Circular Science is a program that runs throughout the academic year and is part of the European Researchers’ Night program. Its purpose is to bring science and technology closer to society, offering solutions to major global challenges. Circular Science acts as an extension of this great day, bringing the experience to young people’s classrooms. In this way, students from non-university institutions have the opportunity to learn and enjoy scientific knowledge thanks to the collaboration of teaching and research staff from the University of the Basque Country, who travel to educational centers in the Basque Country.

In the case of ENEDI, its participation this year has materialized through three proposals:

– “Energy and History”: Throughout this talk, the importance of energy in history will be didacticly demonstrated. How is it not a modern concept that emerged at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution? The food that primitive hunter-gatherers relied on provided energy; the beginning of agriculture and livestock farming meant they could store and manage energy. On the other hand, humans saw that they could obtain energy from the environment and therefore developed windmills or domesticated animals for use in transportation or farming. This finally ended with the Industrial Revolution, the use of fossil fuels, the current energy crisis, the transition we are currently experiencing, and the challenges that lie ahead.

– “The curse of natural resources”: Our economic model of society, for centuries, has depended on the management and use of the various natural resources that the planet has provided us. These can be energy, minerals, or food. Paradoxically, it is observed that those societies that have had less access to these resources have grown and evolved at a faster pace than those “blessed” with their abundance. This talk aims to show in an engaging way the often very negative consequences of extractivism and to encourage students to reflect on the relationship between the overexploitation of resources, the profound inequality that surrounds us, and the serious deterioration of our planet.

– “Thermography applied to energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings”: Achieving energy-efficient buildings is one of the EU’s objectives in its fight against climate change. One of the tools for achieving this is energy audits. The objective of this theoretical and practical workshop is to introduce students to thermography, one of the techniques applied in this field and STEM vocations. Thermographic cameras will be used to capture thermal images of a space and thus identify potential thermal bridges, dampness, and infiltrations.