Inspiring and cultivating science awareness in young audiences through dialogue and astronomy. Discussion of three experiences

Nowadays, science and technology and its applications impact our societies in various ways. Some of these applications are easily accepted, while other applications are disputed or even rejected. At the same time, increasingly, it is expected that people are able to deliberate the consequences of applications when accepting or rejecting applications. Therefore, communication about science and technology and its applications with various stakeholders, such as citizens, consumers or children, is considered necessary. One way to better understand the complex processes of acceptance and rejection in the science-society relationship, is by stimulating and analysing interests of young people, our future scientific citizens, in science and technology. In this paper, we describe three different experiences on science outreach with children and young people. First, UNAWE is a project that aims to engage and inspire young children in the age group of 4 to 10 years old, especially the underprivileged by using astronomy as a tool. Second, experiences are described with astronomy popularization in Brazil. Videocasts and hands-on activities developed with children and teenagers in Sấo Paulo state in Brazil are given. Finally, experiences with children in Dutch Science Cafés, called Zabuki, are described. Learning from these experiences can enhance our understanding of the complex science-society relationship as well as the experiences can inspire our future scientific citizens (Millar & Osborne, 2000, Siune et al, 2009).