About the October Month of Knowledge

Storm into the world of science and technology

Oktober Kennismaand / October Month of Knowledge, the biggest science and technology event in the Netherlands, is held annually from October 1 until October 31.

The ‘WetenWeek’(Science & technology week) is the forerunner of Oktober Kennismaand. It took place from 1986 till 2007 annually. This event has grown to a month from 2008.

In 2008, more than 700 activities were organised and 250,000 people visited the venues. A great variety of institutions took part in a unique event to bring science and technology closer to the public. Universities, research institutes, observatories, companies, museums and libraries opened their doors for young and old and will open their doors again in 2009. The theme of 2009 was: ‘Reis naar het onbekende’: Journey to the unknown. This springs from the International Darwin Year and Year of Astronomy.

Evaluation public ‘Oktober Kennismaand 2008

The until 2007 yearly organized Science Week aimed at the enhancement of the knowledge of scientific and technological developments by the public has from 2008 on developed into a month of activities: October Kennismaand (October-Month of Knowledge). In order to reach a wide audience a good communication strategy that reaches and appeals to a wide audience is imperative. Therefore the campaign of Oktober Kennismaand was evaluated. The evaluation research in 2008 comprised a questionnaire that was distributed among the (adult) visitors of the different activities during the month October and some oral interviews with visiting children (< 18 years) in the period between October 1 and 31, 2008.

The researchers used the data collected by the survey and the interviews to answer the following questions:
1) To what extent was the publicity campaign a success and what were the roles played by the different media used in this campaign?
2) How do visitors experience the activities of Oktober Kennismaand, and how do they evaluate them?

The success of the promotion campaign in 2008 is measured by the effectiveness of the different communication channels. The main sources of information for Oktober Kennismaand appear to be informal channels such as family and acquaintances (24,4%). Furthermore newspaper advertisements (20,6 ), and the Science Week website (9.6) have informed the respondents about October Kennismaand. The program magazine plays only a modest role as a source for information about Oktober Kennismaand (5,6%).

Although the informational role of the website www.oktoberkennismaand.nl is modest too in 2008 a considerable part of the respondents (42%) indicated that they would like to be informed in the future about activities during Oktober Kennismaand 2009 by email or internet in general.

Not surprisingly, for the youngsters among the visitors in 2008 the school plays, apart from informal channels (parents, friends, acquaintances), also an important role as an information source.

The research findings indicate that he activities during Oktober Kennismaand 2008 attracted a wide audience, wider than the audience that used to visit the former National Science Week.

Considering the type of activities, the preference of the visitors, regardless of age, points to activities like creating things themselves, doing tests, viewing experiments, listening and the like. As opposed to children, adults also prefer visiting a lecture.

Adults evaluate October Kennismaand in the first place as instructive, interesting and pleasant. Children find the activities in the first place amazing, entertaining, and consider the variety of activities pleasant. Both children and adult visitors evaluate the activities in which they have been participating highly positive!

The research findings show that Oktober Kennismaand offers what she promises: a variety in attractive, interesting and pleasant activities for young and old, and consequently a fascinating confrontation of a wide audience with recent developments in the area of science and technology.