The LINCS project is the collective effort of 12 partners and the legacy of 14 years of participation in the ERN as a consortium. The ambition is to organize events in 14 different French cities (specifically focusing on medium-sized cities, where research is happening, but science engagement activities are less frequent), sharing the same objectives, theme, activities, approach to popularization, and at the same time involving local researchers. Convinced that the quality of the exchange with researchers is the key factor in enriching and refining the citizens' vision of research, we create intimate, warm, direct encounters between the public and researchers, with a specific focus on the 15-30 age range. To achieve this, the 1,200 researchers involved in the project will be coached and trained by mediators, artists or scenographers, using different methods. A long-lasting effect on researchers will be one outcome, as ERN is an occasion for them to start a long journey in science engagement. The planned activities enable privileged encounters and/or shared, fun experiences in direct contact with professional researchers. The “EU corner” will be enlivened by the participation of EU researchers, games and live radio broadcasts. The French Ministry of Culture will financially support the event for the 3rd year, fostering the participation of researchers in social sciences and humanities; the Ministry of Research will also continue its support. One partner is in charge of strategies for reducing the environmental impact of the events. The LINCS project is based on an original tagline, a theme to intrigue visitors and stimulate the creativity of researchers and mediators. A theme which testifies to our ambition to set up almost intimate meetings between researchers and visitors. Meetings which promise to unveil the untold stories of an exciting profession. A slogan that evokes both secrets and curiosity: "Little Nocturnal Secrets" (“petits secrets nocturnes”). But shh…!

SALL proposes the living lab methodology as a new technique of unique value and possibilities for the development of open schooling activities linked to science learning. The project positions the technique of living labs as a new, powerful element of the impactful OSOS framework for open schooling, and demonstrates this through the use of the food system theme, due to its strong links to science education, current challenges, as well as ambitious European policy making. SALL brings together school communities, including teachers, students and their families, research institutions, science museums and centres, spaces of informal learning and open innovation such as existing living labs, as well as policy makers, and engages them in intensive dialogue, mutual learning and exchange, so as to: a) co-construct the proposed living-lab-based open schooling methodology, by building on existing knowledge and best practices as well as on the power of synergy in the stakeholder community of contemporary science education; b) closely study living-lab-based open schooling practices and their impact, through implementation and evaluation in real-life conditions in school communities in different European countries; and c) prepare the ground for sustainable living-lab-based open schooling activities in Europe’s schools after the end of the project, through strong community-building, networking, dissemination, as well as policy-oriented interventions. In this way, SALL proposes a concrete new way for schools across Europe to approach their science education programmes, in order to make STEM teaching more relevant, systemic and inclusive for their students, collaborating with their local communities and research centres, and with the active support and involvement of science centres and museums in this process.

We are proposing ERNs for 2016 and 2017 in 12 French cities. Our consortium of 11 partners will organise afternoons for schoolchildren, events in the cities and, above all, evenings where 1000 researchers will meet up to 30,000 people a year. The general public will be able to meet a number of researchers directly and experience something memorable with them. Since 2006, we have acquired a solid knowhow in the “art of interaction”. In 2014-2015, we went one step further by including the public in the actual research experiments, thereby creating scientist-citizen cooperation. We will renew these experiences and go even further: we are encouraging the public and researchers to experience creative moments together! Several creative interactions will be set up, around the “Ideas” theme in 2016 and the “Impossible?” theme in 2017, to allow researchers and the public to interact. The evenings will be full of ideas, challenges, and encounters with diverse individuals. In this way, we will rally European researchers to get involved in each city. Specific strategies will be used (such as public radio recordings) to allow them to share their European experience. These moments of cooperation will without a doubt reinforce the mutual appreciation between researchers and citizens. Our communication strategy (attracting specific audiences through networking, web, partnerships with youth-oriented press, etc.) will be based on the slogan: “General Creativity”. This slogan denotes the interactive nature of the evening and gives us a chance to talk about the richness of European research. To this effect, and for the first time, Cédric Villani, an inspiring and renowned researcher, has accepted to be the ERN’s patron. Lastly, we plan to renew the “Great Participatory Experiment” in 2017. In each city (and perhaps even Italy), the public will contribute to the same playful scientific experiment chosen in 2016 after a challenge involving all our research institutions.