Every two years, the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) holds Europe’s largest interdisciplinary meeting and City of Science festivities. The last ESOF/City of Science shindig was held in Toulouse, France in 2018. Organizers are now gearing up for 2020 in Trieste, Italy.

The ESOF meeting will be held from July 5-9, 2020 but there is much, much more as you can see at the proESOF 2020 website,

Mobilizing Central Eastern Europe towards Trieste 2020
In 2020 Trieste will host the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF), a biennial pan-European event created by the EuroScience association and dedicated to scientific research and innovation. ESOF is the largest interdisciplinary science meeting in Europe. It is dedicated to scientific research and innovation and offers a unique framework for interaction and discussion for scientists, innovators, policy makers, entrepreneurs and the general public.

proESOF 2018-2020 is a programme of activities to anticipate and accompany the development of ESOF2020 Trieste. It includes a series of regional and international events that will be organized principally in the north east of Italy, and the Central and Eastern European countries.  proESOF is promoted and led by TESI – Trieste Encounters on Science and Innovation of the FIT – Trieste International Foundation for Progress and Freedom of Sciences.

Submit a proposal [I think this is for proESOF2020, ESOF2020, and City of Science proposals]

I’ve got a little more information from the ESOF and Trieste in 2020 webpage,

TRIESTE AND ESOF2020

Trieste has been nominated European City of Science 2020.

Trieste boasts a long tradition as a dynamic hub for research, science and innovation, focused on sustainable growth and development, with an impact that extends beyond Italy to the rest of Europe and the developing world. It is internationally renowned for the high concentration of scientific institutions. The city hosts overall more than 30 national and international centres and companies working in research and higher education, 5000 permanent foreign scientists and some 13000 students and researchers.

For the first time in its history, ESOF will be reaching beyond the national borders of its host country. As a Central European city, Trieste is committed to strengthening the links with Central and Eastern European scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers and citizens, thus making a crucial step towards a truly open and inclusive Europe.

The ESOF2020 conference will be held in the extraordinary area of the Old Port (Porto Vecchio), which has been for decades the commercial port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now an outstanding architectural and industrial heritage site that the Trieste Municipality is redeveloping and requalifying.

OUR MISSION

ESOF2020 Trieste generally aims to:

PROMOTE science, technology and innovation as key drivers of a sustainable and responsible development that is people-centered;

STIMULATE discussions concerning science, its applications and impact, including ethical issues;

ESTABLISH a platform where the dialogue between research institutions, academies and governments is fostered.

ESOF2020 Trieste also has more specific goals:

TO STRENGTHEN a scientific and technological network among the Central Eastern European countries, the existing Trieste Science System and the rest of Europe.

TO INTEGRATE AND CONNECT this network within the Mediterranean, North Africa and Central Asia;

TO CREATE a museum dedicated to Science and Technology and its dissemination.
 
The mission of Trieste as City of Science will continue after ESOF, through the creation of a science center, The North Adriatic Science and Technology Centre, and an independent, multidisciplinary, non-profit Summer Institute aimed at fostering dialogue among scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers and citizens, involving stakeholders from Central-Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Our Motto

The city’s natural spirit of openness and inclusiveness is expressed in the motto that Trieste has chosen for ESOF2020: “Freedom for science, science for freedom”.

FREEDOM FOR SCIENCE refers to the open-ended and unresolved questions that science is facing, with method and curiosity, without restrictions of credo or prejudices.

SCIENCE FOR FREEDOM, on the other hand, refers to the inclusiveness of science and its language, which goes beyond borders and conflicts and brings together people of any colour and gender. 

Paola Rodari, responsible for coordinating the Science in the City Festival, is featured in an April 4, 2019 ESOF 2020 Trieste press release,

The Festival, with its rich program of popular scientific events for the general public, will be held in Trieste from 27 June to 11 July 2020. In this interview Paola illustrates the main themes of the Science in the City Festival, how to participate and the impact of the event.

What will be the main themes of the Science in the City Festival?
The Science in the City Festival is composed of three principles: the topic of the Conference of Scientists in ESOF, taken up thanks to the participation of some of the conference speakers; the legacies related to the excellence of the scientific system of Trieste and the region, for example theoretical physics; and finally, the great themes integral to the history of Trieste and part of Friuli Venezia Giulia, such as psychiatry, civil protection, karstism and caves, and literature. The crossover between science and art, science and poetry, science and society will also allow us to produce events with a strongly innovative character. It will therefore, be a rich and varied mix, and only partly a mirror image of the entire ESOF 2020 program.

What kind of events will be held during the Festival and by whom?
The Festival will last two weeks and therefore, will host events of all kinds: from theatre to scientific cafés, laboratories, exhibitions, guided tours, conferences, and discussion games. We invite those who have original ideas to propose them by answering the calls already open on the website www.proesof2020.eu. Anyone can propose an event: research institutes, universities, associations, and companies – but also individual citizens. The Festival is able to offer the infrastructures – that is the locations, the technical and communication services, and the volunteers that can support the implementation of the events – but it cannot finance every single project, which must therefore at least in part stand on its own two feet. However, we are sure that many sponsors are interested in promoting events in the context of ESOF and the Festival.

What impact can those who decide to submit an idea for one of the proposed calls expect?
The Festival can offer considerable international visibility for the quality and quantity of participants and speakers taking part in ESOF and the various events of the Science in the City Festival. Research institutions, research and innovation funding agencies and global foundations will be present in the City, as well as many tourists. The international presence will therefore, be a cornerstone of the event. Like all major festivals, this can also be the right place to experiment with new methods of communicating science and involving citizens.
 
Paola Rodari is a project manager for international projects on science communication and a consultant for the development of new museums and centres for the Sissa Medialab and the Universities of Trieste. For 10 years, she was responsible for the education sector of the Laboratory of Scientific Imagery of Trieste (Italy), of which she was one of the founders. Regarding other projects, Paola has contributed to the development of Infini.to – the Astronomy Museum and Planetarium of Turin (Italy) – and 10Lab, the science centre of the Technology Park of Sardinia. She is on the steering committee of the thematic group Human Interface and Explainers of Ecsite (the European Network of Museums and Scientific Centres) that deals with the professional growth of scientific promoters and facilitators. She is the author of numerous articles and books on science communication.

Good luck with your submissions!