Have your say… About science! Special Initiative on Citizen Engagement in Science

Report of the findings from the pilot project ‘Special Initiative on Citizen Engagement in Science (SpICES)’ promoted by Atomium – European Institute for Science, Media and Democracy and conducted in collaboration with Der Standard, El Pais, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Il Sole 24Ore and the Irish Times. It ran in 5 European countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain) in April and May 2013 and aimed to assess how media can engage the public at large in a two-way dialogue about science-related issues in order to develop a more participatory way to develop science policy at European level.

Introduction

As outlined in the framework for Responsible, Research and Innovation (RRI), the grand challenges facing society will have a better chance of being tackled if all relevant actors are fully engaged in the co-construction of innovative solutions, products and services. Thus RRI was developed in order to foster the creation of a research and innovation policy driven by the needs of society and engaging all actors via inclusive participatory approaches.
The pilot project ‘Special Initiative on Citizen Engagement in Science’, promoted by Atomium – European Institute for Science, Media and Democracy and developed with Der Standard, El Paìs, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Il Sole 24Ore and The Irish Times, aimed to assess how media can engage the public at large in a two-way dialogue about science-related issues in order to develop a more participatory way to develop science policy at European level. The Initiative ran in 5 European countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain) in April and May 2013 and saw the participation of over fifty thousand Europeans who contributed with their opinions and concerns, responding to six questionnaires relating to the relationship between science and society as outlined in the framework for RRI. Questionnaires on science education, gender, ethics, open access, engagement and governance were launched to engage the public at large in debates on these questions and to understand the main needs and concerns of society.
The results of the Initiative were submitted to the European Commission and supported as a contribution to the preparation of the topics of the first call for proposals of Horizon 2020 (notably the ‘Engagement’ part of the challenge ‘Inclusive, Innovative and Secure Societies’ in the Commission’s proposal).

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Atomium-EISMD