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Science needs to be communicated differently!
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GreenFacts submits its conference conclusions to the European Commission |
 Conference
Conclusions |
Brussels, 16 December 2003. The GreenFacts Foundation has formally submitted the conclusions of its 2003 conference to Commissioner Philippe Busquin's office. The Proceedings to the October 16 th conference, entitled Conveying Science into Policy: Science Communication and Environmental Decision-making, contain 22 conclusions and recommendations on the proper role of scientists and scientific information in the field of environmental governance.
The event, held at the Atomium in Brussels, gathered more than 100 science communicators from across Europe and North America to examine issues surrounding science communication, the image of scientists and their role in the environment and health decision-making process. It was acknowledged that science is becoming more and more associated with controversy, with its image and interest subsequently suffering. Some of the conference conclusions include:
- The scientists' need for scientific certainty before publishing must at times be balanced with the public's need for sufficient information;
- People need to be better informed of the benefits of science in order to consider the risks involved;
- Scientists need to take other stakeholders, particularly NGOs, into consideration when communicating;
- Environmental challenges must be used to awaken people's interest in science rather than their fears.
- Policymakers cannot outsource their difficult decisions onto the scientists;
- The dropping university enrolments in the sciences must be addressed, otherwise it will lead to fewer good available science teachers and a spiralling decline in interest in science among students.
- Scientists are from Mars, the Public is from Venus - we need to build bridges between them.
The general conclusion was that scientists need to communicate differently, but certainly not less.
"The Research Directorate-General was the obvious formal recipient of our Conference Proceedings", noted Jacques de Selliers, GreenFacts General Manager, "they have not only established an excellent initiative in their Science and Society in Europe Programme, but have also taken the lead in promoting the communication of science to wider audiences." In holding this event, GreenFacts has also expanded its network of organizations dedicated to communicating scientific information to non-specialists. It is looking forward to bringing these organizations together more regularly to cooperate in the shared objective of enabling scientific information to be more widely understood.
GreenFacts Foundation asbl is a non-profit organization based in Brussels that summarizes authoritative scientific documents on environment and health matters on www.GreenFacts.org in a language that is accessible to non-specialists. It was formed in December, 2001 by stakeholders from the academe, industrial groups and environmental NGOs concerned about the difficulties of communicating scientific information on environment and health issues.
The full conference proceedings, texts and photos are available on-line.
For further details, or to obtain a paper copy of the proceedings, contact:
GreenFacts asbl
32.(0)2.211.34.25
