About 50 talks, scientific videos, book launches, debates, workshops and presentations. This is what visitors to the Multipurpose Arena will see, set up at the entrance to pavilion 4 (by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation - MCTI) at Píer Mauá, in Rio de Janeiro, between Wednesday, June 13 and June 22. These are activities running in parallel to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio+20.

The 300 square meter space will be open to visitors to Rio+20 to discuss topics related to the conference. The debates will involve young people from across the country (using video-conferencing, the internet and social networks), and videos. The arena harmoniously places the audience in a circular shape and is made entirely of oriented strand board (OSB).

The front of the Multipurpose Arena has a large screen and two mapped projection areas. These areas are cubes that receive images accurately without them exceeding their extremities. The speakers are fully interactive with these screens.

Activities

The program of talks includes representatives from various institutions under the MCTI: Centro de Tecnologia da Informação Renato Archer- CTI – (the Renato Archer Information Technology Center), Centro de Tecnologia Mineral – Cetem – (the Centre for Mineral Technology), Instituto Nacional de pesquisas Espaciais INPE – (the National Institute for Space Research), Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá –IDSM- (the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development), Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia –INT – (the National Institute of Technology), Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas –CBPF- (the Brazilian Center for Physics Research) , Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa – RNP (the National Network of Education and Research), Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins –Mast – (the Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences) and Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi –MPEG- (the Goeldi Museum).


On Friday (June 15), from 12:15 pm to 1:00 pm, the director of the Popularization and Dissemination of Science and Technology at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Ildeu Moreira, is to give a talk on "Science and the Environment in popular Brazilian music,” along with musical performances. On Monday (June 18), from 04:45 pm to 5:30 pm, the MCTI is organizing a presentation and debate on the Rio+20 document.

According to Moreira, who is also working on organizing the event, the idea is that the activities are for the general public, but focused on young people. "Each presentation is 30 minutes at most, with another 15 minutes for a debate," he says, explaining that the activities will be dynamic so that everything can be covered.

Text: Denise Coelho – Press Office, MCTI