During a meeting on Wednesday, May 30, between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and state and local coordinators of the National Science and Technology Week (SNCT), it was announced that the event will be used to discuss and roll out to schools initiatives established in the final Rio +20 document.

This decision strengthens the SNCT’s alignment with the global conference, to which this issue has already referred in the themes .In August, another meeting will establish how the Rio +20 document will be absorbed in regional events.

The meeting was also attended by Biblioteca Nacional de Brasília (National Library, Brasília), representatives of Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas – Sebrae - (Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises, and Serviço Social do Comércio –Sesc (Social Service for Commerce). They offered support for the activities.

Last year, the SNCT was replicated in 650 municipalities. According to the director of the Popularization and Dissemination of Science and Technology at the MCTI, Ildeu Moreira, the idea to promote regional events for children leads to the development of future professionals in areas that are not popular in Brazil. "It is important that young people conclude they can be science professionals, and these fairs are fundamental to whetting the appetite of children and teenagers," he said.

As regards the activities in 2012, it was agreed that that regional fairs will again offer the See Science Program, which distributes DVDs on the subject and kits for scientific experiments.

Article updated on 06/04/2012

Text: Ricardo Abel – communications adviser at MCTI