autonomous Province of Trento and under the patronage of the Municipality of Trento (also member of the STARDUST consortium). Researchers from the University of Trento and from the regional research centers presented their project to the citizens, focusing on the most fascinating aspects of their work and inviting the population to get involved. Fondazione Bruno Kessler participated in the event with numerous stalls, showing the different research streams addressed by the institute. In particular, they presented STARDUST as one of the successful projects they are involved in.
The STARDUST roll-ups, posters, brochures and official video were showed to the people. The researchers from FBK (in particular from the ARES department, which deals with applied research on energy systems) and Habitech (both STARDUST partner) answered all the questions and doubts raised by the citizens on the project. The visitors proved themselves to be very interested in the approach and expected impacts of STARDUST, especially regarding the refurbishment of the social housing district “Madonna Bianca”.
In Bolzano, STARDUST was presented at the local Technology Park. Researchers from STARDUST partner EURAC set up a demo apartment where visitors could see which interventions were planned to retrofit the buildings in the Madonna Bianca district. Windows, thermal coating, ventilation and heating systems were some of the examples showcased. Approximately 2.000 people visited the Technology Park of Bolzano on that night.
To conclude, the Researchers’ Night was a very effective communication and dissemination event. STARUDST partners had the opportunity to get in contact with the end beneficiaries of STARDUST and to explain the project, its relevance and impacts to the urban community of Trento.
