Institute for the Future, a non-profit research organization based in Palo Alto, recently launched The Digital Open: An Innovation Expo for Global Youth in partnership with Sun Microsystems and Boing Boing:

Project organizers are soliciting free and open technology projects designed by kids ages 17 and under in eight categories, ranging from the environment, media, and community, to the more traditional open source domains of software and hardware. The prizes for the Open include a laptop and an MP3 player, but the biggest reward for each category winner is that they (and their project) will be featured on Boing Boing Video. The Open’s panel of 23 judges includes Dale Dougherty (Publisher, MAKE), David-Michel Davies (Executive Director, Webby Awards), Graham Hill (Founder, Treehugger), Xeni Jardin (Boing Boing/NPR/Wired), and Lawrence Lessig (Stanford Law School/Creative Commons).

Although the project has generated online buzz (see their mentions on Planet Green and Boing Boing), organizers have found reaching their target age group to be a challenge. Because we see this effort to educate youth about open source, how it applies to their lives, and how they can contribute as a natural extension of our efforts to address critical societal issues, locally and globally, ASTC (through its IGLO and C3 networks) is working with Digital Open organizers to expand the scope of the project to include science center audiences.

Over the coming weeks, organizers of the Open hope to connect with as many science and technology summer programs as possible. If your center is running summer programs and would be interested in hearing more about how you can participate in Digital Open this year, you can contact Mathias Crawford, Research Manager at Institute for the Future, at mcrawford@iftf.org or by phone at 1-347-463-7800. Although we realize that, for many of you, this year’s project deadline (August 15) comes too soon for major programmatic involvement or partnerships, we hope that this will lay the groundwork for more extensive cooperation during Digital Open 2010.

On Thursday, March 26th, in celebration of Earth Hour 2009, Miami Science Museum partnered with the city of Miami and organizations like Miami Goin’ Green, to promote environmental awareness in our community. A collection of recycled paper dresses by Heinrich Rasch-Suarez was on display, and Historic Dance Floor performed live. The “Green Mayor,” Manny Diaz joined other local leaders, environmentalists, artists and socialites in this global initiative.

The “Green” Mayor Manny Diaz posed with some of the eco-friendly designs by Heinrich Rausch-Suarez. Photo courtesy of Miami Science Center.

Cinnabar, Inc., a creative firm specialized in developing museum exhibits, has launched a new initiative on climate change. Their latest effort, “Altered State,” is currently showing at the California Academy of Sciences. Altered State, a 10,000 square foot exhibit, draws upon the findings of research scientists and employs specimen collections, live animal displays, media and interactives to explain how unchecked climate change will alter weather, water, flora and fauna in California.

On February 20, 2008, the Melting Ice / A Hot Topic: Envisioning Change exhibit opened in Monaco during the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 10th Special Session of the Governing Council. The exhibit opening was attended by HSH Prince Albert II who lauded the museums mission bridging art and the environment to inspire and engage the public about climate change. Prince Albert is also a member of IGLO’s Honor Committee and presided over its launch in March 2007. The Field Museum in Chicago is the first American venue to host this exhibit, which will open on Thursday, April 17, in honor of Earth Day after stops in Oslo, Brussels, and Monaco.

Melting Ice was created by the Natural World Museum in partnership with UNEP to address the theme of climate change from a global perspective – the melting and thawing of ice, snow and permafrost are environment-altering changes taking place around the world – from the Andes to the Himalayas to the melting ice caps of the Poles. Participating artists come from all over the globe, including Argentina, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, India, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Norway, Peru, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Like IGLO, this exhibit aims to transform society’s mindset – to take action in a positive way individually and to work toward a more sustainable future collectively. To learn more about Melting Ice, please visit the Natural World Museum web site.

San Francisco’s Exploratorium is hosting a program of NSF-supported events from late November through January 2008 called Ice Stories to celebrate the International Polar Year (IPY). The Exploratorium’s Live@ crew will talk with scientists at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, and at the South Pole about the myriad of research being done there. Participants will meet scientists who are pulling giant cores of ice from miles below the surface, watch penguins dive under the ice, and more. They’ll also learn about the giant trap under the ice that catches the tiniest particles from outer space and a new 10-meter telescope at the South Pole.

The first web cast is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, November 28, at 1:00 pm PST. In addition to these web casts from the Poles, the Exploratorium will host related events for the public, including an Antarctic Landscape of Sweet Ice, artist-in-residence Henry Kaiser from Antarctica, and the Physics of Toys with a polar theme. For more details on scheduled events at the Exploratorium and future web casts, visit the Ice Stories web site. The full site is scheduled to launch on November 15, 2007.

Florida’s Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale is organizing a fun-filled and educational program called Polar Paradise Weekend. From Friday, November 23 to Sunday, November 25, a Polar Playground filled with 25 tons of snow will be open from noon to 4:00 pm. Other scheduled activities include special guest speakers such as scientists and polar explorers, demonstrations and food tasting. For more information about this event, visit the Museum’s event calendar.

To learn more about what’s going on at science centers worldwide, remember to visit the “At Science Centers” page on the IGLO web site.

Another important IGLO event is on the horizon: the Albedo Project, which will encourage the public to gather together for an experiment that teaches the importance of the polar ice caps and the Albedo effect. Science center involvement is crucial to the success of this event, as these institutions will play in important role in organizing supporting activities and mobilizing the public.

Next spring, with the help of NASA satellites, we’ll measure the amount of light reflected by artificial white spots. These mock “ice caps” will be created by 20 science centers worldwide. The idea is extremely simple: participating science centers must locate an open area where they can ask students to create a white spot of at least 15m x 15m (50ft x 50ft) in size using available materials. Science centers may organize any program around the event that will help explain the link between the poles and global warming. These spots must be created by a certain scheduled time during which a satellite will pass overhead to take measurements.

The 20 science centers will be selected based on their geographical location and on satellite availability. They will organize groups of students who will create their own “ice caps” using available white material. NASA satellites will fly overhead at a specified time to measure the amount of sun ray reflection. To be eligible for participation, science centers should submit their geographic coordinates by November 15. A media event will be organized to garner publicity.

The success of the Albedo Project depends on you. Promotion of these events and the mobilization of students and visitors must begin now. To learn more about this IGLO initiative and how your institutions can be involved, please check the our web site for updates or send an e-mail to iglo@astc.org to join the mailing list.

In 2006, the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, Illinois, hosted a series of Global Climate Change Forums. Organized by the Planetarium with the support of NASA, this program was designed to educate citizens about the scientific issues surrounding climate change. Some of the world’s leading scientists presented information, shared insight, and engaged participants in discussion at four different locations: the Planetarium, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Field Museum, and Northwestern University’s Chicago campus.

During the program’s conclusion at Northwestern, participants developed a set of recommendations addressing global climate change which were sent to local, state, and federal policy leaders. This document is located in the IGLO Toolkit under “Science Center Activities.”

On August 18, the Arizona Science Center (ASC) hosted its second annual Global Awareness Day, the first of a series of events intended to educate visitors about the many ways they can make a positive contribution toward maintaining a healthy environment. Topics this year included “The Recycling Game,” ecological footprinting, a green product expo, and making recycled paper at home.

In support of IGLO, ASC Visitors and staff are encouraged to take part in the Conversation on Climate Action on October 4 to better understand global warming causes, impacts, and solutions. On October 10, ASC joins forces with the University of Arizona to launch a free, seven-part lecture series entitled “Global Climate Change.” October’s topic, “The Evidence,” will present research showing the effect of human activities on the Earth’s climate and why this is of concern. Lectures will take place monthly through April 2008 and are free to the public. ASC will promote IGLO and has linked to our web site. Details on how to do can be found here.

On December 15, ASC will host a Recycling Day dedicated to educating visitors on what can and cannot be recycled; how to reduce, recycle, and reuse; and how each individual ecological footprint compares to other visitors. March 22, 2008, is SRP Solar Weekend, an entire weekend dedicated to exploring how the sun impacts our bodies, local plant life, and current/future technology. Finally, on April 22, Arizona Science Center joins the nation in celebrating Earth Day 2008. For more information on these events, visit the ASC web site.

On August 11, visitors were invited to the Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland, California, for a presentation by musician and scientific research diver Henry Kaiser as part of the International Polar Year program. Kaiser has traveled previously to Antarctica to live and work four times, first as a National Science Foundation Artist in Residence and on subsequent trips working with scientific teams as a diver. He shared his Antarctic adventures and showed video footage of the surprising variety of life present in the subfreezing water, an area visited by less than 10 divers a year. Visitors learned how the clear and cold water under the ice reveals a strange and sculptural landscape with large ice stalactites hanging down from above and massive underwater ice “cliffs” that are remnants of old glaciers. Kaiser described how the environment is also home to a variety of marine life, including fluorescent-streaked jelly fish, darting small fish, delicate sea anemones, brittle starfish, crabs, beds of scallops, huge volcano sponges, and more.

Commenting that though the research being undertaken on marine life in Antarctica has the potential to help us understand life elsewhere on the planet, Kaiser noted in less than a decade dramatic changes in the landscape that are threatening this unique ecosystem above and below the ice are already evident.

The Marian Koshland Science Museum is the first ASTC science center to announce its plans for the National Conversation on Climate Action on October 4. The Koshland Museum will present a panel discussion in which technology and policy experts will discuss the potential of new energy technologies to increase efficiency and lessen harm to the environment. The panel will also examine possible barriers to implementing and adapting new techologies, licensing reform for nuclear power, efficiency standards for cars, and research and development funding for lignocellulosic ethanol. The distinguished panel includes Robert Marlay, Deputy Director of the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program; Robert Fri, senior fellow emeritus of Resources for the Future; Christopher Flavin, president of Worldwatch Institute; and Bill Prindle, deputy director of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.