'Politicise science' says Research Minister
Europe must find a way to reduce the gap between science and society, urged French Research Minister Roger Gérard Schwartzenberg at a recent conference on the public understanding of science. 'We have moved from a complete trust in science to an ambivalent behaviour. Here and there the image of the good scientists like Pasteur in France has shifted to the image of Frankenstein,' he told policy makers and academics. 'We have to develop a citizens' science [and] make science more political so it finds its place in society. Citizens don't want to have science aside from the political debate anymore,' he added. 'We need to re-establish informed debate and decision and the right to be informed...It is necessary to organise orientation debates...to lead to a quality dialogue with policy makers and reach an informed decision.' Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin, who joined the French minister to officially open proceedings at the Paris event, agreed. 'As we move from a science society to a knowledge society, science affects citizens more and more,' he said. 'This raises a need to discuss questions raised on social values, and the risks associated with scientific progress. But since the risks are growing increasingly hard to understand...there is concern that it is escaping all control by society. This poses a great political problem today.' As such questions increasingly have a European aspect the Commissioner stressed the need to develop a European dialect to try and understand the issues involved. The recent BSE controversy provides a telling example of the public's current scepticism of science, he added: '[With BSE] it is not science at fault but the public don't see this. It is a problem of understanding.' He also pointed to the recently collapsed Hague talks on the environment as another indicator of the public's increasing distrust in science: 'We are increasingly asking science for solutions to worrying problems. We must know what can be done for responsible research. We must study risk and precaution.' But if - as the laws of probability demand - 'zero risk' doesn't exist, the real question becomes the proportion of risk we are prepared to accept, added the Belgian Commissioner. This must be resolved through democratic debate and ethics and reconciled with the freedom of research - as a basic human right - 'Article 13 on freedoms of the EU Treaty...specifies that art and scientific services are free,' said Busquin Minister Schwartzenberg agreed. In order to get science and society together it is necessary to make science public and modernise it so that science can be governed in a legitimate way. Scientists must move away from the image of eccentrics locked away in ivory towers, he said. 'We need to develop science communication so researchers can publicly defend their research.' To achieve this, Schwartzenberg believes scientists should use the media. In particular, he wants to draw media leaders attention to a perceived demand for more information on research. He has announced plans to ask the French audio-visual board to include more science in its schedules and encourage more events like the recent 'Science everywhere - science for everybody' show in France. In a democratic Europe, citizens should be able to take part in the decision making process, he continued. But the political arena must regulate science: 'Or it will be regulated by the market [and] pursuit of profit might lead to poor control of science.' To bring science and society together it needs to be more technocratic, continued Schwartzenberg. This means defining the role of experts in the decision-making process: 'There needs to be competence, transparency and independence to guarantee the rights to information.' But scientists should only be asked to provide advice and not be asked to make decisions, cautioned the Minister. Politicians must govern and take advice but it is their job to make the decision: 'Otherwise the public doesn't count anymore. Experts can enlighten the future but they can't decide what the future will be.'
Countries
France