Science and Society strategy for the UK

Consultation Summary Report

admin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:59:26 +0000

Thank you to everyone who responded to the Science & Society consultation. We have summarised all of the 3000+ comments (pdf).

Please note, the report is purely a reflection of your responses without indication of weighting or priority and in no way represent a DIUS or Government view.

The Consultation generated a wealth of ideas such as making science a part of every day life and the importance of science in driving economic growth. Today Lord Drayson has launched the Science campaign which will support the consultation to:

Make science more relevant by making more people excited by and engaged in science;
Encourage the media and scientists to work closely together on new science programming;
Support teachers by encouraging closer working with scientists and researchers;
Encourage more young people to study science and Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) related subjects; and
Make sure science careers are available to all.

But we still need your help to identify local initiatives and best practice – if you know of anything that works, please leave a comment below.

Developing the strategy

admin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:19:40 +0000

Thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas! We’ve had a good response to our consultation. We received responses from 180 organisations (many of these being consolidated responses representing many other organisations). In addition we received responses from over 220 individuals. We received nearly 3200 individual question answers. A full list of the people and organisations who responded is available.

Of the 34 questions posed in the consultation document, some were more popular than others. The number of answers we received to each question is shown in the graph below. The most frequently answered are on the schools science curriculum and telling young people about career opportunities (Qs27 and 28). Other popular areas are ethics (Q13) and the role of the media (Qs7 & 14). The role of scientists in public engagement, rewards and how to make science interesting (Qs 3-5) feature strongly. The least answered questions are those on interaction between policy makers and scientists (Qs 21, 24 & 25) and on the role of technology as an enabler in engagement (Q18 & 19).

65% of question answers were submitted via this website, either through the question widgets or the online form. 35% were submitted by email (and a couple by post).

Initial analysis of the responses we’ve received have revealed the following key themes:

Teaching science – relevance, excitement and flexibility; support/CPD for teachers; exposure to scientists and business; business/FE/HE involvement in schools
Media – roles and responsibilities; relevance and expertise; role models; balance; channels
Social & historical context – in curriculum, public understanding, policy consideration, excitement v engagement, relevance
Public engagement & raising literacy – status of engagement & outreach; responsibilities of scientists, policy and business; methods of engagement by each group; reward and recognition for scientists, policy makers, business; governance of science.
Careers – role models; business engagement with schools; careers advisors; supply and demand
Cross-cutting issues – Diversity & inclusion; Governance; monitoring, evaluation and quality; use of technology

As a visual illustration of the words used in the responses to the consultation, we used Wordle to plot some frequency charts – more frequently-used words appear larger (n.b. ‘science’ and significant words from the questions were excluded)

Q3 – How can scientists further improve and professionalise engagement with the public?

Q7 – How can the media better support society’s need for balanced information that accurately portrays the nature of science and improves scientific literacy?

Q26 – What further support do teachers need to help young people understand how science works, how government works and how the media works?

What next?

We are now completing a detailed analysis of all the responses. When this is complete we will be holding further stakeholder events and workshops to discuss the findings. Further details of the analysis and future events will be published here shortly.

If you want to contact us in the meantime, please email: scienceandsociety@dius.gsi.gov.uk

Science and gender in Second Life

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:28:19 +0000

Thanks to UKRC and Nature for organising an interesting, innovative and inspiring event on Nature’s island in Second Life to help develop their response to this consultation.

The participants walked, flew and teleported into breakout groups to discuss the gender perspective on science careers, teaching and research.

UKRC’s real-world event to discuss the consultation is on 30 September at the Institute of Directors from 10.30am-4pm. More details on the UKRC website.

The Road Less Travelled: BA Festival of Science

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:00:59 +0000

Are there audiences and channels of communication that current science and society work has overlooked? Join Science Minister Ian Pearson, Professor Jim Al-Khalili and other specialists in an interactive workshop to explore ways in which the public engagement, confidence and skills themes in the current Science and Society consultation could be widened to include other attitudinal and demographic groups besides those usually targeted. Audiences with an interest in arts and humanities, young people in danger of offending, people with disabilities or those classified in the Public Attitudes Survey as ‘indifferent’ to science and many others could all be influenced by new approaches. Bring your ideas and an appetite for discussion!

Time: 14.10-16.00, Tuesday 9th September
Location: Rotblat LT, Chadwick (Physics), University of Liverpool
Further details: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www1.the-ba.net/bafos/events/showevent.asp?EventID=210

Consulting in Second Life – and elsewhere…

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:37:02 +0000

Guest post: Ruth Wilson, UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology

“The UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology is holding a one hour session to discuss A Vision for Science and Society in the virtual world Second Life.

You may already be a member of Second Life – or you may be looking for an opportunity to try it out. Either way, join us on Monday 22 September, 6.50pm at the wonderful and newly-redesigned island run by Nature magazine.

Our aim is to ensure that issues of gender equality are part of the agenda.

It will be a relaxed event: a short presentation followed by small group discussions. Men and women are welcome: SET/STEM professionals, business representatives, academics, policy makers and members of the wider public. You do not need to have read the report in advance.

Places are limited, and prior booking is essential.

Instructions for newcomers and Second Life experts will be sent out on registration.
There is an optional introductory session on Monday 15 September, also at 7pm (booking not necessary).

If you can’t join us in Second Life, you can complete our online consultation questionnaire or come to our London event (30 September)”

Science Blogging

admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:17:06 +0000

On 30th August Nature Networks in collaboration with the Royal Institution are hosting the inaugural science blogging conference: Science Blogging 2008 London. The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is delighted to be suporting this event which aims to bring together science bloggers from around the world to discuss the pressing issues in science, science communication, publishing and education.

The science blogging community is growing rapidly and reaching larger audiences. What can science bloggers do to maximise their impact? Can blogging contribute to scientific research and careers? How can blogs be used to help educate the public about science? What other emerging online tools will play a role in science?

Bloggers, science writers and scientists will be gathering at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London on Saturday to spend a day discussing these issues. The event was very popular and is fully booked now, but you can check out the website.

DIUS will be there to promote the online hub answer any questions about the consultation. Look back here for future posts.

Keeping up-to-date

admin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:22:10 +0000

How do we capture emerging issues effectively and feed into the communication and engagement process?

It’s a very difficult task. But it’s the challenge of all types of journalists, not just science communicators, to try to determine what is useful to, and desired by, their readers. We have advantages, though: usually, our sources are eager to share their knowledge and opinions, and don’t try to block coverage or dissemble. Despite the difficulties of public engagement, this gives us a leg up over our colleagues in other democratically important fields, such as politics and business.
– Flora Graham, Science Communicator and Journalist

What’s your view? Join the debate in the comments here, via our response form, Facebook or your own blog or website

Launch Video!

admin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:29:49 +0000

At the launch at Thinktank in Birmingham on the 18th July, attendees were shown a short introductory video featuring a number of leading scientists, broadcasters and policy makers:

What’s your view? Join the debate in the comments here, via our response form, Facebook or your own blog or website.

Professor Lord Martin Rees on public engagement and science teaching

admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:33:24 +0000

Lord Martin Rees, Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge University, Astronomer Royal and President of Royal Society gives his thoughts on two of the questions raised by the consultation:

What’s your view? Join the debate in the comments here, via our response form, Facebook or your own blog or website.

Rewarding good public engagement work

admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:44:18 +0000

How should high quality engagement be recognised and rewarded?

High quality schemes should be rewarded simply by securing on-going funding. So many fantastic projects fall by the wayside in favour of ‘pilot’ schemes that stand little chance of sticking around in the long term. It seems we have a preference for the ‘new’ over the ‘tried and tested’ format, with the result that any associated learning is at risk of disappearing. Rewards should focus on recognising outstanding projects, rather than individuals, and should reflect the fact that it is not just scientists who are doing the engagement, but rather a cadre of professional people who are carving out a distinct career path in ‘public engagement’.
– Dr Gail Cardew – Director of Programmes, Royal Institution

What’s your view? Join the debate in the comments here, via our response form, Facebook or your own blog or website.

Developing scientific literacy

admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:51:23 +0000

How can we develop the scientific literacy of the science, policy and public communities?

I think the key to improving science literacy is developing the education system so there isn’t such a huge gulf between people who study science and people who don’t. Science courses need to incorporate elements which help future scientists develop their communication skills, and science in school should be taught in a way which encourages our natural interest in science, rather than stifling it. Even if people don’t pursue a scientific career, they wouldn’t be so suspicious and negative about being able to understand scientists if they were taught in a way which was engaging and helped develop a basic literacy in science. If you wait to try to ‘re-engage’ adults with science, it’s probably too late to make a big difference.
– Sarah Day – Science Journalist and Broadcaster

What’s your view? Join the debate in the comments here, via our response form, Facebook or your own blog or website