Science Picnic
# Science Picnic

The Science Picnic is Europe's largest outdoor science-popularization event organized jointly by Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre. It has been held every year since 1997. A wide range of research fields are represented at the Picnic, including the hard, natural, and social sciences together with the humanities. Research and teaching institutions from Poland and abroad reveal here behind-the-scenes aspects of their work and present science in ways accessible to visitors of various ages, using hands-on experiments and interactive exhibits.

The Science Picnic was commended by the European Commission in 2005 as one of 10 model European projects in the "Science and Society" field. The event has served as the inspiration for many other popular science initiatives, including the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.

## History

The first Science Picnic (as Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS) was held in the Old Town district of Warsaw. During the first edition, 17 scientific institutions held scientific demonstrations in physics, medicine and archaeology in 13 tents, and the Picnic recorded around 3000 visitors. In subsequent years, the number of participating institutions and visitors grew rapidly. The event was moved to a larger public park in 2009 and then to the grounds of the newly constructed National Stadium in 2013. Since 2008 it has been organized jointly by Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre. Recent attendance varies between 100,000 and 120,000 people, with the exception of the blowout years of 2006 and 2013, when the Picnic received around 150,000 visitors.

Since 2013, Science Picnics are also held in Ukraine.

| Date | Full name | Theme | Venue |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1997-06-14 | 1st Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 1998-06-06 | 2nd Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 1999-05-22 | 3rd Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2000-06-10 | 4th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2001-06-09 | 5th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | How Will The World Surprise Us? | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2002-06-08 | 6th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | What Does Science Give To Art? | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2003-06-14 | 7th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | DNA Your Life | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2004-05-22 | 8th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | Science Without Borders | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2005-06-04 | 9th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | Physics On The Waves | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2006-06-03 | 10th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | The World in Ten Years' Time | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2007-05-26 | 11th Science Picnic of Polish Radio BIS | M4TH3M4T1C5 AND US | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2008-06-14 | 12th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Discover the Language of Science | New Town Market and Podzamcze |
| 2009-05-30 | 13th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Science Among the Stars | Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły Park |
| 2010-06-12 | 14th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | The Great MicroWorld | Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły Park |
| 2011-05-28 | 15th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Freedom | Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły Park |
| 2012-05-12 | 16th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Energy | Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły Park |
| 2013-06-13 | 17th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Life | National Stadium |
| 2014-05-31 | 18th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Time | National Stadium |
| 2015-05-09 | 19th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Light | National Stadium |
| 2016-05-07 | 20th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Health | National Stadium |
| 2017-06-03 | 21st Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Earth | National Stadium |
| 2018-06-09 | 22nd Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | Motion | National Stadium |
| 2019-05-11 | 23rd Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | We and Machines | National Stadium |
| 2020-05-09 | 24th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre | The Climate and Us | National Stadium |

## Organizers and initiators

* Professor Łukasz A. Turski, Center for Theoretical Physics of Polish Academy of Sciences
* Robert Firmhofer, Polish Radio (since 2006 director of the Copernicus Science Centre)
* Krystyna Kępska-Michalska, Polish Radio

## Participating institutions

Each year the Science Picnic is participated in by institutions from Poland and abroad (including from Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Morocco, Mexico, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, United States).

