The activities to promote a public understanding of S

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The activities to promote a public understanding
of ST another field for analysing change in
scienceCristina Palma ConceiçãoPhD student
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Could activities to promote public understanding
of science be considered as one more
strategic starting point for analysing the
changes occurring within science?
Yes, we believe so
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Setting the scene

• Science had become a central feature in
  contemporary society
• But, as Eurobarometer have showed
• many people still show little understanding of it
  or interest in it
• some of them misunderstand, and sometimes
  mistrust, scientists activities and public
  investment in certain scientific domains
• following the Lisbon strategy arguments, the
  European society would need more and more science
  professionals

Important obstacles in the way of an advance in
the knowledge-based society and the full
democratic involvement of its citizens
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Science and Society Policies

• At European level,
• Science and Society Plan
• To promote a scientific and education-based
  culture in Europe, developing public awareness of
  science initiatives and reinforcing science
  education
• To bring science policies closer to the citizens,
  promoting the participation of civil society in
  science decisions
• To put responsible science at the heart of
  policy-making, exploring ethical issues, risk
  governance and the use of expertise on
  decision-making

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Science and Society Policies

• At Portuguese level,
• Science Alive Programme
• Ministry of Science and Tecnhology (1997-)

To favour the development of different
initiatives promoting scientific and
technological culture among the Portuguese
population, with special attention being given to
the youngsters
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Science Alive Programme

• Were challenged to participate

Schools RD units Universities Science centres
Municipalities Enterprises Other civil
organisations

• They were invited to propose and autonomously
  develop their projects
• Partnerships were stimulated
• Precedence was given to activities that encourage
  the public to experience science en the making
  and to have direct contact with scientists
• The Programme attempt to avoid discursive
  approaches to science

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Since 1997 the Programme has supported

• The development of non-formal science
  education activities mostly directed to students
  and teachers
• eg. experimental learning activities in schools,
  based preferably on partnerships visits to labs
  scientific summer schools for teenagers in RD
  units,
• The creation and development of a network of
  science centres throughout the country
• National science culture campaigns for the
  general public
• eg. Science and Technology Week, astronomical,
  geological or biological field observations on
  beaches or in the countryside, visits to labs,
  science coffees, workshops, conferences, media
  events,

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The response to the Programme

• The number of projects rapidly grew
• The number and diversity of institutions involved
  also grew
• Social networks were implemented involving
  various institutions
• Initiatives were implemented all over the country
• Sign of collective identity were shown by the
  participants
• Most people worked on a voluntary base for a
  common cause

A social movement grew up in Portugalaround the
idea of giving people, especially young people,
the opportunity of contact with science and its
achievements, actors, institutions, procedures
and applications
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Participation by science institutions
Scientists adhesion to the Programme was
significant,even if relatively restricted to the
biggest and highest-quality units

• RD institutions and university departments
  participated directly in about 1/3 of the Science
  Alive projects carried out in schools
• Most involving the natural sciences
• For the last 8 summers, an average of nearly 50
  RD units have opened their labs to secondary
  students for 15 days scientific summer schools
• Most participant institutions were high-quality
  natural and health science units and engineering
  researcher groups
• More recently, some social sciences research
  groups have also been participating, adopting the
  same hand-on philosophy

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Participation by science institutions

• Nearly 130 RD institutions have already arranged
  specific events for Science and Technology Week
• The maximum was reached in year 2000 about 90
  RD teams organised nearly 300 events
• Most of them provide visits to labs and/or
  conferences
• More recently, also hand-on workshops have been
  provided (particularly by engineering and natural
  science researcher)
• Science coffee sessions or open debate are more
  unusual, but increasing (particularly explored by
  health and social scientists)

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Participation by science institutions

• Many high quality RD groups never stopped being
  involved or demanding continuation of the
  national investment in PUS.
• Some are now creating indoors specialised teams
  to support these activities and stimulating some
  researchers to integrate post-graduation courses
  in science communication to non-expert publics

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Why does this matter?

• Observing
• the conceptions
• the institutional relations
• the social processes
• embedded in the science institutions
  participation in a programme like Science Alive
• could be a particularly good way of approaching
  the questions of

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Why does this matter?

• How some scientists are rethinking their role in
  society
• How science institutions are opening up to and
  connecting with other spheres
• What kind of (internal and external) obstacles
  they face
• lack of time and resources for these activities
• undervaluation by many senior researchers/coordin
  ators
• difficulties of translating high specialised and
  complex knowledge

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Why does this matter?

• How science is interacting with (benefiting,
  influencing or rejecting) other types of
  knowledge
• eg. partnerships between science producers and
  schools seem to improve teachers notions about
  working by project and scientists communication
  skills
• How opening the labs to lay people may be an
  opportunity for researchers to rethink their
  activities and methods
• eg. to turn more and more explicit the social
  added value of the objects they are researching
  or the legitimacy of the methods they use (eg.
  animal experiences)

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Why does this matter?

• How the type of activities explored by scientists
  in their contacts with the public may be a
  reflection of the kind of relationship they want,
  or feel the need, to establish with the public
• more pedagogical, one-way communication
  ormore interactive, two-way communication
• How different disciplines are positioning
  themselves in the context of science and their
  relationship with the state and the citizens
• eg. the case of the social sciences, which claim
  to be part of the science world and to be able
  to show the similarities of their own research
  methods with those of other scientific disciplines

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Why does this matter?

• How public policies could be playing an important
  role in the opening-up of science institutions
  and their awareness of the advantages of a public
  understanding of science
• Portuguese scientists participation on Science
  Alive movement seem to prove that,
• but many national RD institutions have never
  integrated it
• How previous experience of networking (e.g. with
  international research groups or the economic
  agents) seems to facilitate involvement in
  non-formal scientific education activities,
  improving
• the researchers communication/translation skills
  and
• their awareness of the added value of these

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• These approaches could be particularly
  interesting in a country like Portugal, where
  most science institutions tend to work in a
  rather isolated way
• But it could certainly be a fruitful research
  opportunity in other contexts
• The kind of activities and institutional
  arrangements we are observing can be considered
  as boundary objects
• they are shaped in the scope of networks between
  different institutions
• they are the product of a mix of languages,
  values and interests in other words, reflect a
  mix/translation of cultures
• They are part of a larger process of changing the
  relationship between science and society

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• That is why we defend its analytic interest
• Thank you very much!

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