Michiel Buchel, the incoming Ecsite president, has said he hopes to develop stronger relatonships with other attractions and museums sectors. With a better connected network, the industry will be stronger when it comes to tackling the planet's greatest challenges, he said.

"I strongly believe in collaboration with other networks," Buchel told Attractions Management. "They deal with the same things as science centres, but in a slightly different way. Getting better connected with zoos, aquariums and natural history museums, for instance, is something that I would really like to invest time in."

Buchel, who is the CEO of NEMO science centre in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, officially takes the reins of Ecsite at a handover ceremony tomorrow (13 June), as outgoing president Rosalia Vargas completes her term.

Through greater co-operation within attractions sectors, Buchel says far larger audiences can be reached. "If we can find a common message, we can share our passion for science, nature and our planet with our audiences," he said.

"We have 7 billion mouths to feed. It can be done, but we have to be very smart," added Buchel, who has served on the Ecsite board for the past six years.

According to Buchel, commercial attractions are also taking more responsibility for educating people beyond just having fun. Combining those attendees with visitors to zoos, science centres, museums and other attractions would create a European audience of hundreds of millions.

"Working together we can inspire large groups of people from every religion, from every education level, from anywhere in the world."

Buchel said that science centres and science museums have a central role to play because science is such an important tool in tackling big issues like climate change.

"The more we understand of ourselves and world, the more motivated we are to take care of it," he said. "I strongly believe science is the most powerful instrument we have to improve the quality of our lives and the world we live in."

Ecsite last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) to engage audiences with biodiversity conservation.

"That's the first step, but I want to take it further," said Buchel. "Where in our communication with our audiences can we connect our missions and make them stronger? We can also do this with regular museums who have a task to inspire and educate people. I don't think science, the arts and culture are completely different. They all feed our minds and imaginations and make us more connected to the things around us."

For the full interview with Michiel Buchel, see the next issue of Attractions Management