See-through Science: Why Public Engagement Needs to Move Upstream - Softcover

Wilsdon, James; Willis, Rebecca

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841801305 ISBN 13: 9781841801308

Publisher: Demos, 2004

Synopsis

Spurred on by high profile controversies over BSE, GM crops and now nanotechnology, scientists have gradually started to involve the public in their work. They looked first to education as the answer, then to processes of dialogue and participation. But these efforts have not yet proved sufficient.

In See-through Science, James Wilsdon and Rebecca Willis argue that we are on the cusp of a new phase in debates over science and society. Public engagement is about to move upstream.

Scientists need to find ways of listening to and valuing more diverse forms of public knowledge and social intelligence. Only by opening up innovation processes at an early stage can we ensure that science contributes to the common good.

Debates about risk are important. But the public also want answers to the more fundamental questions at stake in any new technology: Who owns it? Who benefits from it? To what purposes will it be directed?

The pamphlet offers practical guidance for scientists, policymakers, research councils businesses and NGOs – anyone who is trying to make engagement work.

It is an argument with profound implications for the future of science. Can upstream engagement reshape not only the way that scientists relate to the public, but also the very foundations on which the scientific enterprise rests?

About this edition

• Publisher: Demos
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1841801305
• ISBN 13: 9781841801308
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 69