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Sep 19, 2018 Conference Review

Learning about dentistry: enacting problems at the Wellcome Collection exhibition ‘Teeth’

We review how the Wellcome Collection exhibition ‘Teeth’ enacts meanings from an educational anthropology and Science and Technology Studies perspective. The exhibition tells the history of dental science. It starts with accounts of the painful procedures and social inequalities of early oral healthcare. As it moves towards the present day it shows improved scientific knowledge, tools and public health promotion, and closes with current sophisticated technologies and practices. However it underrepresents contemporary social inequalities. We conclude that science communication exhibition curators should strive to represent the problems of today as well as those of the past.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 17, 2018 Article

Digging deeper? Muddling through? How environmental activists make sense and use of science — an exploratory study

by Birte Fähnrich

This paper focusses on the sense making and use of science by environmental activists. It is based on the assumption that activists — without being scientists or professional science communicators — take up a central role in the environmental discourse concerning the translation of scientific findings and their public dissemination. It is thus asked how environmental activists evaluate the relevance of science for their work, which structures and processes they apply to make sense of science, and how they use science related information to make their voices heard. This paper presents data from a study on Canadian activists regarding their use of scientific information in the field of forest protection. The data, interpreted in the context of a situational analysis, helps to enhance understanding of environmental activists' information systems but also show the strategic use of scientific information by these alternative science communicators.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 12, 2018 Book Review

Book review: The science communication challenge. Truth and disagreement in democratic knowledge societies

by Birte Fähnrich

The Science Communication Challenge by Gitte Meyer, a Danish science communication scholar with a previous career in science journalism, is a collection of essays on the interrelationships among science, society and politics in modern knowledge societies. The book is valuable as it contributes to the important debate on the “whys” (instead of the “hows”) of science communication and its (long term) impact on science and society. However, it does not present explicit solutions to the questions in focus but rather reads as a large patchwork of ideas, theories and concepts which require readers to have at least some basic knowledge.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 10, 2018 Article

Structure and development of science communication research: co-citation analysis of a developing field

by Adrian Rauchfleisch , Mike S. Schäfer

Since the early 1990s, there has been a considerable increase in the number of scientific studies on science communication, and this increase has been accompanied by a diversification of the research field. This study focuses on one aspect of this development: it analyses how citation network structures within the field have developed over time, and whether science communication research shows signs of becoming a research field or a discipline in its own right. Employing a co-citation analysis of scholarly publications published between 1996 and 2015, it assesses to what extent a coherent communication network exists within science communication research. The results show a field with a diverse internal structure and clear internal changes over time which suggest an increasing emancipation of the field.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 03, 2018 Commentary

Introduction to “Science, society and citizens: suggestions (and hopes) on how to foster RRI in Horizon Europe”

by Marzia Mazzonetto , Angela Simone

At the beginning of May, 2018, the European Commission has presented its proposal for Horizon Europe, the framework programme which defines priorities and budget distribution for the future of European Research and Innovation (2021–2027). The announcement has raised concerns within the community of stakeholders engaged in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), a democratization process leading to connecting science to the values and interests of European citizens by mean of participatory processes. Through this flash commentary we aim at providing a wide range of arguments, as well as strong examples and concrete suggestions, to the importance of maintaining and strengthening RRI within Horizon Europe, with the hope to inspire amendments to the current proposal.

Steering research and innovation through RRI. What horizon for Europe?

by Angela Simone

Towards an inclusive European innovation policy

by Bjørn Bedsted, Lise Bitsch, Lars Klüver, Rasmus Øjvind Nielsen and Marie Louise Margrethe Jørgensen

More democratic research and innovation

by Robert Braun and Erich Griessler

A key moment for European science policy

by Niels Mejlgaard, Richard Woolley, Carter Bloch, Susanne Buehrer, Erich Griessler, Angela Jaeger, Ralf Lindner, Emil Bargmann Madsen, Frédéric Maier, Ingeborg Meijer, Viola Peter, Jack Stilgoe and Milena Wuketich

RRI: How to ‘mainstream’ the ‘upstream’ engagement

by Alexander Gerber

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 03, 2018 Commentary

Steering research and innovation through RRI. What horizon for Europe?

by Angela Simone

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is gaining momentum worldwide and is envisaged as a needed tool to properly govern controversial innovative technology (i.e. genome editing, AI). Europe is considered a leader in fostering such approach, notably through its institutionalization. Even so, the future of European Research and Innovation (R&I) seems to be designed without a central role for RRI. After long effort and so much public EU money to support projects to ground RRI principles and practices in key contexts for the flourishing of science and technology in Europe, such as the industrial realm and regional settings, this counter-intuitive decision could undermine the leadership of Europe in prioritizing civil and human rights and needs, values and expectations of its citizens when steering science and technology, that European R&I strongly need to go further.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 03, 2018 Commentary

RRI: How to ‘mainstream’ the ‘upstream’ engagement

by Alexander Gerber

There are strong arguments for and against having either a dedicated funding scheme for science communication in the next European Framework Programme, or mainstreaming upstream engagement across all disciplines. How could both approaches be combined? The success of either will depend on its operationalisation.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 03, 2018 Commentary

Towards an inclusive European innovation policy

by Bjørn Bedsted , Lise Bitsch , Lars Klüver , Rasmus Øjvind Nielsen , Marie Louise Margrethe Jørgensen

With “Horizon Europe”, the European Commission sets out the framework for research and innovation in Europe over the next seven years. The proposal outlines the contours of an innovative science policy that is open and responsive to societal needs, and where societal actors jointly undertake missions to discover sustainable solutions to present-day and future challenges. In our commentary we point to a number of modifications needed to strengthen the cross-cutting implementation of activities for societal engagement and responsible research and innovation.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 03, 2018 Commentary

More democratic research and innovation

by Robert Braun , Erich Griessler

For decades the idea that scientists, policy makers and industry know best in research and innovation has been convincingly challenged. The concept of Responsible Research and Innovation [RRI] combines various strands of critique and takes up the idea that research and innovation need to be democratized and must engage with the public in order to serve the public. The proposed future EU research funding framework programme, Horizon Europe, excludes a specific program line on research in RRI. We propose a number of steps the European Parliament should take to institutionalize RRI in Horizon Europe and beyond.

Volume 17Issue 032018

Sep 03, 2018 Commentary

A key moment for European science policy

by Niels Mejlgaard , Richard Woolley , Carter Bloch , Susanne Buehrer , Erich Griessler , Angela Jaeger , Ralf Lindner , Emil Bargmann Madsen , Frédéric Maier , Ingeborg Meijer , Viola Peter , Jack Stilgoe , Milena Wuketich

We argue that the commitment to science-society integration and Responsible Research and Innovation in past European framework programmes has already made considerable progress in better aligning research and innovation with European societies. The framework programmes have important socialisation effects and recent research point to positive trends across key areas of Responsible Research and Innovation within academic organisations. What appears to be a step away from the concerted efforts to facilitate European citizens' meaningful contribution to research and innovation in the upcoming Horizon Europe framework programme seems counter-productive and poorly timed.

Volume 17Issue 032018

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