- New spaces and schedules are available and the deadline for proposals has been extended. Apply here
- New speakers have been confirmed: Harmit Malik, president of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution; Elizabeth Hénaff, professor at New York University; the director of Ara newspaper, Esther Vera, and Robert Harris Frank, professor of Economics.
- This meeting will be running in parallel with the exhibition on science and art “Science Friction” at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània (CCCB).
- Topics will cover the society’s knowledge of evolution and its role during COVID-19
A bridge between academia and society to promote evolutionary biology is the main objective of the international network EvoKE (Evolutionary Knowledge for Everyone). This year, EvoKE celebrates its third meeting with the motto “Everyone for Evolution” as researchers, educators, communicators, journalists and cultural and artistic agents from different countries and diverse disciplines will be joined to share their expertise and experience. Their goal is to create an inclusive and interdisciplinary environment to allow the growth of EvoKE as a community but also their connection with society. Therefore, being an opportunity to undertake local and international actions to improve the society’s understanding of evolution at short and long-term.
If the health situation allows, the meeting will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from the 22nd to 24th of November in the venues; Espai Francesca Bonnemaison and Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). Registration to attend is now open. Attendees will be able to join activities on several topics related to evolution, communication and education in different formats: plenary sessions, short talks, round tables and practical workshops. The deadline for submitting abstracts to participate. in any of those formats has been extended as new spaces and time slots have been made available to accept more proposals.
The topics that will be covered are: Interdisciplinarity, specialization and exploration of new fields; Contributions of basic science and evolutionary biology to address old and new practical challenges in society; Dealing with ideologies, interests, beliefs and evolutionary theory; Challenges and opportunities for bringing evolution closer through formal or informal education and the role of scientific literacy during COVID-19. One new feature of EvoKE BCN 21 is that the conference will be running in parallel with the CCCB’s Science Friction exhibition which ends on Sunday November 28th. This will include a private guided visit for the meeting attendees.
Previous invited speakers include Oded Rechavi, Professor at the Department of Neurobiology at the Tel Aviv University; Ute Harms, Professor of Education in Evolutionary Biology and Formal Science Education; Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief of Nature; Fernando González Candelas, Professor of Genetics at the University of Valencia; the epidemiologist A. Cecile J.W. Janssens, professor emerita at Emory University (Atlanta, USA); Kostas Kampourakis, expert in education and philosophy of science or David Jou, physicist, poet and scientific essayist. As recent confirmed speakers, EvoKE BCN 21 have announced the president of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, Harmit Malik, who will focus on the relationship between ideologies, beliefs and evolution; Elizabeth Hénaff, professor at New York University, who will talk about interdisciplinarity; the director of the newspaper Ara, Esther Vera, which will talk from a media perspective about the information generated during the Covid-19 crisis; and Robert Harris Frank, professor of Economics, which will approach what he has defined as Darwin Economy.
EvoKE 2021 will include activities open to the general public during Wednesday November 24th, the Evolution Day. This day will commemorate the anniversary of the publication of “The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin, on 24th of November of 1859. Anyone wishing to share their initiatives for promoting the communication and/or the education of Evolutionary Biology can send their proposals to evokebcn21@gmail.com. Different formats can be submitted, for instance, posters, talks, round-tables or workshops. It should be noticed that if it is not possible to travel due to Covid-19 restrictions, it would be done virtually.
More information on the website: https://evokeproject.org/evoke-meeting-bcn-2021/
The organization of the Evoke BCN meeting is in charge of a diverse and multidisciplinary team composed of scientists from various Spanish research centers and universities, journalists and scientific communicators, and has the support of ESEB, Diputació, CCCB, SESBE, CCCB and Ajuntament de Barcelona.