Civil Service in the news
Launch of the Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre
To Encourage Public Dialogue Around Science and Innovation
Policymakers have a new expert resource to help them engage and talk with the public about a wide range of challenging science and technology issues.
The Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre for Public Dialogue in Science and Innovation (ERC) was launched by the Government on Thursday, 29 May. It offers a virtual knowledge hub and a range of offline support services designed to provide information, advice and guidance to policymakers. Building on the previous Sciencewise programme, the new resource centre aims to broaden public debate and crucially involve the public before vital decisions are made by Government.
The centre is funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills with a Steering Group of experts from across Government, science and business led by Kathy Sykes, Professor of Sciences and Society at the University of Bristol. The Sciencewise-ERC will be targeted primarily at all those who have a responsibility for national policy making in science and technology across Government.
Launching the new centre, Baroness Delyth Morgan, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DIUS, said the resource would be an invaluable tool in helping Ministers and officials understand public views and concerns on complex and potentially controversial scientific issues.
“Science is constantly revealing challenging new areas for research and it's vitally important that we find out what people think about these before we commit to one policy direction or another”; she said.
“For the first time a wide range of information, advice and guidance will be available from the same source and we will be able to gather and share invaluable learning in how best to interact with all sections of society.”
Baroness Morgan cited the recent example of the Sciencewise public dialogue project on hybrid and chimera embryos carried out by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). She said the Authority had taken fully into account all the views expressed when it made its decision last September to licence in principle such research.
The Minister also announced that the leading UK scientist and broadcaster, Lord Robert Winston, is to play a leading role in ‘championing’ the new service to MPs, Ministers and the sciencific community.
An invitation to ‘Drop in for Dialogue’
One of the new services for policymakers is ‘Drop in for Dialogue’, free monthly sessions for anyone in the civil service working on policy at a national level. These are aimed at helping policymakers carry out public dialogue to, listen to and then feed through public views when formulating policy.
Sessions coming up include ‘Feeding into Policy – a Case Study’ presented by Helen Richens from the HFEA on July 21 and ‘Evaluation Masterclass and Mentoring’ presented by Diane Warburton on August 18 both take place at Future Focus, 1 Victoria Street.
Places at the sessions are limited to 20, so it is essential to book now by emailing Amy Peach (amy.peach@aeat.co.uk) or call 0870 190 2797.
Why attend?
Sciencewise asked a wide range of civil servants what would help them most in the area of public dialogue. The overwhelming response was ‘to hear directly from others who have done or are in the middle of similar processes’.
Another request was for one-to-one help from specialists on current or potential dialogue projects. The Drop in for Dialogue sessions are based on these responses.
How the sessions work
Each month a different specialist will make a short presentation and the group will be able to ask questions and share issues.
There will then be an open discussion for people attending, including those managing projects who can share their experiences. Sciencewise project representatives will attend the meetings to ensure a current project can be discussed.
There will then be an optional opportunity for one-to-one mentoring, which can be booked both before, and after, the main two sessions. These will be with a Sciencewise-ERC Dialogue and Engagement Specialist (DES) and will last for approximately 20 minutes.
The DES team is a group of highly experienced professionals who specialise in public particpation. Their expertise covers dialogue conflict resolution, mediation, consensus building, community development, evaluation and communications and media. The DES team are available to advise policymakers in person or through the helpline 0870 190 6324 about whether, when and how to undertake public dialogue, and then help commission the work. DES specialists also and monitor the progress of Sciencewise funded projects.
The sessions will run on the third Monday of every month, from 12 noon until 14.30 and will include lunch. As the sessions are in two parts, either one or both can be attended.
For booking and more information, visit www.sciencewise-erc.org.uk/cms/drop-in-for-dialogue [External website] or Amy Peach on 0870 190 2797.
