Association of Science and Technologies Centers

Association of Science and Technology Centers

Impact & Initiatives

New Community Science Resources on Community Engagement & Relationship Building

/ Community Science, Impact & Initiatives, Resources & Learning /

Community engagement is at the heart of our work in science centers and museums. From education to exhibit development, visitor services to visitor studies, community engagement is both a means and an end to everything we do. ASTC’s Community Science Initiative is dedicated to helping science centers and museums partner more effectively and equitably with […]

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Open the Door to Future STEM Leaders AND Funding Opportunities!

/ ASTC News & Announcements, Impact & Initiatives /

Representation in STEM matters. When young people see adults who look like them thriving in science, technology, engineering, and math, they begin to see those futures as possibilities for themselves. The IF/THEN® Champions Network is working to make that vision a reality for girls and women in the STEM field. A collaboration between the Association

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Don’t miss these summer 2025 STEM funding opportunities!

/ ASTC News & Announcements, Impact & Initiatives, Resources & Learning /

We know the funding landscape is tough right now. That’s why we are even more pleased than usual to share three funding and resource opportunities for Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) members*. These opportunities are exclusively for ASTC members that join the IF/THEN® Champions Network—a national U.S. collaboration between ASTC and the National

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New Community Science Resources for Collaborating with Youth

/ Impact & Initiatives /

A participant from the GET City Collaborative which offers informal engineering design experiences for youth in Lansing, Michigan. Science centers and museums often serve youth as their primary audience but how many have considered involving them in participatory projects that invite their shared leadership? Turns out…quite a few! For instance, the Sciencenter in New York

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The Power of Early Investment: Funding and Time Yield Deeper Community Connections

/ Impact & Initiatives /

Launched in 2023, ASTC’s Community Science Partnership Planning Seed Grant program supported new and emerging collaborations between ASTC member institutions and community-based organizations looking to deepen their relationship and collaborate to advance local priorities. Each grantee team received $8,000 – split equitably – to enable their participation in the five-month program which included strategic training

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Volunteers removed 220 lbs. of litter from beach at ASTC 2024

/ ASTC Annual Conference, Impact & Initiatives /

Thanks to the hard work of more than a dozen volunteers, the ASTC community removed more than 2,200 pieces of litter—totaling more than 220 lbs.—from the Margaret T. Burroughs (31st Street Beach) during the ASTC 2024 Annual Conference in Chicago. The Adopt-a-Beach cleanup event on October 1 was organized by the Alliance for the Great

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Announcing the Community Science Civic Engagement & Policymaking Toolkit

/ Impact & Initiatives, Resources & Learning /

We are thrilled to announce the newest resource from our Community Science Initiative, the Civic Engagement & Policymaking Toolkit! Our team developed this toolkit with museum and science center professionals in mind who want to start, expand, or improve civic engagement work with their local communities. Read on for a sneak peak of what’s inside…

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New Community Science Resources for Civic Engagement & Policymaking 

/ Impact & Initiatives /

As a part of ASTC’s Community Science Initiative, we have been maintaining a library of relevant resources for science center and museum professionals interested in community science. Community science is a way of working on issues at the intersection of science and society, which centers community priorities, strengths, and leadership to co-create solutions.   ASTC’s Community

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10 science centers and museums receive awards to support STEM-career engagement for youth

/ ASTC News & Announcements, Impact & Initiatives, Science and Technology Center and Museum Stories /

The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) has awarded ten science centers and museums around the United States $15,000 each in support of STEM-career engagement for youth in grades 4-8 through Voya STEM Futures. The program is a competitive selection process which is generously funded by the Voya Foundation.  Recipients will use the awards

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Announcing Our New Cultivating Community Science Stipend Teams

/ Impact & Initiatives /

ASTC’s Community Science Team is excited to launch our Cultivating Community Science Stipend Program. ASTC’s Community Science Initiative defines Community Science as a way of working on issues at the intersection of science and society, which centers community priorities, strengths, and leadership to co-create solutions. Through community science, community members collaborate, often with scientists and

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Updates to the ASTC Community Science Resource Library

/ Impact & Initiatives /

As a part of ASTC’s Community Science Initiative, we have been maintaining a library of relevant resources for science center and museum professionals interested in community science. Community science is a way of working on issues at the intersection of science and society, which centers community priorities, strengths, and leadership to co-create solutions. Through community

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Seven ASTC members support youth interest in STEM learning and careers 

/ Impact & Initiatives, Science and Technology Center and Museum Stories /

Since 2017, ASTC has awarded $385,000 to member science centers and museums through Voya STEM Futures, the ASTC initiative funded by the Voya Foundation to support science centers and museums in engaging career discovery-focused STEM learning programs. Last year, seven ASTC members offered youth programming as part of Voya STEM Futures. Institutions in seven geographic regions received

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New Resource from ASTC’s Leadership and Field Development Committee

/ Impact & Initiatives, Resources & Learning /

The ASTC Leadership and Field Development (LFD) Committee is excited to present their 2023 report, Priorities, Challenges, and an Action Plan for Strengthening the Science Center and Museum Workforce. This report covers some of the key priorities for the future of the field, some of the critical challenges that will need to be addressed, and

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ASTC launches Seeding Action to cultivate a culture of planetary health action

/ ASTC News & Announcements, Impact & Initiatives /

ASTC is proud to announce the launch of Seeding Action, a new initiative to support science centers, museums, and other public engagement networks in their efforts to cultivate a culture of hope and action on planetary health issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Any institution with a commitment to prioritizing planetary health

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New Plans for Community Science from Partnership Planning Seed Grant Teams

/ ASTC News & Announcements, Impact & Initiatives /

Credit: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County ASTC’s Community Science Team is proud to share the work resulting from our Partnership Planning Seed Grant Program. Successful community science begins with establishing trust among collaborative partners and ensuring that all partners are working toward shared goals. To that end, our newest grant program was designed

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ASTC-Thriving Earth Exchange Fellowships Available to Support Community-Centered Science 

/ Impact & Initiatives /

We are excited to continue our relationship with the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Thriving Earth Exchange. Together we will support up to 7 science center and museum staff (and their community partners) to participate in Thriving Earth’s 12-month fellowship and training program. Thriving Earth connects communities with scientists and supports their partnership as they tackle

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Announcing Our New Community Science Partnership Planning Seed Grant Teams

/ ASTC News & Announcements, Impact & Initiatives /

ASTC’s Community Science Team is excited to launch our Partnership Planning Seed Grant Program. Successful community science begins with establishing trust among collaborative partners and ensuring that all partners are working toward shared goals. To that end, our newest grant program is designed to support new and emerging collaborations between ASTC member institutions and community-based

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Explore Our New Dialogue & Deliberation Toolkit

/ ASTC News & Announcements, Impact & Initiatives /

Our society is rife with challenging problems for our communities to solve–from public health, to environmental justice and beyond. A neighborhood might identify the need to address flooding challenges impacting their community. Or a group may want to gather and brainstorm how to improve food access in their city. As neighbors come together to solve

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