Rules

Whereas:

  • The state of development of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres calls for an updated revision of its respective Regulations.
  • The Regulations provide for the existence of full members (Ciência Viva Centres) and associate members (Ciência Viva Centres) but do not set forth the criteria for this distinction.
  • The assignment of one status or the other has been made on a case-by-case basis, which is not a convenient approach to analysing the growing number of applications for integration into the Network. It is thus necessary to establish objective and controllable criteria that allow transparency in this process.
  • Moreover, it is important to give the network a more participatory and distributed dynamic that considers its geographic dimensions and diversity. The creation of a supervisory committee formed by its members responds to this need.
  • These foundations follow the network's development, structuring, and consolidation as a living, evolving organisation.

After hearing the members of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres and associates of the Ciência Viva National Agency in the General Assembly of 20 April 2021, the Board of Ciência Viva discloses the updated Regulations of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres:

 

NETWORK OF CIÊNCIA VIVA CENTRES

REGULATIONS

 

Today, the vision of a scientific culture as a strategic condition for innovation and growth emerges from a national consensus around the driving role of science and technology in the development of contemporary societies. Only a knowledge-based society will be able to mobilise the human capital that is indispensable to its prosperity and well-being as it simultaneously ensures the active involvement of its citizens and brings them closer to science. Success in creating knowledge-based societies requires solid foundations in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics education and in their connection with the various areas of knowledge and culture.

A scientific education and a public understanding of science and its history, along with trust in its institutions, are what determine the success of knowledge-based societies. This requires promoting education and scientific culture as a central strategy for sustained development, especially in a globalised digital society where the scientific community is the most reliable source of knowledge.

In this context, the dynamisation of public spaces in contact with science and technology as platforms for economic, cultural, social, and scientific development should be encouraged in Portuguese society, in addition to launching new actions for new audiences, including support for the inclusion of older adults in this emerging society. To this end, the Portuguese Government has adopted policies that articulate with the areas of culture, education, and economics to promote the democratisation of a scientific culture, which includes reinforcing support to museums and interactive science centres by mobilising national and local resources and fostering initiatives aimed at diversifying and gaining the loyalty of the public. 

This movement is essential to the progress of contemporary societies, and a concerted effort in active citizenship and cooperation between a very wide range of political, economic, cultural, and social stakeholders is indispensable.

Since 1997, Ciência Viva Centres have assumed a major role in scientific and technological dissemination, especially among youth, and the network in which they operate is expected to become progressively more solid and more diverse.

By Order no. 8890/2002 of the Ministry of Science and Technology, published in the 2nd series of the Federal Official Journal on 30 April 2002, the concept of a Ciência Viva Centre was defined, as well as a minimum set of requirements to be observed for recognition of this status upon a certain entity:

Order No. 8890/2002 (2nd series). - Ciência Viva Centres are playing a very crucial role in disseminating science and technology, especially among young people. There are already several in operation, and others are expected to open in the future.

On the other hand, its creation is prescribed in the continent's regional operational programmes.

There is not, however, a defined concept of the Ciência Viva Centre that characterises them precisely, defining only a minimum set of requirements to be observed so that a given entity may be recognised as a Ciência Viva Centre.

Thus, for a given entity to be recognised as a Ciência Viva Centre, it must meet the following conditions:

  1. a) It must be non-profit.
  2. b) Its main purpose is to promote and disseminate scientific and technological culture through actions intended for the public, with a special vocation for actions involving the youth.
  3. c) It must carry out this activity on a continuous basis.
  4. d) It must have a scientific advisory board, which should preferably include at least one foreign person.
  5. e) It must set up mechanisms for periodic, independent assessments of the institution's activity.
  6. f) It must assume the obligation to cooperate with the other Ciência Viva Centres through the exchange of personnel, participation in joint events, alternation of exhibitions, and sharing of equipment for the joint constitution of a network of centres.

1 April 2002 – Minister of Science and Technology,

Jose Mariano Rebelo Pires Gago.

 

The experience of the last twenty-five years shows that the institutional nature of Ciência Viva Centres, as platforms for collaboration between municipalities, schools, higher education institutions, and scientific research centres, serves as a particularly appropriate instrument of interaction between these education and research institutions and businesses to promote a culture of innovation and competitiveness, namely through the transfer of knowledge and technology.

Because of their connection to sources of knowledge and technology, Ciência Viva Centres are spaces for merging, training, qualifying, and improving innovative business practises, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises related to the Circular Economy, Digital Economy, and Sustainable Development. In this sense, Ciência Viva Centres have a vital role to play with companies with fewer resources to invest in technological upgrades and experimentation and to place them in contact with universities and polytechnics so that they may boost their productivity and competitiveness and develop sophisticated digital communications.

Ciência Viva Centres – active partners of schools, higher education institutions, and research centres – have also become fundamental resources for knowledge, networking, and job creation, offering visibility to the most recent technological developments as well as to the most sustainable and adaptable developments of the respective regions.

In this context, forming a network of science and scientific culture centres is particularly relevant and is understood as a privileged space for institutional cooperation and for sharing knowledge, skills, experience, and other human and material resources. Therefore, these regulations regulate the creation and operation of "Ciência Viva Centres" and formalise the terms of development for the "Network of Ciência Viva Centres" within the scope of promoting a scientific culture.

These Regulations cover the development of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres, establish the specific criteria for full members and associate members of the National Network of Ciência Viva Centres, and create a Supervisory Committee formed by its members.

Given the aforementioned presumptions, the following has been determined.

 

 

CHAPTER 1

NETWORK OF CIÊNCIA VIVA CENTRES

 

Article 1

Purpose

  • The purpose of these regulations is as follows:

    1. To define the principles that regulate the creation and operation of a Ciência Viva Centre
    2. To institute the figure of the associated Ciência Viva Centre
    3. To establish accreditation rules for joining the Network of Ciência Viva Centres
    4. To set up mechanisms to regulate and supervise the operation of a Ciência Viva Centre
    5. To establish the rights and duties of public and private entities that depend on Ciência Viva Centres
    6. To institutionalize the Network of Ciência Viva Centres

 

Article 2

Concept and Composition

  1. The Network of Ciência Viva Centres is an organised structure under progressive development that aims to share resources and knowledge, meet qualifications, and promote collaboration among its members.
  2. The Network of Ciência Viva Centres is formed by Ciência Viva Centres and associated Ciência Viva Centres duly accredited by Ciência Viva – the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture.

 

Article 3

Objectives of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres

The objectives of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres are as follows:

  1. To promote, value, and empower its members
  2. To enhance the impact and mission of Ciência Viva Centres
  3. To establish mechanisms for sharing physical and human resources
  4. To create proper communication channels for the development of collaborative projects
  5. To create critical mass for better positioning in the scale of the country's domestic organisation and in the international scale
  6. To promote cooperation with similar international networks
  7. To expand and diversify the resources of Ciência Viva Centres and their financial sustainability

 

Article 4

Collaborative Duty

  1. The members of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres collaborate with each other and articulate their resources to improve and monetise their services.
  2. Collaboration is reflected in the following:
    1. The joint implementation of projects of common interest
    2. The sharing of resources, including human resources, for better rationalisation and optimisation
    3. The concession or delegation of tasks to promote the activities of Ciência Viva Centres and of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres in a concerted effort
    4. Participation in the National Meetings of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres and in any other in-person or virtual meetings/initiatives of common interest
    5. The professional qualification and development of a competent body of employees

 

 

CHAPTER 2

CIÊNCIA VIVA CENTRES

 

Article 5

Concept of the Ciência Viva Centre

  1. A Ciência Viva Centre is a permanent non-profit entity with or without its own legal personality. It is endowed with an organisational structure that allows it to foster the public's permanent contact with science, to promote democratised access to knowledge and scientific culture, and to stimulate a scientific education by reinforcing an experimental science education. In this way, it contributes to society's full development and to a more active, conscious citizenship.
  2. Ciência Viva Centres are the entities that fulfil the duties prescribed herein and have the following characteristics:
    1. They aim to promote and disseminate scientific and technological culture through actions targeting different audiences, especially youth.
    2. They carry out this activity continuously, mainly in permanent and temporary exhibition spaces with an indoor and outdoor exhibition area of no less than 500m 2 , equipped with mostly interactive exhibition resources.
    3. They have qualified human resources that are proportionate to the space and activities they develop.
    4. They have a scientific advisory body, preferably made up of national and international members.
    5. They set up mechanisms for periodic, independent assessments of the institution's activity.
    6. They assume the obligation to cooperate with the other Ciência Viva Centres through the exchange of personnel, participation in joint events, alternation of exhibitions, and sharing of equipment for the joint constitution of a network of centres, hereinafter referred to as the Network of Ciência Viva Centres.

 

Article 6

Mission of the Ciência Viva Centres

Ciência Viva Centres have the following mission:

  1. To promote a scientific and technological culture in Portuguese society
  2. To promote the values of an active citizenship based on scientific knowledge
  3. To help create the conditions for the entire population to access scientific knowledge
  4. To promote interaction between schools, higher education institutions, the scientific community, and families
  5. To support primary and secondary schools in promoting experimental science education and other innovative forms to improve a scientific education
  6. To train human resources specialised in science communication
  7. To encourage innovation and experimentation for academic and professional success
  8. To integrate and collaborate with national and international projects within a perspective of sharing experience and knowledge that includes the public in the debate over global challenges
  9. To promote scientific education actions in informal contexts
  10. To promote and serve as platforms that connect scientific and technological research institutions to the business sphere, namely businesses related to the Circular Economy, Digital Economy, and Sustainable Development

 

Article 7

Valences of the Ciência Viva Centres

The Ciência Viva Centre must have the following valences:

  1. Permanent and, if possible, temporary exhibitions
  2. Scientific education and promote a scientific culture
  3. Archives

 

Article 8

Exhibitions

  • Ciência Viva Centres promote scientific culture through mostly interactive, permanent and temporary exhibitions, which constitute the main distinctive feature of a science centre. They offer different segments of the population the chance to come in contact with science and technology through stimulating multi-sensory experiences that inspire curiosity, experimentation, and knowledge.

 

Article 9

Scientific Education and Promoting Scientific Culture

  1. Ciência Viva Centres fulfil the educational requirement in services provided to schools for all education levels, whose scope encompasses promoting academic success and valorising educators, and they rely on a strong intervention with students, families, and the surrounding community.
  2. The mission of Ciência Viva Centres includes promoting a basic scientific education in practical and experimental sciences by mobilising the scientific community and its institutions to improve scientific culture in schools.
  3. Ciência Viva Centres establish regular forms of institutional collaboration with entities of the scientific and technological system in articulation with schools and cultural entities. From a multi- and interdisciplinary perspective, they assume that well-being and economic development are inextricably linked to the qualifications of the population, in the same way that innovation depends on skills that stimulate it.
  4. Ciência Viva Centres fulfil the function of science communication in its basic principle to facilitate direct, personal contact between the scientific community and the public. Accordingly, they help offer visibility to the science produced in Portugal and in the world and to the respective institutions and professionals and their findings.
  5. Ciência Viva Centres develop processes to promote scientific culture through initiatives that inspire reflection and public debate on science, technology, and the arts. These serve to stimulate public participation in the national research agenda and to promote the visibility of scientific institutions among schools; businesses; and the most active agents of economic, social, and cultural development in the respective region.

 

Article 10

Archives

  1. Ciência Viva Centres promote the preservation, valorisation, dissemination, access, and fruition of their photographic, documentary, historical archives or of any other material of interest that helps preserve memory. They also ensure citizens the right to free access, namely through digital repositories.
  2. For this purpose, the Ciência Viva National Agency provides a best practises manual containing basic yet essential standards for organising the Archives.

 

Article 11

Security, Social Responsibility, and Environmental and Energy Sustainability

  1. Ciência Viva Centres set up the essential security conditions required to guarantee the protection and integrity of their property, visitors, staff, and facilities.
  2. Each Ciência Viva Centre ensures the necessary self-protection measures, particularly with respect to the internal security plan, which should include an emergency plan, prevention plan, security records, security instructions, and evacuation plans.
  3. Ciência Viva Centres are committed to promoting social responsibility by creating suitable conditions for social integration and implementing environmental and energy sustainability practises. This way, participants are encouraged to learn by living in sustainable environments.

 

Article 12

Financial and Human Resources

  1. A Ciência Viva Centre must have the financial and human resources that are appropriate for its size and that guarantee its sustainability and the effective development of its activity.
  2. The managing entity of a Ciência Viva Centre is responsible for ensuring these financial and human resources.
  3. In the case of private non-profit associations created for the purpose of managing a Ciência Viva Centre, the guarantee established in the previous paragraph must be included in the by-laws of the respective associations.
  4. As for cases not covered in the previous paragraph, the abovementioned guarantee must be included in a protocol to be signed by the parties involved.

 

Article 13

Organisational Structure and Regulations

  1. Ciência Viva Centres managed by private non-profit associations set up specifically for this purpose must follow an organisational structure defined in common by-laws, the model for which is the responsibility of Ciência Viva – the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture. Its organisation is subject to prior approval at the General Assembly.
  2. Public or private entities dependant on Ciência Viva Centres that do not have an autonomous legal personality shall define their organisational framework in a document to be drawn up in accordance with the provisions of these regulations.

 

Article 14

Visitor Guidance

  • A Ciência Viva Centre must have a team of monitors – qualified staff to guide visitors – providing adequate support to fulfil its educational and science communication duties.

 

Article 15

Public Access

  1. Ciência Viva Centres guarantee public access through regular visiting schedules that accommodate the needs of different types of visitors, which must be posted in a visible place and on their website.
  2. Tickets must be registered using systems that provide an accurate knowledge of visitors and participants in activities promoted by a Ciência Viva Centre inside and outside its physical space.
  3. Visitor statistics should be sent periodically to Ciência Viva – the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, which shall define this periodicity as it is responsible for data aggregation.

 

Article 16

Assessment

  1. Ciência Viva Centres must regularly and independently assess the quality of their operations, which includes conducting public surveys so as to better meet the expectations and needs of its users.
  2. Ciência Viva – the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture establishes mechanisms for the periodic assessment of Ciência Viva Centres that take into account the mission and duties defined in these Regulations.

Article 17

Support for People with Specific Needs

  • Ciência Viva Centres must provide and advertise support to visitors with specific needs and promote equal access to their facilities.

 

Article 18

Book of Suggestions and Complaints

  • According to the terms defined by law, Ciência Viva Centres must provide a book of complaints and a book of suggestions, or other forms of registration on paper or electronically, that are made visible in the visitor reception area so that visitors can freely offer their suggestions or complaints about their operations.

 

 

CHAPTER 3

ASSOCIATED CIÊNCIA VIVA CENTRES 

   

Article 19

Associated Ciência Viva Centres

  1. Within the framework of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres, projects that promote similar activities but do not fully comply with the mission, duties, and characteristics of a Ciência Viva Centre, as defined in Article 5 and the following articles of these Regulations, may be accredited as Associated Ciência Viva Centres.
  2. Associated Ciência Viva Centres should specifically mention “Associated Ciência Viva Centre” in their own name using, to this end, the same graphic design applied to Ciência Viva Centres.
  3. Responsibilities that are considered to be the primary prerogatives of Ciência Viva Centres may not be delegated to Associated Ciência Viva Centres, particularly with regard to supervising the activity of the Ciência Viva Clubs and the formation of Ciência Viva Schools. Exceptions are duly substantiated and deliberated by the Board of the Ciência Viva National Agency.
  4. Associated Ciência Viva Centres actively participate in the National Meetings of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres, regular meetings, and other initiatives upon invitation, without the right to vote or participate in the Supervisory Committee defined in Article 20.

 

 

CHAPTER 4

SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE

 

Article 20

Supervisory Committee

  1. The Ciência Viva National Agency will form a Supervisory Committee made up of representative Ciência Viva Centres of the regions, taking into account the balanced and sustainable development of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres.
  2. The Supervisory Committee shall be chaired by the Ciência Viva National Agency and shall consist of a maximum of 7 eligible Ciência Viva Centres, whose term of office shall not exceed 3 years.
  3. This committee is elected by its own list, preferably integrating members from various regions.
  4. The Committee is voted in by a majority of those present at an annual meeting of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres. In the event of a tie, it is up to the Ciência Viva National Agency to indicate the final list.
  5. The Supervisory Committee is responsible for issuing consultative opinions about operational matters of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres. It meets as often as it deems necessary.
  6. This Committee must be heard in the process of integrating and excluding new Centres and Associated Centres for a better analysis of the impact on the regions.
  7. This Committee must be heard in the process of accrediting members of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres.

 

CHAPTER 5

ACCREDITATION

 

Article 21

Application for Accreditation

  • Any public or private entity that is responsible for the management or creation of a science centre or similar project can apply for accreditation as a Ciência Viva Centre or as an Associated Ciência Viva Centre of the Network of Ciência Viva Centres.

 

Article 22

Accreditation Requirements

The following requirements must be met for accreditation as a Ciência Viva Centre or as an Associated Ciência Viva Centre:

  1. A coherent project for an interactive space for scientific and technological dissemination, which serves as a platform for regional scientific, cultural, and economic development through the mobilisation of various regional actors, must be presented.
  2. The direct involvement of higher education institutions or research centres must be ensured, particularly with regard to developing content and fulfilling the exhibition, educational, and science communication duties of the future Ciência Viva Centre or Associated Ciência Viva Centre.
  3. The direct involvement of municipalities, through Municipal Councils and/or Intermunicipal Communities, must be ensured. As key regional partners, they are essential to the implementation and future development of the Ciência Viva Centre or Associated Ciência Viva Centre.
  4. Regional and national partnerships, especially in scientific and technological areas, namely with businesses, schools, and civil society organisations, must be presented.
  5. A human and financial resources plan that serves as the basis for the normal operations and sustainability of the future Centre must be presented.
  6. The provisions of Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of these Regulations must be met.

 

Article 23

Accreditation Procedure

  • The application for accreditation, whether for creation or membership, is submitted to Ciência Viva – the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, the entity responsible for managing and promoting the Network of Ciência Viva Centres, for analysis and decision.

 

Article 24

Cancellation of Accreditation

  • If the assessment, specifically referred to in Article 16, confirms that the presumptions of quality which led to a Centre’s creation or membership in the Network of Ciência Viva Centres are at stake, it may lose the right to use the name “Ciência Viva Centre” or “Associated Ciência Viva Centre” and, if applicable, must change its name and the name of the establishment within thirty days of the date of communication of the decision.

 

Article 25

Effective Date

  • These Regulations replace the previous Regulations of 21 December 2016 as of the date of their presentation at the General Assembly of Ciência Viva – the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture on 20 April 2021.