Welcome to Trieste!

The coastal city of Trieste is about an hour and a half north of Venice; it’s a short drive from the Croatian and Slovenian borders, and it overlooks the Adriatic Sea. It’s dubbed the “City of Science” because the place is dominated by research institutes and facilities including even a synchrotron particle accelerator. And where you’ve got a lot of scientists in one place, just like Cambridge, inevitably you also need a science festival. Eager to see the sights, James Tytko hit the streets…

James - Welcome to Trieste. You're joining me from the Piazza Unita d'Italia, Italy's largest town square here on the seafront of this historic seaport. It 's Thursday evening, we've just arrived and I'm taking a stroll past some majestic Austro-Hungarian architecture. You might just be able to hear some people enjoying their evening, much like me, in the busy bars which spill out onto the cobbles. I mentioned that this is one massive town square, but its vastness is somewhat compromised this weekend, thanks to an assortment of marquees and tents, all of which will be bustling with activity by tomorrow morning. This week, The Naked Scientists have been invited to be a part of Trieste Next, an annual festival dedicated to public engagement in science. We'll be attending and participating in some panels and discussions, and also get the chance to speak with some of the hardworking researchers here in one of Europe's most sciencey cities. But for now, I think I fancy one of those icy fruity drinks. Everyone else seems to be enjoying.

Suzanne - I'm Suzanne Kerbavcic and I'm responsible for communications and outreach at the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. So we're in Trieste where each year we organize a science festival called Trieste Next, which is the festival for scientific research. This is the 11th edition, and it brings together about 30 institutes that are all located within Trieste, working in different fields of science. So it's a fantastic opportunity for public engagement and citizen science.

James - What a setting for it. I mean, I'm looking out now on the Trieste seafront. Beautiful. So tell me a bit more about Trieste Next, it's all about public engagement in science. How's that facilitated?

Suzanne - So essentially, all of the institutes sponsor this festival and their researchers on a voluntary basis call guest speakers from all over the world and organize events that are held free for the public. There's also an international academy, so students from all European universities receive grants to travel to Treiste and attend events and meet with the researchers. So it's very exciting. It's a great opportunity and really promotes what Trieste is all about. There's about one scientist for every 38 citizens in Trieste and yet there are a lot of people who don't know what the institutes do, and they're very curious and always willing to come to these events.

James - Absolutely. We might have picked up some of the clapping going on from in the conference hall right behind me. How many locations across Trieste is this currently going on in?

Suzanne - Okay, so across the way you can see Piazza Unita d'Italia and in there we have the main stage where there are conferences. And in the surrounding area, there are stands that represent every institute. On the way along the seafront from here we are in Molo IV, which is a new conference area all the way through to the Piazza. There are about two other theaters, the Historical Giuseppe Verde Theater.

James - Is that the stunning one? It looks like an ancient place.

Suzanne - That's the one. It's a very historic theater. So all the authorities put the city at the disposal, if you like, of science and for its citizens. So it's an exciting time.

James - Wonderful. And Suzanne, to finish, is there any event in particular you're most looking forward to this weekend, or are they all equally as high on your priority list?

Suzanne - No, seriously. The biggest one for me is the event where we'll have Chris Smith speaking because we have our director, General Lawrence Banks, who's a tumor virologist, our former director general, Mauro Giacca, who's a cardiologist now at King's College, and yourselves here with us. And it's taken a long time to get you here, but we've just really excited about it. It's been sold out, but fully booked in. Looking forward to it, you have no idea.