Science and Technology Policy and Innovation I Benchmarking the Promotion of Research and Technology Development (RTD) Culture and Public Understanding of Science (PUS) Set up in September 2001 Release in July 2002 Presented by: João Silva Paulo Anastácio Ricardo Manso

Summary Report demonstrates the wide range of activities undertaken to promote RTD culture and public understanding of science; Report verifies the existence of two trends in RTD culture policies: –Pedagogical approach; –Establishing a dialog between citizens and other actors; Report concludes about the need to promote further analysis, namely through quantitative methods;

RTD Culture and PUS Surveys regularly painted a picture of an “ignorant public”, showing a large deficit of knowledge about S&T (Deficit Model);

RTD Culture and PUS Citizens want to be involved in: –Deciding how new technologies are developed; –Judging if scientific discoveries are useful and appropriate; –Determining how scientific discoveries are being used;

Expert Group Benchmarking Determine the state of RTD culture and PUS; Survey existing activities and measures undertaken to promote RTD culture and PUS; Recommend measures for improvement;

Expert Group Benchmarking Solid knowledge of previous work; Professional experience in: –Science popularisation; –Teaching; –Management of institutions; –Management of programmes; No prior experience in benchmarking;

Acrobat Document Knowledge and interest levels in S&T (Eurobarometer 55.2): 2001 (57,8%) (60%) (11,3%) (71,1%)

Knowledge and interest levels in S&T: 1992 vs 2001

Findings: Actors Governments and Agencies; Scientific Community; Education; Museums and Science Centres; Media; Industry and Private Sector.

Findings: Government and Agencies Approximately only 50% of member states have clear policies on the promotion of RTD culture and PUS; Many governments do not have an idea of what they are supporting, and also why, how, and how much;

Findings: Government and Agencies Women are more concerned than men about S&T, but little is currently being done specifically to promote RTD culture and PUS among them; Internet does not obviate the need for traditional media and other additional activities in the promotion of RTD culture and PUS;

Findings: Government and Agencies The “Deficit Model” of simply giving information to a public presumed to be ignorant has been shown to be inadequate; High variability in the decisions, actions, and commitments of governments is very common;

Findings: Government and Agencies “One size fits all” approaches to promoting RTD culture and PUS are usually not very effective; Experiences made in one country will not translate simply into other countries, given the social, cultural and historical differences;

Findings: Scientific Community Community is mainly focused in: –Providing teaching aid materials, information for educational purposes; –Organising conferences and debates for the general public and particularly students; –organisation of events, namely “science weeks” and S&T Festivals;

Findings: Scientific Community Training offered to most scientists does not equip them to get involved in public dialogue; Scientists are acquainted with the public’s needs; Interaction with scientists is increasingly demanded by society;

Findings: Scientific Community Improving the public visibility of scientists should help attract more young Europeans to RTD careers; Little recognition of the effort that scientists invest in the promotion of RTD culture and PUS;

Findings: Education Systems Education is a key contribution to the development of PUS; Image of S&T as perceived in school is the most dominant factor affecting the predisposition towards the two areas in adult life;

Findings: Education Systems Familiarisation of students from the early stages in socially oriented areas, such as Environmental studies, will improve citizenship and societal welfare; Out-of-school learning is attractive to students and effective;

Findings: Education Systems Integration of ICT into the teaching of science-related subjects can change the pedagogical climate;

Findings: Museums and Science Centres Science centres and Museums are successful tools for science communication and learning; Experiences in science centres play a key part in youngsters’ decision to follow a scientific career;

Findings: Museums and Science Centres

Small and middle-sized institutions are particularly valuable: –Respond to a real local demand; –Address a young interested public; Science centres have significantly promoted the dialogue between the different actors and the public;

Findings: Media Television is the main source of science information for the lay public; National information agencies act as a reference for all types of news items and exert a great influence on the media agendas;

Findings: Media

University journalism degrees lack science communication courses; Science degrees pay little or no attention to the acquisition of communication skills;

Findings: Media

Findings: Industry and Private sector Industries offer information in an attempt to increase knowledge on areas connected to their activities; Some industries support pedagogical experiences or provide educational material in order to promote the image of their activities;

Findings: Industry and Private sector Some industries rely upon the efforts of the academic community in communicating about their work; Some associations of very large industrial companies, support an approach to science society relationships based on the development of dialogue through forums;

Findings: Industry and Private sector Personal contacts with people directly involved in industrial research are efficient in the transfer of information and the development of informed opinions; The public is interested in knowing how local factories and industries work; Students are interested in the industry, because it can bring exciting aspects to school projects;

Findings: Industry and Private sector Industry is more active in promoting RTD culture when technological changes are occurring and when a market is to be opened by creating a taste for the use of new machines or products;

Conclusions First exercise ever to benchmark the promotion of RTD culture and PUS across the EU; The public image of S&T in Europe is constantly changing; The direct involvement of individual scientists and engineers is very important; Government leadership in this area is also crucial;

Conclusions Quantitative data is fundamental in future benchmarks; Scientific information distributed and the nature of its contribution to the democratic debate should be evaluated; Precise information regarding the amount of money spent by each of the actors should be sought in future benchmarks;

Conclusions Considerable difficulty in evaluating the different ways of formally and informally teach S&T; Need for more social science research on problems linked to the diffusion of RTD culture; All kinds of science and technology museums in Europe including open-air ones should be surveyed;

Conclusions The practice of “round tables” on television which allow different viewpoints to be expressed on S&T should be encouraged; In future surveys, local level entities and activities should be analysed; Non-governmental organisations should also be considered as actors;

Cheers!