The Fortaleza de Sagres was once again a school of scientific innovation for two days. On Saturday and Sunday, the 7th and 8th of July, the Algarve monument hosted, for the second consecutive year, the event Nova Escola de Sagres. This time, technology from other times was joined by today's technology and there was no lack of robots, 3D printing and even holograms.
The Centro Ciência Viva (CCV) of Lagos once again accepted the challenge launched by the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve (DRCAlg), under the program for the Promotion and Valorization of Monuments (DiVaM), and showed how science can make a contribution to the preservation of heritage.
In this second edition of the Nova Escola de Sagres, the offer was closely linked to the question that serves as the theme of this year's DiVaM: “Heritage, what future?”.
Thus, there were «points in common» with the event held last year, namely the replica of a caravel that everyone can help to assemble – although, on Saturday, the strong wind did not help –, cartography and navigation instruments used in the Discoveries, but also many new activities.
«We invest a lot in scientific themes and techniques that preserve the future, whether in collections or in the digitization and 3D printing of living beings, of natural heritage objects, in order to transport them to the future. We also have holography, which is a record of a unique moment, which remains for the future», he explained to Sul Informação Luís Azevedo Rodrigues, director of the CCV in Lagos.
Kids and adults even had the opportunity to interact with robots and understand how they are programmed. This activity had a component of hands on, as one of the small machines was programmed to follow lines and recognized color codes. So anyone could make their own track and order the robot to accelerate, stop, turn left or right, and even dance.
“This year we also tried to increase and diversify the offer. Thus, we also bet on some artists, namely the musical project Deep:her [GI Joe and Emmy Curl] and a music and story show, the “Sounds of the Word”, to add to science this dimension of artistic manifestations, as they normally are understood'.
Alexandra Gonçalves, Regional Director of Culture of the Algarve, also visited Fortaleza de Sagres and liked what she saw.
«This is, perhaps, one of the most daring things we do at the Sagres Fortress. The issue of new technologies creates new interactions with heritage, which brings new audiences, namely the younger ones, who are always more difficult to attract", he explained, in statements to the Sul Informação, Alexandra Goncalves.
“One of the things that went better, in my opinion, was the activities dedicated to families. The pedipaper went very well, although there was some fear, because this type of initiative is already very common. Astronomical observation was also a success. The sky was clear, full of stars and there was a great adhesion, despite the cold», he said.
It was with families in mind, but also those who visit the region, that the Lagos Living Science Center decided to expand the event to three days and split it into two moments. “Last year there were just two days, one dedicated to schools, the other dedicated to families and tourists. This year, we decided to make this first moment, of two days, for families and tourists, because it is justified, during the high season, to do something more oriented to this public», explained Luís Azevedo Rodrigues.
«In October, we will have another day, dedicated to the school public, because it is the beginning of the school year. I think it makes perfect sense to divide this event into two moments», he added.
Also because there are already those who go to the Sagres fortress on purpose to participate in the event. “There were many people with DiVaM brochures who had learned about the event through the Regional Directorate of Culture. But there were also many people who came through Ciência Viva de Lagos' network of contacts or who learned about it through social communication and social networks.
For the year, the CCV de Lagos will survey visitors to these monuments, during the days of the Nova Escola de Sagres, to understand the motivation for their visit and how they learned about the event».
It is certain that «there were always people watching the shows», as well as a strong adhesion to the other initiatives, «which is what is intended», concluded Alexandra Gonçalves.
However, part of the activities planned for the 2nd Nova Escola de Sagres «will be exported to our activities at the Centro Ciência Viva de Lagos», revealed Luís Azevedo Rodrigues.
“We did an aerial filming of the entire area of the fortress, with a drone. Then we scanned it and now we have a model, whether to show it to people, in a virtual reality system, or to print it in 3D. It will soon be able to be seen in the center», he concluded.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues|Sul Informação – Jorge F. Marques|Centro Ciência Viva de Lagos
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