Where’s our next unconference? The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico!

This unconference is going to be incredible, and styled a little different from the last one. The new style will allow all attendees to really get to know each other and bond not only over activities and presentations, but through shared experiences and interactions with the local community.

It is a casual, warm, intimate experience for around 25-30 people to share their expertise, best practices, ideas for innovations — and hopefully inspire cross-disciplinary/cultural/regional collaborations. As our mission states, “COPUS is a diverse trans-disciplinary network of individuals and organizations dedicated to public engagement with science. Members represent a wide range of stakeholders and constituencies who work together to articulate a shared vision and accelerate our collective impact.”

This gathering is several things:

• A celebration of STEM education/outreach and the individuals that work tirelessly to promote it.
• An opportunity for the COPUS members to share and learn from the local scientists, educators, and community members through an interactive STEM fair event. Our goal is to empower the local community with science and science connections — but to learn from their expertise and gain understanding from their experiences and perspectives too!
• An opportunity for professional development and networking.
• An opportunity for us all to share with each other and recharge for the year – bringing home cool new ideas and possible connections/ideas for grants, etc.

We will be in the town of Chicxulub Puerto about 35 km from the north side of Merida and about 45 minutes from the airport. For this unconference, we’re partnering with Proyecto Itzaes to connect in with the local community of teachers, scientists, and families.

Tentative Schedule (subject to change):
Note: through out the unconference, we will be focusing on providing professional development and networking opportunities for all attendees.

• Friday, Jan 13th: arrivals and evening networking social
  (for those that are here for the full day, we’ll hold a strategic meeting, review our 2016 COPUS events/activities, prepare for Day of Service)
• Saturday, Jan 14th:
  1) sharing of expertise & member activities from 2016
  2) finding points of overlap (grants and collaborations)
  3) working group formation for 2017
  4) award ceremony & presentations (Paul Shin & Judy Scotchmoor Awards)
• Sunday, Jan 15th: Day of Service
  interacting with local scientists and teachers, science fair with the Maya community
• Monday, Jan 16th: Meeting wrap-up, departures
  for those that are here for the full day, we’ll have a “Day of Action” —
  1) data sharing for projects
  2) make headway on working group action items
  3) reporting on Day of Service for website/social media & grants