Aiming at celebrating the development of science for the common welfare of humanity, the Passion for Knowledge (P4K) 2023 science festival has been organised. This programme, which comes with a renewed image and an extensive line-up of activities for all audiences, includes the participation of a large group of international scientists and Nobel Prize winners. All this has been made possible thanks to the well-known Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC) foundation and will take place from the 2nd to the 7th of October in Donostia/San Sebastián, Bilbao and other locations.
By ELDA CAMPOS LAVÍN
Passion for Knowledge seeks to promote science as means to improve the welfare of new generations and to show how knowledge can be key to scientific, technological, and cultural progress. Therefore, the programme is packed with activities for the general public:
- Some Nobel Prize winners and prestigious international figures from different scientific disciplines will be hosting several plenary lectures in the afternoons at the main venue of the festival (Victoria Eugenia Theatre). Among this year’s guests are Özlem Türeci (Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019), Jean-Pierre Sauvage (Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016), Donna Strickland (Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018) and many more.
- Following the same dynamic as in previous years, it will be possible to attend the Bertso Passion show at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre, which brings together leading exponents of bertsolaritza such as Maialen Lujanbio, Amets Arzallus, Nerea Ibarzabal and Andoni Egaña.
- In addition to this, the Naukas Passion sessions will also take place, with the participation of several figures in science communication and popularisation at a state level.
- This year, the festival surprises with a new format: streamers sessions will be held where the best state streamers of scientific content will take the stage to share their knowledge on the latest scientific and technological topics.
- Aimed at students between secondary school and high school, the multitudinous meetings between students and top researchers will be held in San Sebastian and Bilbao, with the participation of 5 Nobel Prize winners. The main objective of the meetings is to awaken curiosity for science among young people, especially women.
- ‘STROM – Inclusive Astronomy’ will also be inaugurated, an innovative astronomy exhibition that will open the doors to inclusion, with accessible tactile, audio and audiovisual experiences. This event will be open to the public from the 4th to the 31st of October on the third floor of Tabakalera.
- Finally, at the weekend, in the Sala Club of the Victoria Eugenia, Passion Txiki will also take place, a mini science festival for the little ones that will include experiment workshops, science storytelling, and games, among others.
Passion for Knowledge 2023 is possible thanks to the permanent support of the DIPC’s trustees, which are the Basque Government -through the Department of Education and the Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness-, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), the City Council of San Sebastian, Kutxa Fundazioa, Telefónica,EDP and CAF, as well as specific funding from the Basque Government through the Department of Education and the Innovation Fund.
All the activities scheduled during the festival will be free of charge. An interpretation service will be available in Basque, Spanish and English. The main sessions that will take place at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre will be broadcast live via streaming on the festival website and on eitb.eus, on its Kosmos portal (eitb.eus/kosmos). The sessions will also be broadcast live on EITB’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@EitbEus) and once the event is over, they will be available on the Kosmos section of the Euskal Irrati Telebista website, and on its Nahieran web.
+info: https://p4k.dipc.org/
