Suchergebnisse

When Christians reject the claims of scientific experts, are they being irrational? Much of recent discussion in scholarly and popular media have discussed science denialism by conservative Christians, linking a low view of scientific expertise to the United States' current political turmoil.This paper will focus on scientific explanations of science skepticism, asking whether there is anything unique to religious communities that make them vulnerable to misinformation.

Abstract
What is the possibility of community radio operating as a public engagement platform for the dissemination of publicly funded and socially relevant research? Are there ways that community development techniques, along with community-focussed communication methodologies, can be used to support inclusive and sustainable forms of public engagement for research, that go beyond goal-oriented and transactional forms of corporate and industrial mass media? The assertion here is that with the pressing demands of collective social transformation associated with the Great Disruption, there is an urgent need to revitalize the community development mindset of public engagement with—and using—established and emergent forms of media. This renewed mindset offers an extended approach to community-oriented communication that goes beyond the prevailing and standard forms of news reporting, marketing, public relations and mass media information distribution. In other words, the forms of media engagement that typically characterize much of the commercial and institutional communication practices. Instead, and as explored here, there is a need to foster an alternative communications mindset that embeds participative, mutual and developmental expectations of care, stewardship and social justice as foundational principles of communication and media for public engagement for social and academic research.

This paper develops a fourth model of public engagement with science, grounded in the principle of nurturing scientific agency through online participatory bioethics. It argues that social media is an effective device through which to enable such engagement, as it has the capacity to empower users and transforms audiences into co-producers of knowledge, rather than consumers of content, the value of which is recognised within the citizen science movement. Social media also fosters greater engagement with the political and legal implications of science, thus promoting the value of scientific citizenship through the acquisition of science capital. This argument is explored by considering the case of nanoscience and nanotechnology, as an exemplar for how emerging technologies may be handled by the scientific community and science policy makers, and as a technology that has defined a second era of science communication.

AbstractUnderstanding water demand and consumers' capacity for change is essential in underpinning water demand management and water efficiency programmes. This paper presents the outcomes of a qualitative study, which used discussion groups relating to water infrastructure with environmentally aware citizens in five London boroughs in the Lower Lea River Basin. The results showed a subtle interaction between users, water and technology. Users are generally unaware of their own water consumption. Individual perceptions of changes in water behaviour are constrained by habit and lack of knowledge about what changes can be made and how. Knowledge of environmental information was described as the inspiration behind making any changes. The paper concludes that access to information about water resources, infrastructure and conservation measures should be enhanced because although information sources are abundant, participants claimed they were inaccessible without considerable effort. Finally, an emphasis should also be put on helping the public form a more substantial part in environmental decisions.

Mechanisms to engage lay citizens in science and technology are currently in vogue worldwide. While some engagement exercises aim to influence policy making, research suggests that they have had little discernable impacts in this regard. We explore the potentials and challenges of facilitating citizen engagement in nanotechnology from the "topdown," addressing the following questions: Can academics and others within institutions initiate meaningful engagement with unorganized lay citizens from the top-down? Can they facilitate effective engagement among citizens, scientists, and policy makers while building citizen engagement capacities? Is it possible to create independent bottom-up citizen engagement in scientific and technological issues from the top-down, and what are the challenges in doing so? Our experiences show that although academics can build citizens' individual, collective, and political capacities to engage with each other, scientists, and policy makers, this work is enormously time and energy intensive, and institutional support is needed to sustain it.