ALLINTERACT goes beyond the state of the art by providing new evidence on how when citizens are aware of the social impact of research they become more engaged in science; in terms of accessing knowledge, of participating in its dissemination and of potentially taking part in research. The fieldwork conducted has allowed the identification of successful actions at engaging citizens in science. The main characteristics of these actions are being based on scientific evidence & including participants’ voices. The consortium has replicated 6 of these actions, providing new evidence on their replicability in different context & groups. Such findings contribute to the knowledge base of SwafS.
Respondents from vulnerable groups were more likely to participate in actions to discuss scientific evidence in gender & education. Most identified actions are top-down, although citizens tend to share more and are more emotionally involved in the bottom-up ones. The project has identified that the role of interactions is key in promoting the engagement of citizens in science, particularly among vulnerable groups.
Regarding social impact, the Consortium has developed two scientific evidence platforms: Sappho (gender) & Adhyayana (education). These are open to all citizens to share & discuss topics of concern in the two areas. Through egalitarian dialogues based on validity claims, the evidence contributed to the debate allows clarifying which of the shared statements are based on scientific evidence and which are hoaxes. It also fuels the development of new studies. The platforms received over 433,751 visits & 84,357 visitors. Over 243 posts & 833 comments were published. The top countries currently using them are Spain, USA & Germany.
The project has promoted activities around the platforms, including college workshops & training programs for CSO. CSO of Roma women, compulsory & adult education, teachers & parents are using ALLINTERACT’s results, including the scientific platforms. The Catalan Sociological Association held a session in which ALLINTERACT’s platforms were presented. The newspaper “Diario Feminsta” has published 52 press articles related to ALLINTERACT & the platforms. ALLINTERACT has held Open Sience events (365 participants aged 10-82 from over 12 different countries & profiles).
Regarding scientific impact, the Consortium has published 13 articles in JCR/Scopus journals and has presented 21 papers in 18 international conferences.
As for policy impact, the Spanish Ministry of Science & Innovation, after knowing the project, appointed Dr Flecha to coordinate the White Book of the Inclusive Communication of Science, which explains that citizens from any age or background can communicate scientific evidence. Moreover, Dr Flecha has been commissioned by the European Commission’s Network of Experts working on the Social dimension of Education and Training (NESET) the report “Achieving student well-being for all: educational contexts free of violence” (Flecha, Puigvert and Racionero-Plaza, 2023).
The Consortium expects the results to inform school & associations’ programs and to increase the number of visits & visitors in the scientific platforms, and the presence of these in citizens’ social media messages. The project aims to meet and offer support to policymakers on issues related to gender & education, and to see an increase in the number of people engaging in science and using scientific evidence, especially among youth & vulnerable groups. In the long term, the project aims to have an impact in the increase of school achievement & a reduction in school dropout, an increase in scientific projects coordinated by teachers, students & gender associations, an improvement of the national indicators of the perception of science, and an increased enrollment of youth in scientific careers. The project expects to impact new policies.
