The Qassim Province of Saudi Arabia welcomed its first permanent science museum last October. Qassim Science Centre opened its two buildings and seven themed galleries with a science festival.
Considered one of the nation’s pioneering science education projects, Qassim Science Centre is an exciting and innovative science centre. It is equipped with cutting-edge exhibits and interactives, and aims to improve the region’s educational sector while developing teaching and learning methods that fulfil the Kingdom’s 2030 vision.
Located in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia, in the city of Unaizah, with a space covering 47,000 square meters, the science centre has created 60 full-time jobs, as well as 75 seasonal ones, drawing staff from the local region, and benefiting the local economy.
As the newest leading centre of science education in the Middle East, the Qassim Science Centre was made possible through private and public sector partnerships.
Enriching the cultural sector of Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz AlSulaim is acting CEO of the Qassim Science Centre. Passionate about public engagement, he has devoted the last 10 years of his career to enriching the entertainment and cultural sector of Saudi Arabia.
Experienced in the field of Science Centres, Event Production, STEAM Activation, as well as Museums and Culture Activations, his career in the sector began at Mishkat Science Centre in Riyadh. Here, he was a facilitator and program developer, working on various projects around the Kingdom and GCC countries.
He then joined Raz Group, where he took on a strategic leadership role at Squares Events, helping to advance the events and entertainment sector in Saudi Arabia. In 2020, he took on the role of General Manager at Knowliom.
In his current role as CEO of the Qassim Science Centre, part of his job is to promote it as a must-see destination.
A community-backed project
Outlining the project from its inception, he explains:
“Basically, Qassim Science Centre was a dream living in Qassim people’s minds. The project started twenty years ago, in 2002. At that point, it constituted a small amount of money raised by the people of the Qassim region, in the hope of bringing something alive. Twenty years on, it has now evolved into a $40 million project to create an amazing science centre.”
Considered one of the nation’s pioneering science education projects, the museum aims to improve the region’s educational sector, while developing teaching and learning methods that fulfil the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. It is aimed at students from general and technical schools, as well as universities, and has a particular emphasis on family activities. Qassim Science Centre features seven expansive galleries. These cover a variety of STEM topics from Islamic civilization and medicine to emerging technologies.
It is, he says, an example of how a community can come together to create something amazing, and how their drive and enthusiasm can draw in a diverse range of people, and a number of supportive companies, both large and small. The project came to life through private and public sector partnerships.
In 2012, Saudi’s Ministry of Investment engaged with companies in the KSA to sponsor some of the exhibits. This included Zamil Holding Group, STC, Aramco and Alinma Bank.
Qassim Science Centre
STEM education is coming to the forefront in Saudi Arabia, says AlSulaim:
“Over the last five years, STEM has really been evolving fast in the community, with an increasing number of programmes. The way we have developed Qassim Science Centre is with a focus on fun, engaging, entertaining science teaching. STEM ‘edutainment’ is, effectively, a kind of growing industry at the moment, and there is an increasing demand for it.
“Qassim Science Centre is considered to be a pioneer project because it is the first of its kind in the region. It’s an honour to be a part of a project that is directly contributing towards the preparation of a new generation of STEM leaders, capable of global competitiveness in the knowledge-based and industrial economy.”
Qassim Science Centre is a huge space, comprising 40,000 square meters with two main buildings, and seven galleries. The expectation is that it will host 110,000 visitors annually. This will include student groups and also tourists adding the off-the-beaten-path destination to their itinerary.
“The first building is The Science Oasis, which features exhibits and plenty of interactivity. Then, the second is called The Science Academy, which is where students enjoy lessons on STEM learning. The Science Academy offers a full curriculum. Students graduate after five or six years, depending on the programme they attach to.”
Edutainment
Touching on the methods being used at the Centre in engaging children in science education, he explains:
“In terms of engagement, the Science Oasis has more than 120 fully interactive exhibits divided into themed zones. The first of these focuses on the universe and the Earth. The second one is about the human body and biology. The third one is about physics, exploring the topic in a compelling, engaging way through activities and interactive activities. There is a big interactive exhibit on the Van de Graaff generator, for example.”
The Qassim Science Centre’s methods really revolve around using interactive exhibits to communicate STEM learning in a fun, engaging and entertaining way.
“Then you go to the second floor where you have the Islamic civilisation, and then the technology of telecommunication. Finally, the sixth one is about oil and energy.”
Back on the ground floor, there is the Kids’ Zone. This features family-friendly exhibits that inform in a fun and entertaining way.
“In short,” he adds: “The Qassim Science Centre’s methods really revolve around using interactive exhibits to communicate STEM learning in a fun, engaging and entertaining way.”
STEM education at Qassim Science Centre
For its target audience, the centre attracts families and student groups, as well as tourists.
He explains:
“We have a different kind of target audience in each of the two buildings. The Science Oasis appeals to a family or school trip type of audience. Every day during the school term we have around 400 to 500 students coming to visit. We have school trips coming from around the Qassim region, which is around 300 kilometres outside the capital of Riyadh.”
“During the school holidays, we host different kinds of programmes and festivals. The Science Academy also has an after-school programme. So, we host around 100 students each day to cover the whole curriculum in terms of our STEM programmes. We have different programmes, depending on the age and level of the students.”
AlSulaim reiterates the importance of STEM education:
“There aren’t many science centres in Saudi. Each has its own USP. But what we’re trying to do is fulfil the Kingdom’s vision in terms of STEM activation. We are engaging the new generation in pioneering in science and STEM programming. That’s why Qassim Science Centre is focusing on how to bring STEM into people’s lives.”
Knowliom
The science centre is managed by Knowliom, a Riyad-based agency that brings informal learning experiences throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, providing its customers with museum operation solutions, edutainment, and learning and cultural programmes.
Privately held and a member of All Group, a conglomerate of event companies, Knowliom works on a variety of projects, from art exhibitions, through science museums to heritage and science festivals, combining an understanding of the local market with the perspective of international learning standards to deliver fun, interactive and meaningful experiences at festivals, museums and guest programming.
“Knowliom is a museums operation company, which operates museums and science centres,” AlSulaim adds. “We focused at the beginning on bringing in people from the region to host and staff the centre.”
Qassim Science Centre aligns with the Kingdom’s 2030 vision for teaching and learning:
“STEM falls under one of the main pillars of the vision,” he says. “The Qassim Science Centre is working towards fulfilling part of Vision 2030. We are helping STEM education in terms of engaging with students, engaging with the schools, engaging with teachers, and also connecting the region with a global STEM network.”
Qassim Science Centre is a repeatable experience
The museum encourages repeat visitation and the Qassim Science Centre experience is, he stresses, eminently repeatable:
“We have been open since last October,” he says. “Throughout that time, we have worked to ensure that each time someone visits, they discover something new. Development continues throughout the year. We do different seasonal activations and exhibitions. We had the Science Festival, to begin with. Then, a few months later, we did the Robotic and Artificial Intelligence Festival.”
This was a huge success. A host robot greeted festival visitors, conversing with them in Arabic on a variety of topics. The space was divided into three experience zones, where visitors could explore 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and robots. In addition to the three zones, the festival offered a series of half-hour workshops. These were related to various technologies, including IoT and blockchain, as well as quantum computing.
“People can see that we keep evolving and developing,” says AlSulaim.
Tackling the topic of the challenges facing the planet – deforestation, pollution, habitat loss, climate change and ocean acidification – is also important, he says:
“Many of the exhibits demonstrate the damage that is being done by oil, explore climate change and so on. We look at the use of clean energy sources and more sustainable methods of production, conservation work, and more.”
