Don’t forget our ‘Curiosity Built the Boilerhouse’ podcasts are being rolled out as we write this newsletter. The podcasts document the transformation of an old industrial boilerhouse building into a science themed play and discovery space on UNE’s Armidale campus.

Dr James O’Hanlon (@jamohanlon) interviews experts in early childhood education and play, directors and designers of discovery centres, researchers, and practitioners of STEAM experiences.

The first seven episodes are up now!  We kick off with Dr Sue Elliott, early childhood researcher, nature and risky play advocate and Senior Lecturer at the University of New England, follow up with the visionary extraordinaire of the Principal Design Team, Dr Stephen Long of Architectus, and then move into understanding the children’s discovery museum concept in Australia with Adam Selinger of Children’s Discovery and Martha Johnson of the Early Start Discovery Space.

James chats to the Director of mobile Fizzics Education (Ben Newsome), and the Science Space in Wollongong (Stuart Creal) to examine science engagement in various forms. Then moving onto a slightly older audience, James talks Museum of Discovery (MOD.) for young adults in Adelaide with Director Kristin Alford.

To listen, search ‘Curiosity Built the Boilerhouse’ on your favourite podcast app. Those curious about our Boilerhouse journey will enjoy snippets of updates, and you’ll start to piece together the discovery landscape in Australia. Who knows? A road trip might be in order to visit all the amazing places you hear about!

To listen and follow our journey search ‘Curiosity Built the Boilerhouse’ on your favourite podcast app – we’ re on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Google and Spotify. We can’t wait to share this with you!