Collecting questions for tomorrow's research - that is the approach of this year's "Year of Science 2022 - Participate!", an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Science in Dialogue (WiD), which officially started on Friday, 14 January. All citizens are invited to enter into dialogue with science and research and to contribute to opening up future fields of research with their questions for science.

The TU Dresden is also involved in this nationwide initiative with a project. Last year, ideas for the current Year of Science were submitted to the BMBF. A total of 26 projects were approved for funding. Among them was the project "POP-UP-WISSEN – Wissen schafft Dialog" (POP-UP Knowledge - Knowledge Creates Dialogue), which the TU Dresden developed together with partners from Dresden and Weißwasser. Members of the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences have been intensively involved in the development of the project idea and in the preparation of the application, and have thus also contributed to the project for the faculty and its scientists.

Project based on the pop-up store approach – revitalising vacant (shop) space

The project is based on the pop-up store approach, in which vacant shop spaces are occupied for a certain time as sales or art project spaces. This is also planned in Weißwasser and Dresden, except that here the TU Dresden and its partners would like to enliven vacant shop spaces or unused areas as "POP-UP Knowledge Stores" with scientific topics and enter into an exchange with citizens. The collection of questions for science and the presentation of current scientific projects of the TU Dresden as intellectual stimulation are in the foreground in the first quarter. From the 2nd quarter until the end of the year, the questions will gradually be answered in different ways in analogue and digital formats. Questions can be submitted directly to the project or via the umbrella campaign throughout the year: digitally or via cards in question boxes on site.

The TU Dresden and its project partners divide their activities into events in the POP-UP Knowledge stores, decentralised events at POP-UP Knowledge Locations and virtual activities under the motto POP-UP Knowledge network.

POP-UP Knowledge Store in Weißwasser, museums and libraries support in Dresden

• A POP-UP Knowledge Store transforms existing vacancies into a space for participatory meeting formats, exhibitions, experiments and discourse. The opening is scheduled for the 1st quarter. In Dresden, the Palitzsch Museum, the Technical Collections and the Municipal Libraries will open spaces for such activities. The various participation formats are aimed at citizens and pupils.
• At POP-UP Knowledge locations such as clubs, museums, shopping centres, pedestrian zones, parks, etc., science meets the people on site in their everyday lives with experiments to participate in and demonstrators that make them curious to try it out. Questions can also be submitted digitally.

In addition, over the course of the year, scientists will explore the questions submitted digitally and in the boxes together with citizens in formats such as street labs, role plays, workshops and networking events.

Sustainability through further use and joint research projects

Experiences from the project are to be used beyond 2022 to develop and transfer suitable ideas for other municipalities and regions throughout Saxony and Germany. This applies to the establishment of further POP-UP-WISSENsläden, as well as the design of participatory and novel formats of science communication and the development or use of information materials on a small scale. In the sense of the real-lab approach, impulses from the workshops will flow into future project applications of the TU Dresden, which will further promote the exchange and cooperation between research and the population.

The project "POP-UP Knowledge - Knowledge creates Dialogue" is coordinated by the Department of University Culture and was developed in close cooperation with the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, the Centre for Teacher Training and the Technical Design of the TU Dresden, the Dresden Technical Collections, the Station Weißwasser e. V. and numerous other partners listed on the project website.