MRS
'New
insights', a meeting on science and technology awareness in Europe was
organized in Rome last November by the science agency Hypothesis. A
crisis in the Italian education system, the realization of the necessity
for a highly-skilled work force in a competitive global market or simply
the patronage of former EC Commissioner Antonio Ruberti were influencing
factors in the decision to hold such a conference. There is a sense of déjà-vu when travelling to yet another European meeting promising new insights on science and technology awareness. A comforting thought is that the audiences are different each time. And every time they are willing to share the knowledge and experience available. The meeting proved to be attractive. It went beyond scientists pleading for more emphasis on science training at schools or better reporting in the media. Successful communication and policy examples from across the European Union were on the agenda. As a result of the cross-fertilisation of ideas and activities, strongly advocated by Mark Dyball from the UK Office of Science and Technology, science communication will be achieved.
The Portuguese science minister, José Mariano Gago, described his country’s forward
-looking
approach. His education policy emphasises science and technology as
basic learning skills. And a sacred cow of PUS-activities for many
years, the ‘hands-on activities’ in science centres, were
gradually being replaced in Portugal by staff explaining the exhibits to
the visitors. Achilléas Mitsos, Programme Director at the EC in Brussels, talked about the value of semantics in the field. A whole range of words exist in the daily vocabulary of science communication professionals. Awareness, scientific literacy, public understanding of science and scientific culture to name a few. Although the EC looks favourably on these communication activities, it only supports initiatives in controversial areas within science. He even went so far as to suggest that maybe the greatest threat did not come from the public’s scientific illiteracy, but from the lack of political understanding by scientists.
Professional politicians or decision-makers should have access to a wide range of scientific advice before making decisions. That advice may not always be available. In areas like bioethics, the recent example of the cloned sheep Dolly was illuminating. Nature editor, Philip Campbell, admitted that his staff and the cloning article referees had not sufficiently anticipated the resulting political and public furore.
>>