Curiosities factory
At ExploraLab come and experience a workshop to do science while tinkering! Whether young or old, interested in music, programming or technological challenges, there is bound to be something to pique your interest! Take a look at our activity programme, register and all that’s left is to enjoy an exciting and captivating moment with one of our guides.
At ExploraParc, come have fun with our games and freely available. Lose yourself in time in the Carboniferous Garden, experiment with hearing at the heart of the Sound Zone and create a sound and light show on the swings in the Electric Picnic Zone. The park is free and full of discoveries.
② The « Pique-Nique Electrique » is a real point of interest of Explora due to its atypical, fun and educational facilities. Positioned near the ExploraLab, the public can immerse itself in the topic of energy, thanks to several interactive modules where movement activates an electricity generator. Swings, bikes and seesaws create a sound and light atmosphere on the site. The public is encouraged to collaborate and exchange to collectively create a unique sensory atmosphere.
③ The « Zone Defi » gives scope to the public’s ideas and puts them into action in an environment that encourages creativity and ambition. A platform is set up with springboards, ground markings and vertical structures to test the projects created in the ExploraLab without any spatial constraints. Here, cars fly over obstacles, parachutes take to the skies, dragsters take off, rockets are launched with a bang!
④ The « Jardin de la Recherche » is an open space, consisting of four areas in which research teams from Jean Monnet University, IUT Saint-Étienne and Mines Saint-Étienne carry out studies relating to plants.
This garden is both a great place for relaxing walks as well as a site designed and imagined for research. Researchers and students use the quadrats to study the role of plants in soil remediation and the use of various plants by pollinating insects.
⑤ The « Zone Sonore » thinks big and resonates within the park thanks to its surprising installations. Two giant satellite dishes standing face to face, life-size orchestra installations, a forest of voice tubes, a floor piano… all to exercise our listening skills and have fun with sound waves. These installations form a space which encourages passers-by to get involved with the park and brings people of all ages and from all backgrounds together around games based on sounds, voices and music.
⑥ The « Jardin du Carbonifère » presents a sample of the history of plants, on a path of the Saint-Etienne landscapes lost. Ferns, horsetails, conifers and current close relatives of the Carboniferous flora 300 million years ago form a garden that echoes the fossil flora whose remnants were found in the subsoil of the region. This station is built around high plant sculptures inspired by horsetail, symbol of the Stephanian period. It is an evocation of the grandeur of the flora of the Carboniferous period, which invites us to consider the impact of the passage of time and the evolution of our environment with humility and reflection.
⑦ The « Balade dans l’Évolution » allows the public to physically experience the evolution of living things and the Earth throughout different geological ages. It also helps lay the groundwork for the development of techniques from the creation of the first tools 2.7 million years ago to the present day.
Take a walk and discover the 29 colored tiles scattered around ExploraParc!
By simulating 1 million years each meter, it is a wonderful tool for interaction and representation. In order to be able to humbly consider our place as human beings alongside the evolution.
Maker and STEAM
Explora is particularly inspired by the Maker movement, which has been developed in the US since the 2000s. This DIY culture encourages people to rediscover the pleasure of imagining, creating and manufacturing oneself, using both artisanal techniques and new technologies. Importance is given to sharing and collaboration, open source culture and exchanges between participants.
Explora is at the frontier of Science, Technology, Engineering and Art and Design. In this sense, the culture engages in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) educational practices, which seek to develop critical thinking and so-called soft-skills.
Explora is the place to imagine, craft and play!
Here, we MAKE science!
Who are we ?
A place of science
Explora is a scientific and cultural establishment of the City of Saint-Étienne, managed by La Rotonde, Center for Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture of École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne.
For more than 20 years, La Rotonde has taken you on a journey of scientific adventures. It now has two locations : La Soucoupe and Explora, and also offers numerous activities off-site and digitally.
The team
Here is a part of La Rotonde team that you can find at Explora !
Celine NEAU
Manager and Scientific Mediator
Mélanie GRECO
Administrative Assistant
Galanne CESTRE-LAMBERT
Project Manager and Scientific Mediator
Simon FONTAINE
Project Manager and Scientific Mediator
Céline ALEGRET
Project Manager and Scientific Mediator
Practical information
ExploraParc is free and open access.
ExploraLab offers workshops on registration, intended for the general public, school and leisure groups, from 3 years old.
Explora
8-10 rue Calixte Plotton
42000 SAINT-ÉTIENNE
FRANCE
+33 4 77 42 02 78
explora@saint-etienne.fr
Reception
Tuesday-Saturday : 09:00-12:00 / 14:00-17:30
Monday and Sunday : closed
