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SABAM Belgium 2003

GreenFacts2003 Conference

Annoncement - Schedule - Workshop Themes - Press - Proceedings - Photos

Conveying Science into Policy

Science Communication and Environmental Decision-making

at the Atomium, in Brussels, 16 October 2003.

Conference Workshop Questions

Last update: 14 October 2003

Workshop 1: How should Science be Communicated (and by whom) ?

Moderator: Mia Nybrant (The Scientific Alliance)

Who communicates scientific information, and how?

Governments
Industry
Journalists and Scientific Press
International Bodies
NGOs
Scientists, Academies and Academic Bodies

How well have scientists communicated their information to non-specialists? What measures should be taken to alleviate the general public’s fears when scientists openly disagree?

What are some mechanisms to communicate science to a wider public (success stories, bad experiences, lessons learnt)? What new communication solutions do we need to develop to ensure it?

In a multi-stakeholder environmental governance structure, how balanced is the communication of scientific information?

Has the funding of research interfered with its communication? (Has the patent replaced the peer review?)

Workshop 2: How are environment and health policies determined ?

Moderator: Alexandre de Lichtervelde (Belgian Federal Ministry of the Environment)

Introduction by Clare Coffey (Institute of European Environmental Policy)

Questions to guide Workshop Two:

General environmental governance issues

1. What is the role of governments vis-à-vis the environment
(reactive – proactive)?

To guarantee its citizens a basic environmental quality of life?
To act as the environmental steward?
To intervene on instances of legal violation or accident?
To lower the risks to nature and human health and communicate to the general public?

2. What are the policy instruments that governments have used or could use for effecting environmental policy? Taxes, trade barriers, penalties, incentives …

3. What is the role of the stakeholders? Where, When and How should policymakers consult stakeholders (and which stakeholders)? REACH and Kyoto are too recent examples to be evaluated.

Science and policymaking

4. How should a governmental, intergovernmental or EU body select its scientific advice?

5. When there is scientific disagreement, what should policymakers do?

6. What can be done when clear scientific advice is not followed by policymakers? How much value should scientific evidence be given in relation to other political factors (cultural, historical, economic …)?

EU issues

7. At the EU level, how can compliance be better enforced? Should the role of the EEA be expanded, or another EPA-style body created with the sole responsibility of compliance enforcement?

8. How will enlargement affect EU environmental governance?

9. What are the inroads and means of influence of scientists willing to give input to EU policy?

Workshop 3: How can the image of Science in Society be improved?

Moderator: Mary K Weed

Each question will be on a ppt slide to help the moderator guide the dialogue. No subject slide should run for more than 15 minutes and it is most likely that the last slides won’t have enough time to be covered (so most important questions in the top 8).

Has the public image of science and scientists deteriorated in the past decade? Where? Why?

Should the general public previously have put so much trust in the sciences?

Many countries in Western Europe have reported significant declines in university enrolments in the traditional sciences (physics, chemistry). What are the reasons for this? What could be the consequences?

Could the decline be a reflection of the claim that Western Europe lacks, at the grassroots level, an innovation culture? Do Americans face the same problem?

Is a little knowledge a dangerous thing? If the more people learn about research or scientific developments, the less comfortable they are, then should we communicate less?

What can scientists do or avoid doing to improve their image?

What can organizations, universities, companies or individuals do to promote the image of science?

What can governments do? The recent science and society programme in the UK has attempted to restore the image of science in the UK. Has it been successful?

The EU – DG Research has earmarked a significant budget for the Science and Society in Europe programme. Is this a European-wide issue? Do accession countries face the same problems?