Some thoughts on dialogue
It can be of two kinds. Sporadic, taking the form of set
piece events, like Consensus Conferences etc. or
Continuous, achieved by inclusion of non-scientists on, for
example, panels that make decisions about research
priorities.
Both types of initiative are likely to be taken over the
coming months/years, but if the past is anything to go on,
this activity will lack overall coherence, principally
because the main players will have difficulty in agreeing a
common agenda.
So before everybody starts doing their own thing, maybe
it's a good time to look at what kinds of generic activity
might be carried out in unison.
I have two not very stunning suggestions which I hope can
get the ball rolling.
The first relates to the development of means of promoting
dialogue whether it be sporadic or continuous. My B'ham
event is based on the CIBA/Novartis Foundation model. It's
basically Question Time with the addition of a presentation
about the subject from a non-scientist as the kicking off
point. It sounded like it might work so I adopted it.
However, I am sure that others either have or will develop
other formats etc It would be very useful to find some way
of sharing experiences/evaluations etc
The second is that back in 1993 Bernard Dixon pioneered the
inclusion of Public Awareness Programmes in scientific
meetings. The idea being to go beyond simply ensuring that
a conference gets press coverage, to devising events that
both give the public opportunities to discuss/debate the
implications for them of a particular area of scientific
research. Interestingly, given recent emphasis on the
importance of scientists having better understanding of
the public, it also gives scientists a chance to encounter
the public. Might there be ways of developing this model
collaboratively? Say a group of conference organising
organisations working together to develop such activities
and ensure that the outcomes of whatever events they
organise are disseminated? That might go some way to
getting over the next hurdle which is finding ways of
ensuring that the public feel that their views, once
expressed are paid attention to by scientists. If they
don't get that message their distrust will grow rather
than diminish.
Hope this triggers some reactions/proposals/protestations.
----------------------------------------
Dr Frank Burnet MBE
Principal Lecturer in the Public Understanding of Science
School of Interdisciplinary Sciences
UWE
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1QY
e-mail [log in to unmask]
tel 0117 976 3879
fax 0117 976 3871
mobile 07881 580523
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|