The project Towers of Science was set in motion to disseminate science by focusing on a popular cultural phenomenon, with a strong local tradition and international recognition: human towers, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010. It was initiated by the Unit of Communication of Science, ComCiència (UCC+i) and the URV's Chair for the Study of Human Towers, of which the Coordinating Committee of Human Tower Teams of Catalonia and the Old Team of Valls are a part.
Towers of Science aims to discuss tower building from the perspective of various scientific disciplines, and show that it is an activity that involves chemistry, anthropology, physics, architecture, sociology, history and many other scientific disciplines.
This project provides a wide range of materials that reveal the relationship between human towers and science: illustrated posters, informative texts and animated videos that explain various aspects of science to the general public with human towers as the main theme. The project is supplemented by other activities: a series of lectures on human towers and science, activities in the streets of the cities taking part, and guided scientific tours of rehearsals and exhibitions.
All these activities and Towers of Science have been made possible by the scientific rigour of the researchers who have been responsible for all the work done on the project.
This website brings together all the information generated, and although the project has just come into existence, it hopes to add new disciplines and activities, and create new scientific references at the URV in the field of human towers and science.
Towers of Science has received funding from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the company Repsol. The city councils of Reus, Tarragona and Valls have also collaborated in the project.
