Chongqing No. 1 Sight | “Take both hard and soft measures” to create a new highland for science popularization-Chongqing Today-Hualong.com

This May in Chongqing, the “10th Chongqing Top Ten Science Popularization Envoys” was released, the 9th National Youth Science Popularization Innovation Experiment and Works Competition (Chongqing Division) ended, and the 2023 Chongqing Science and Technology Activity Week was launched. Science popularization activities on the International Day for Biological Diversity…the atmosphere of popular science is very strong. Science popularization is an activity in which the state and society popularize scientific and technological knowledge, carry forward the spirit of science, disseminate scientific ideas, and advocate scientific methods. Together with technological innovation, it is regarded as the two wings of innovation and development, and is placed in an equally important position. To be effective in science popularization, high-quality science popularization resources are first needed.

The Chongqing Natural Resources Science Museum, which opened to the public in March this year, is located in the core area of ​​Zhaomushan Science and Technology Innovation City, with a total area of ​​5,000 square meters. It has a central exhibition hall, geological evolution exhibition hall, life evolution exhibition hall and natural resources exhibition hall. , Pu’an Yunyanglong, Pap’s Giant Panda, and Pocket Biancheng Fish and other rare collections, guide the public to explore the 800 million-year geological and life evolution journey of Chongqing in the form of pictures, texts, physical specimens, and interactive experience devices.

Up to now, there are 324 science popularization bases in Chongqing, 35 of which have been recognized as national popular science education bases. These bases are rich in categories and have their own characteristics. They are widely distributed in scientific research institutes, colleges and universities, theme parks, key laboratories, and enterprises and institutions. Relying on scientific and technological achievements, natural and cultural resources, etc., they actively carry out various forms of popular science services and activities for the society. . Taking this year’s science and technology activity week as an example, for a period of 12 days, the city launched more than 600 “science popularization meals” and invited citizens to share them.

Aerospace science and technology achievements are one of the highlights of the main exhibition activities of this year’s event week. A number of municipal science popularization bases brought aerospace “black technology”, allowing young people to “transform” into little astronauts, space builders and space guards, and experience the charm of China’s aerospace on the spot.

During the event week, more than 130 key laboratories and science popularization bases will be open to the public, and museums and science and technology museums will also start an immersive science popularization tour at night. Chongqing Science and Technology Activity Week has been held for 22 consecutive years, and has carried out more than 13,000 special science popularization activities, with more than 70 million participants. It has become the brand science popularization activity with the highest public participation, the widest coverage and the greatest social influence in Chongqing.

In addition to the science and technology activity week, brand science popularization activities such as the National Science Popularization Day and the “Three Going to the Countryside” of culture, technology and health are very popular. Taking the popular science campus activities of academicians and experts in Chongqing as an example, since its launch in 2019, the activity has gone to more than 500 universities, middle schools and primary schools in more than 30 districts and counties, held more than 670 popular science lectures, benefited more than 600,000 teachers and students, and received wide acclaim . At the same time, the themed science popularization activities such as “World Meteorological Day” and “World Earth Day” are also very impressive. Chongqing’s science popularization “menu” is becoming more and more abundant, and the “tastes” it provides are becoming more and more diverse. Relevant data show that Chongqing carries out more than 30,000 popular science activities every year, with an audience of over 20 million people. The development of these activities is inseparable from the advancement of the construction of high-level science popularization talents.

In the Chongqing Museum of Natural History, more than 50 students from Chongqing Normal University have conducted professional training for science guides through theoretical studies and field simulation operations. This kind of training has been held continuously for many years, and has cultivated many reserve talents for science popularization. Up to now, the construction of science popularization venues in our city has exceeded 800,000 square meters, and the number of full-time and part-time science popularization personnel per 10,000 people exceeds 20, which is higher than the national average.

Improve the layout of science popularization infrastructure, use public cultural and sports facilities to carry out publicity and activities, and improve the “hardware” foundation; promote the construction of high-level science popularization talents, use emerging technologies to continuously enrich the forms of popular science works, and strengthen “software” support . The “both soft and hard” has brought about the overall improvement of Chongqing’s science popularization cause and citizens’ scientific quality. During the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, the proportion of Chongqing citizens with scientific literacy increased from 4.74% to 10.20%, and the increase was among the highest in the country. On the other side of the great progress is the real gap. Compared with the developed regions, there is still a big gap in the overall level of scientific literacy of Chongqing citizens. The new plan introduced this time to further strengthen the science popularization work, on the basis of the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Science Popularization in Chongqing”, further strengthened the goals and clarified the path.

The “Implementation Plan” consists of 5 parts and 24 articles. It proposes to carry out science popularization actions from four aspects: promoting the construction of a large-scale science popularization work pattern, accelerating the implementation of the science popularization ability improvement plan, actively creating a good atmosphere for science popularization work, and improving the science popularization work security system to create a science popularization in the west. Center to comprehensively improve the ability of science popularization and the scientific quality of the whole people. By 2025, the proportion of citizens with scientific literacy in Chongqing will be higher than the national average, and a science popularization service capability and science communication system that matches a nationally influential science and technology innovation center will basically be formed. By 2035, the proportion of citizens with scientific literacy will be at the forefront of the country, the high-quality development of science popularization services will be significantly more efficient, and the soft power of science and culture will be significantly enhanced, providing strong support for the construction of a new socialist modern Chongqing.

It is worth mentioning that the “Implementation Plan” also clarified that from the three aspects of strengthening science popularization funding, science popularization rewards and incentives, and science popularization supervision and evaluation, we will improve the science popularization job security system and promote the formation of government, enterprises, social groups, individuals, etc. Diversified investment in science popularization has further stimulated the enthusiasm of various social entities to participate in science popularization. At present, the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Popularization of Science and Technology (Revised Draft)” is openly soliciting opinions from the public. According to Yang Xinmin, director of the Chongqing National Center for Applied Mathematics and a professor at Chongqing Normal University, the implementation plan issued by Chongqing is at the right time. We should take this as an opportunity to build Chongqing into a global digital science popularization demonstration zone, a science popularization distribution center in the western region, and an important fulcrum of the national science popularization service system, and the demonstration will drive the high-quality development of science popularization in the entire western region.

Science and technology are the foundation of national prosperity, and innovation is the soul of national progress. Science popularization is not an “optional option”, but a “compulsory question” that requires the participation of the whole society. In today’s Bayu land, the trend of technological innovation is vigorous, and we look forward to the flower of science popularization also ushering in a more splendid bloom.