Chair of steering committee has high hopes for first EuroScience Open Forum
Speaking to CORDIS News on the eve of the launch of Europe's largest ever scientific event, the EuroScience Open Forum 2004 (ESOF2004), Dr Carl Sundberg, who has been busy organising this forum for almost five years, spoke of 'his baby' with enthusiasm, pride and hope. ESOF 2004, which is taking place in Stockholm, Sweden, from 25 to 29 August is the first pan-European interdisciplinary scientific meeting ever to take place. As Dr Sundberg explained, he came up with the idea of the platform soon after being elected to the governing board of EuroScience, a grass-root pan-European organisation aimed at building a scientific Europe from the bottom-up. At that time, in 1998, he had already been involved in popular science communications for some 15 years and was very much aware of the importance of technology transfer and the interaction between science and society. 'I soon realised that Europe needed something big to rival the US,' Dr Sundberg, Chair of the Steering Committee of ESOF 2004, told CORDIS News, 'and this is when I came up with the concept of this platform to galvanise the European scientific scene.' Indeed, until now, there has not been a recurrent platform where scientists and those interested in science and technology could meet, discuss and debate at European level. 'The need for something of this type at the European level is great,' emphasised Dr Sundberg. 'Europe needs to act swiftly if it does not want to see its position on the global scene deteriorate. Otherwise there will be no more innovation and Europe will turn into a nice museum honouring only its past.' Although ESOF 2004 is, to an a certain extent, based on the model of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting, Dr Sundberg insists that it also very different in that it involves the general public much more than the AAAS' version. 'I am very proud of the 'science in the city' component of the event,' said Dr Sundberg, 'where a large number of events, targeted at the European public at large will be presented. Hopefully the activities offered will make young people realise that science is 'cool'.' Asked what he hopes the forum will achieve, Dr Sundberg explained that in a world more and more focused on ideologies and politics, it is extremely important, in his eyes, to 'emphasise the fact that Europe needs fact-based only knowledge.' 'I hope that putting knowledge on the agenda will become Europe's motto,' he added. A few hours away from the launch of the event, Dr Sundberg felt confident about the success of the event. 'Everything is now falling into place,' he concluded. 'With 1,500 people registered and 300 accredited journalists attending the forum over the next four days, this event should have a huge European impact.'
Countries
Sweden