NAMES Secretariat Office invites you to read its Biennial Report for 2016-2018, available in both English and Arabic, covering the network’s development and milestones over the past couple of years.

We celebrated NAMES’ 10 Years Anniversary in 2016, marking the establishment and development of the first and only organization bringing together science centers and museum in North Africa and the Middle East. As we embarked on re-shaping NAMES for the next 10 years, we needed to ensure that we are evolving to serve our members better, and that we strengthen our presence and partnerships with our sister networks globally.

The last two years were about Planting Seeds for expansion. NAMES has been working to enable its members with ever-growing support systems, which provide exposure and learning opportunities: from the Biennial Conference, the EMME Summer School, the Mijbil Almutawa Award Program, and Pre-Conference Workshops, to focused learning resources currently being developed, fulfilling the Network’s purpose of maximizing on knowledge and experiences available within the region for the benefit of the entire regional science communication field, particularly within the NAMES family.

Furthermore, the Network is an active participant in cross-border collaborations with sister networks, including but not limited to, the International Science Centers and Science Museums Day. As a whole, these and many other platforms are, simply-put, opportunities for our Members to grow themselves and build their own capacities in order to serve their communities better. Our Members’ strength is a solid foundation for a whole region rising in science engagement!

Today, not only is the groundwork laid, but the seeds have been planted and are already sprouting. It is now time for us to sow our roots and nourish them, for the shoots to grow and the fruits to ripen.