La Semana de la Ciencia como escenario ideal para la sensibilización contra el problema de las especies exóticas invasoras

Resum

The Science, Technology and Innovation Week is an initiative that has been carried out simultaneously in several Spanish universities since 2001, in which university research staff and students from different areas of knowledge bring their research and teach the day-to-day of a researcher. This paper presents an educational activity, carried out during the 22nd edition of the Science and Innovation Week of the University of Oviedo and entitled “On the trail of an invasion: invasive species in Asturias”. This activity aimed to bring the problem of invasive species closer to secondary and high school students. The main objective was to transmit the dangers of invasive species for our fauna, the environment and even for human health, explaining their main pathways and vectors of entry and the possible methods to prevent their arrival and combat them once they are established. During the process, an interactive test was carried out to check the importance of this type of explanation for the correct identification of invasive alien species by the public, with an increase in the visual identification accuracy rate of more than 30%