February 20, 2024February 20, 2024
SUM Event
Katowice City
In December, we will begin the celebration of the honorary title of European City of Science Katowice 2024. We have prepared 10 interesting facts about this unique event for you to learn more about it.

1. The title of European City of Science is awarded by the EuroScience organization in cooperation with the European Commission. The prestigious award aims to deepen the changes accompanying the transformation of society towards science in individual European cities, as well as to show the richness and diversity of the European scientific landscape, and to promote self-education, scientific integration, stimulate interest in science among younger generations and the development of European research.

 2. Katowice is the first ever city from Central and Eastern Europe to be honored with the EMN title. At a press conference held on December 22, 2021 at the Center for Scientific Information and Academic Library (CINiBA), the announcement of the awarding of the title of European City of Science 2024 to Katowice and the signing of the agreement of the consortium of organizers of EMNK 2024 took place.

3. The EuroScience Open Forum 2024 will be held in Katowice in June 2024 The ESOF conference has been organized since 2004. Each edition is hosted by a city that has been given the title of European Science City. So far it has been awarded to: Stockholm, Munich, Barcelona, Turin, Dublin, Copenhagen, Manchester, Toulouse, Trieste and Leiden.4 The organizer of the European City of Science Katowice 2024 celebration is the Academic Consortium Katowice – City of Science, which includes:Silesian University (leader), Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Silesian University of Technology, Silesian Medical University, University of Economics in Katowice, as well as the City of Katowice, the Silesian Voivodeship and the Upper Silesia-Zagłębi Metropolis.(5) The success of the previous editions of the Silesian Science Festival KATOWICE was of great significance for the awarding of the title of European Science City 2024 to Katowice. Six editions of one of the largest popular science events in Poland and Europe have so far been visited by 555,000 spectators, 7174 exhibitors and 279 special guests.

 4. The organizer of the celebration of the European City of Science Katowice 2024 is the Academic Consortium Katowice – City of Science, which includes: Silesian University (leader), Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Silesian University of Technology, Silesian Medical University, University of Economics in Katowice, as well as the City of Katowice, the Silesian Voivodeship and the Upper Silesia-Zagłębi Metropolis.

5. The success of the previous editions of the Silesian Science Festival KATOWICE was of great significance for the awarding of the title of European Science City 2024 to Katowice. Six editions of one of the largest popular science events in Poland and Europe have so far been visited by 555,000 spectators, 7174 exhibitors and 279 special guests.

6. This year’s 6th Silesian Science Festival KATOWICE will also be the opening weekend of the European Science City 2024 celebrations in Katowice. Already on December 9 – the first day of the Festival – Katowice’s Spodek will host a unique science and art show, Katopolis, featuring scientists, musicians and artists from the universities forming the Academic Consortium Katowice – City of Science. The musical setting of the event will be provided by music producer and Polish hip-hop star Miuosh, while the lyrical layer will be developed by Zbigniew Rokita – an excellent writer, winner of the “Nike” Literary Award for his book “Kajś. A Tale of Upper Silesia,” and all this will be directed by dr. Jan Matuszyński – creator of, among others, the films “Ostatnia rodzina” (2016), “Żeby nie było śladów” (2021), and Mateusz Znaniecki – film director and actor, associated with the Stanisław Wyspiański Silesian Theater in Katowice.

 7. The celebration of the European City of Science Katowice 2024 and the 7th edition of the Silesian Science Festival KATOWICE will be accompanied by the slogan “Science will give us the future”.

8. The most important goal of EMNK 2024 is to support and continue the activities of the long-lasting transformation of the region through science, to provide residents with unrestricted access to knowledge and to make it a basic instrument of civil dialogue.

 9. The year-long program of the European Science City KATOWICE 2024 will be built around 50 weeks of EMNK 2024, each of which will focus on a topic dedicated to an important issue of Polish and global science, with a significant impact on our lives. Participants will be able to meet with prominent experts in the field, and in addition, residents themselves will be given the opportunity to join in the development of knowledge, among other activities in the citizen science stream.

 10. The program of the 7th Silesian Science Festival KATOWICE will be based on the six thematic tracks of the European Science City 2024: climate and environment; health and quality of life; industries of the future; social innovation; industrial and cultural heritage; creation and criticism.