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PolicyNet
Events
PolicyNet Meeting
On February 9th, James Wilsdon spoke to PolicyNet on
the “The Public Value of Science”. There have been a
number of different models proposed and eventually
discarded for scientists to better engage with the
public. Currently, the emphasis is on “up-stream
engagement” and although this approach is
demonstrably more effective that previous models,
public engagement is still difficult for scientists
and engineers. Demos has been at the forefront of
think-tanks in taking on-board science policy as
well as social policy. Many of their studies have
crossed the boundaries between the two.
In discussing up-stream engagement, what it is and
how to engage in it, James illustrated his talk with
examples from Demos studies. The most poignant
example given was that of performance enhancing
drugs that are now becoming available through
internet retailers. These are no longer limited to
drugs to enhance athletic performance, but now
promise to enhance mental performance as well. As
such drugs become more widely available James argued
that the general public needed both to understand
the implications of such drugs and to take a view on
whether they were good for society in general. The
concept that society may not want certain advances
in technology or science to be made available, or
even researched in some cases, is difficult for
scientists and engineers to fully understand, but
the benefits of up-stream engagement would mean that
research and development was more keenly attuned to
society’s wants and needs and therefore more likely
to be successful.
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