Innovation springs not from individuals thinking and working alone, but from collaboration and communication with others. Pooling existing knowledge sparks creativity and gives rise to new ideas, while the traits of adaptability, creativity, curiosity, and open-mindedness all contribute to a rich soil where innovation can grow.
The spirit of innovation influences all the Museum’s work. In choosing topics for exhibitions, for example, the Museum strives to choose ones that showcase innovations and cutting-edge ideas in science and technology. The Innovation Ltd. exhibition displayed leading Israeli inventions together with a review of the various processes and traits that lead to innovative thinking.
The Trace of Light exhibition was based on innovative technologies that were developed by the museum team and registered as few patents. The technology enable visitors to use light beams to trace and record movement of mechanical objects like pendulums and gears without disturbing their movements and without adding any friction, and also enable flow visualisation of liquids.
Innovative and groundbreaking thinking was presented at the Captcha exhibition, which marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing, who is considered to be the father of the idea of the computer as an “intelligent” machine. At the heart of the exhibition is the question of what distinguishes the capabilities of the computer from those of the human brain, in light of the issues that arise from the field of AI (artificial intelligence). The exhibition was established in collaboration with leading high-tech companies, and included the development of related programs designed to meet the needs of the education system.
Innovation is a central feature of most creative works. In the Leonardo's Questions Exhibition, which marked the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, the Museum showcased the work of someone who was an artist, engineer, and scientist, and who demonstrated an innovative way of thinking and a multidisciplinary creativity. The interactive exhibition presented Leonardo as someone whose life-long curiosity led him to ask countless questions, conduct inquiries into different and diverse areas of knowledge, and document his thoughts and conclusions.
Leonardo did not build almost any of the machines he drew, but Didi Vardi, the veteran of the Maker community in Israel, built each and every one of the dozens of machines he designed with his own hands. Machines and Smiles, a retrospective exhibit of Vardi's work, revealed the mechanisms behind his amusing machines, which arouse curiosity and insight into the principles of physics and the wisdom of hands. In 2020, during the days of quarantine, Didi Vardi and his wife Drora built a marvelous machine using hundreds of old tools found in the workshop at their home. The exhibit built around it, Second Incarnation, is now on display at the entrance to the Secrets of the Machine area of Leonardo's Questions.
The international MAKE movement encourages 'thinking with the hands', and fosters creativity by combining art, science, technology, invention, and collaboration. In 2013, the Museum initiated Israel’s first “Maker faire”- the Jerusalem Mini Maker Faire- which has been held every year since, and attracts dozens of Makers from Israel and abroad. During the annual fair, the Makers present their unique works to thousands of visitors, participate in workshops, and share their knowledge and interests in fascinating lectures. The principles of the MAKE movement are reflected in the Museum’s exhibitions and educational activities for students and visitors. Education systems throughout the world- including here in Israel- have begun to implement MAKE Education as a way to encourage independent, experiential learning and creative problem-solving. The pedagogical approaches inherent in MAKE culture support the “Learning to Learn” strategy, allow for mental flexibility, conceptual openness, and the development of skills required of the contemporary learner.
The Beracha MAKELab was recently opened and serves as a central pillar of the Museum's activities. The area includes accessible work spaces, experience stations, advanced mechanical and digital equipment, and professional guidance by Museum teams. The lab is a learning environment that allows and encourages each student to cultivate his / her passion though self-directed study and exploration, to make connections, to develop teamwork skills, to fail and try again, and to learn from mistakes as well as successes. The space is active throughout the day. In the morning it serves the education system across all sectors, and on afternoons, weekends, and school holidays, it is open to all visitors for MAKE activities and workshops.
The Museum’s latest initiative, Make it Open- which won a grant from the European Union in 2020- promotes science and technology studies by bringing together citizen science, open educational pedagogies, and the creative philosophical approach of the MAKE movement to create a learning framework accessible to the whole community. The project emphasizes the development of digital skills, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, problem solving, and learning ability for students, teachers, and the community. This project will be developed in conjunction with MAKE Centers from Europe (FixEd in London and WAAG in Amsterdam), the research laboratory of the Copernicus Museum of Science in Warsaw, the academic guidance of researchers from Columbia University's School of Education in New York, the assistance of the EUN (The Association of European Ministries of Education), and the ECSITE organization, which brings together science museums in Europe and operates six more to practice the new tools.
Make it Open manifests and implements the core values of our museum: it operates across boundaries in 12 countries, will be developed in cooperation between formal and informal science educators in a co-design process, will offer all its content – which includes 16 Learning Scenarios and MOOC for teachers in 12 languages- in open access, and uses the principles and methods of equity in education to support social mobility. The Learning Scenarios will present an interdisciplinary- STEAM- approach to science education, bring the philosophy of the Maker movement into the classroom, and address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on caring for the environment. The aim of the project is to transform schools into hubs of well-being for their community, by offering opportunities for life-long learning. Make it Open will support schools, teachers, educators, students, and their parents to make synergies between science, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.