The Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) has operated a Mobile Planetarium for over 14 years. Between 2009-2023, the project reached more than 400,000 learners and their teachers across the Netherlands. The project has been popular with schools since the beginning but continues to grow and reach increasing numbers of learners and schools each year. A project like the Mobile Planetarium does not continue growing this way without developing key ingredients or best practices. In this article, we describe the NOVA Mobile Planetarium project in detail and the challenges faced over the last 14 years. Reflection on the different aspects of the project has led to 10 best practices which have been critical to the continued success of this project. In this article, we aim to share our experiences to help other mobile planetarium projects around the world.
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Stargazing Live! aims to capture the imagination of students of all ages with live and interactive (mobile) planetarium lessons about the transient universe incorporating semi-live data from the Dutch MeerLICHT and BlackGEM telescopes. The most advanced lesson, at pre-university physics level, also aims to support the teaching and learning of key curriculum concepts. Results from the evaluation study show that pre-university physics students are engaged and inspired by the planetarium lesson but find it difficult to link the topics to what they learn in their physics lessons, supporting the need for follow-up classroom-based activities. To address this omission, lesson activities have been created for this age group to accompany the planetarium shows using the interactive tool DynaLearn (https://dynalearn.nl/). The lessons challenge students to model key curriculum concepts linked to the telescopes and their science such as stellar properties and the balance within a main-sequence star. The lessons were created using a co-creation model – led by science education experts with significant input from astronomers, astronomy outreach/education professionals and physics teachers. Knowledge questionnaires, completed immediately prior to and after the ‘stellar properties’ activity showed a significant increase in the number of students able to correctly describe the causal relationships between mass and other properties in a main sequence star such as luminosity, gravity, and temperature. All materials are freely available in both English and Dutch (https://www.astronomie.nl/stargazinglive).
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Building on the Minds-On project, this study developed the online module “Celestial Bodies” to enhance hands-on and minds-on learning, providing students with individualised feedback prompts to monitor and identify weaknesses in their understanding. The lesson centred on classifying 14 celestial bodies based on three properties, with the guidance of the online module and a map and cards. This study aimed to (1) enhance student engagement with the software, and (2) asses the impact of guided instructions and feedback prompts. We introduce our interactive lesson, present findings, and discuss their benefits in upper primary education classes to enhance student engagement, concept learning, emphasising enhanced integration of minds-on and hands-on activities.
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Inside Out is an innovative research project that translates cutting-edge microbiome science into immersive, multisensory experiences aimed at long-term behavioral and mental health transformation. Combining extended reality (XR), speculative gastronomy, and narrative therapy, the project enables participants to explore their inner microbiome landscape through taste, smell, touch, and interactive storytelling. This pioneering methodology connects gut-brain science with emotional and sensory engagement. Participants experience their bodies from the inside out, cultivating a visceral understanding of the symbiotic microbial worlds within us. The project includes AI-generated "drinkable memories," microbiome-inspired food designs, haptic-olfactory VR environments, and robotic interactions that choreograph the body as terrain. Developed in collaboration with designers from Polymorf, producer Studio Biarritz, psychiatrist-researcher Anja Lok, and microbiome scientists from Amsterdam UMC and the Amsterdam Microbiome Expertise Center, Inside Out bridges scientific rigor with artistic expression. The project seeks to: • Increase embodied understanding of the microbiome’s role in health and well-being • Shift public perception from hygiene-based fear to ecological thinking • Inspire behavioral change related to food, gut health, and mental resilience The outcomes are designed to reach a large audience and implementation in science museums, art-science festivals, and educational programs, with a view toward future clinical applications in preventive healthcare and mental well-being. By making the invisible microbiome tangible, Inside Out aims not only to inform, but to transform—redefining how we relate to the ecosystems within us.
