A lot of enthusiasm was seen in the air when SciFest was organized after the two years break caused by the pandemic. Many interesting exhibitors were gathered and a variety of workshops were organised during the three days. This year’s theme was “Science about the Forest”. SciFest is a free and open science event especially for students, children and families organised annually in Joensuu, Finland by Joensuu Science Society. The festival takes place in the beginning of September in the beautiful surroundings of Botania Botanical Garden. The schools visit the event during their school day.
The program offers all those interested in science and technology something to see and experience. The festival promotes innovative science education, opening up its doors to different exhibitors in the field. The key words of SciFest are insight and doing which can also be seen in the entire program: insights and learning happen through doing things together. The basic idea of the festival has remained the same throughout the years: challenging, meaningful work and insights create a spark in the visitors, which also encourages career choices in science and technology.
Environment Online -ENO was present as an exhibitor. ENO local partner schools Pielisjoki and Nepenmäki were represented: they organized a workshop on tree species and the Kitchen Garden project had its harvest event. In the Kitchen Garden project the students had the chance to come and see what has been grown and get to know the species of typical utility plants and vegetables used in finnish kitchens. Students also got to taste some of the plants in the tasting part. It was also possible to take some vegetables home.
Atso and Topi (left) are 1st graders from the School of Eastern Finland. They participated in the cultivation of seeds in May with a pre-school group and now they had come to see how their vegetables had grown. They planted potatoes. This was their first time to plant with school but they had some experience on cultivation and gardening from their homes. They think gardening is very interesting and their favorite plants are tomatoes and cucumbers.
Pictures from the SciFest event 2022:
Pictures from the Kitchen Garden and tastings:
The main partners of Joensuu Science Society in this event were University of Eastern Finland, Botania Botanical Garden, Finnish Science Institutes, Ministry of Education and Culture, Support Foundation of University of Joensuu and Karelian culture foundation.