The European Union action portfolio Science and society includes projects funded by the European Commission that aim at finding a common ground of action with reference to the perception of science in the public domain. The public forum held at Bruxelles from 9th to 11th March 2005 aimed at assessing, five years after the Lisbon agenda, the results and objectives of promoting better links between the scientific community and the public, bettering scientific communication and the public governance of research and innovation.
The forum included four parallel sessions presenting and discussing papers on: "Science, society and the Lisbon strategy" (see the link to Massimiano Bucchi‘s paper Can citizen participation enrich research policy?); "Science, technology and democracy", "Towards a culture of science communication" and "Fostering diversity, inclusiveness and equality in science". The topics of the sessions reflect the main objectives of the agenda: fostering a culture of science communication, fostering diversity, inclusiveness and equality in science and facing the problems of science, technology and democracy by means of innovative governance and public participation.
In a plenary session, results from several "Mirror sites" were presented, each developing a pilot project on the above topics. Amongst them, the first Italian Science and Society Forum was presented by Federico Neresini and Valeria Arzenton of Observa Association (Vicenza). This project involved business associations, NGOs, citizens and patients associations in dialogue with scientific experts on the basis of an agenda set by the citizens themselves.
The Forum also hosted several showcases which accompanied the parallel sessions as a veritable Fair of Science and Society. The showcases were clustered by themes (popularisation of science, debates and participation processes, equitable access for diverse groups of society). They were open during the entire forum and presented projects and enterprises linked to the agenda of the Forum. There were also stands directly sponsored by the European Union, providing information on the Science and Society Action Plan, the Gateway for Mobility of Researchers, SINAPSE (Scientific Information for Policy Support in Europe), and CORDIS, EU’s on-line service on research and innovation information on.
The Foundation Giannino Bassetti was present at the Forum with its own showcase, presenting the results of the project Public Participation and Governance of Innovation, which was led in partnership with the Region Lombardy and IRER. The objective was that of testing, for the very first time in Italy, new methods of citizen participation to the policy processes regarding complex, techno-scientific projects (such as open field GMO trials). The description of the project, which took place between July 2003 and September 2004, can be found in the abstract by Giuseppe Pellegrini, the co-ordinator of the research. This "bottom-up" initiative on the governance of innovation has attracted a lot of interest, also from international agencies that are sponsored to monitor and manage analogous projects in the European countries. From a comparison with similar initiatives the need has emerged to make known at the European level the specificity of this approach, and to foster the co-ordination with agencies and local administrations that are interested in a common approach to the governance of innovation.

Updating 23 May 2005. See also:
– Science and Society in European Commision’s site.
Menu:
Introduction
Science & governance
Ethics
Scientific awareness
Youth & science
Women & science
Action plan

In the site of Observa: "report" of “Primo Forum Italiano Scienza e Società“.