This submission is based upon experience at the National Marine Aquarium but is relevant to almost all other science centres.

INTRODUCTION

  The National Marine Aquarium (NMA) opened to the public in 1998; a charity dedicated to "Increasing awareness of the oceans, the life they contain and the ways by which we humans affect them". The building and its contained exhibits were always regarded as only one way, albeit the most obvious, of engaging with the widest public and like many centres there is considerable outreach activity and involvement. It is the largest aquarium in the UK. The NMA provided the cornerstone development in a large scale re-development strategy for the east end of Plymouth.

INITIAL FUNDING

  Funding was derived from a number of sources including, ERDF, SWRDA, SRB, Prosper and commercial borrowings. There was no National Lottery funding in the original build which totalled about £14 million. Two additional phases were added; phase II with SWRDA funding and phase III with a combination of SWRDA and ReDiscover (Millennium Commission) funding. The placement of HMS Scylla on the seabed as a dive site, ecological observatory and outreach for the NMA was further funded by SWRDA, largely on the grounds of income generation into the local economy, which it has amply justified. To date less than £22 million has been expended on the entire project—extremely good value for money. It has been calculated that the NMA contributes, on a turnover of appx. £3.5 million, an average of about £10 million per annum into the local economy and still more in capital project build years—probably more than £100 million since it opened—an excellent return on investment of about 500% or put another way it has repaid the capital investment every two years.

VISITORS AND REVENUE

  Around 3 million people have visited the NMA with the most recent returns showing a current plateau of between 250,000 and 270,000 per annum.

  The majority of visitors attend during the summer months and fall into the category of tourists which accounts for around 58% of visits. School visits (subsidised) are increasing year by year and are heading for the 30,000/annum threshold.

  Revenue is obtained largely through the visitor attraction itself—more than 90% of income is primary and secondary visitor spend. Other revenue income streams are memberships, corporate hospitality and sponsorships—the latter is an area of particular focus for the near future.

  Visitor generated income is a notoriously fickle source of revenue. There is considerable competition for the "tourist attraction market" as well as many other "leisure" pursuits. Perhaps the most challenging "competitor" is the weather. Indoor centres suffer very badly in good holiday weather—when the sun shines the potential visitor goes to the beach, the moors or some other outdoor site. The summer of 2006 was just such a challenge. As temperatures soared visitor figures dropped, a correlation noted year on year; indications are that many other centres suffered declines of between 10% and 20% (early victims of climate change perhaps?)

  The NMA was not alone at the end of last year in facing a grave problem of "balancing its books" due to an almost sole reliance upon visitor related income streams which are always at the mercy of the weather.

CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING

  The NMA has the luxury of a superb location on Plymouth's seafront, an iconic building and fascinating live exhibits; it was, from its inception, determined to maximise these to get its messages across. Its reputation was quickly established through the understanding that it was a source of impartial, credible and accurate information, not only for its visitors but for the entire spectrum of "the public" including decision makers, the media, the scientific community and many other "stakeholders".

  The NMA continues to be seen as a the "shop window" for marine sciences and has collaborated with many governmental and NGO agencies. It has working partnerships throughout the UK marine sector as well as into Europe. NMA staff are much in demand as representatives on marine working groups and committees. In particular it has a very close working relationship with the world renowned Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership of which it is a full member with special responsibility for public outreach.

  The NMA is a key provider of information to the press and the media and enjoys a very good profile nationally in this respect; it is now the first port of call for reliable marine related information and comment—a similar profile is enjoyed by other subject restricted science centres.

  Most immediately the NMA engages with its visitors both casual and those on organised educational trips, on a wide range of marine topics including the environmental and technological along with the ecological. Indeed its most recent phase of development saw the addition of "ExplorOcean" a hands-on exhibit area concentrating upon the exploration and exploitation of the marine environment and the technologies necessary to do so; designed specifically to engage the 9-13 years of age career decider.

  Science Centres are able to react very quickly to scientific issues of public interest or concern. As interpreters of science they are able to provide an accessible and palatable approach to some very difficult subjects. Stem Cells, GM crops, MMR vaccine question and as far as the NMA is concerned climate change, renewable energies, fisheries and pollution are amongst the many topics dealt with on a day-to-day basis. The ability to provide up-to-date, reliable and unbiased information on such topics is an increasing requirement from the public, the press, media and indeed amongst politicians; honesty is paramount as an output for science centres—they are places of trust.

  Without being dictated to by government Science Centres provide an excellent service that supports many government initiatives and agendae—most notably the drive to encourage a greater participation by young people in all aspects of the sciences; the NMA's growing school visitor numbers shows that the "offer" is well received and the need is there. The NMA for example has created a major exhibit looking at climate change, using real scientists and fun exhibits to present information in an entertaining as well as credible manner. Outreach from this project in the form of a learning based website was funded by an EU project that recognised the value of Science Centres in creating educational materials to inspire and enthuse young people in the formal education sector.

  As is the case elsewhere the NMA provides first hand encounters with the people who actually carry out science and/or who have been trained in science—the real enthusiasts. Such role models are often inaccessible in their workplaces and science centres provide the ideal forum for meeting the "man or woman behind the microscope".

FUNDING CHALLENGES

  Many science centres have enjoyed considerable initial capital funding; some have non-visitor income streams such as car parks, rentals etc. But the challenges for the many are serious and broadly twofold:

—  Firstly there is the need to meet running costs. Those centres without any non-visitor related funding run a serious risk of being "caught out" by rapid changes in visitor habits eg the weather in the crucial summer period, without a cushion to absorb the threats.

—  Secondly the vicious circle of being unable to generate return or new visits due to a lack of refreshment is very real. Injections of capital are needed to maintain freshness, topicality, and novelty—all attractive to visitors.

  In common with many science centres the NMA has no additional source of income of significance or reliability. Even the Gift Aid process is ultimately geared towards visitors and eventually the weather, and so whilst extremely welcome, is at the vagaries of the climate.

  To expect a government handout just because of existence is naïve. There are models used abroad that effectively reward performance and it is to be expected that any supporter would wish to see such measures put into place.

—  Currently most Science Centres are subject to VAT on their entrance charges. To make Science Centres VAT exempt might not solve the challenge for some that are tied in with VAT arrangements from original build. A reduction on the VAT percentage, however, could make a significant contribution to income with little impact on government funds. The NMA, for example, might gain up to £250,000 each year from this source.

—  Match funding related to visitor numbers might be a good way to encourage centres to work harder for themselves through the additional "reward" of a per capita subsidy (providing performance elsewhere is also measured).

—  Similarly the formal education sector visitors are easily monitored. There is much merit in considering subsidising school visits. Indeed it could be argued that it is the right of every child to visit a science centre at each stage of the curriculum.

—  Local businesses might be encouraged to match fund any government contribution to encourage school visits a real partnership between government, commerce and science centres.

CONCLUSION

  There is no doubt that the prevailing notion that Science Centres are merely entertainment centres for children is far from credible. At various times Science Centres attract, entertain and engage wide tracts of the population at all social levels and ages. They are very successful at engaging young people and they do so in a highly entertaining way that provides the first step in raising awareness or knowledge of any particular topic or topics; in turn this can lead to attitude change and involvement. Science Centres should make no apologies for being included at times in the entertainment or tourism sectors—it is the fact that they are attractions that gives them the strength and method to engage with people of all academic levels. They do however carry the remit of engagement and learning and this comes with additional cost.

  There is also little doubt that the current funding models for most Science Centres leave them vulnerable.

  The Science Centre sector is relatively new. It is innovative and relevant. Science Centres have come of age in the century that most needs them; as the world faces ever more environmental threats; and science is increasingly seen as a potential saviour, but also with suspicion as a potential danger there has never been a greater need to give the public at large a franchise for science.

June 2007