ALLEA President contributes to JRC workshop on science for policy
ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno participated in the Joint Research Centre (JRC) workshop “Science for policymaking by national academies” on 4 November. The workshop is part to the JRC virtual series entitled “Strengthening and connecting science for policy eco-systems in Europe“.
President Loprieno discussed the contribution of European academies in the provision of science advice to society and policymakers. In his presentation, he argued that academies have historically taken the role of a “disinterested advisor”.
He pointed out to the importance of understanding the boundaries where academies can act or influence in providing science advice. At some point, other actors and policymakers need to take over and turn advice into concrete action.
The debate, moderated by Emanuela Bellan (JRC), covered several questions emerging from previous workshops such as:
- how can advisers strike a balance between informal, close relations with policy side (mutual trust) and their independence (scientific integrity, public trust)?;
- what does it mean to be an effective knowledge broker? And how can we organize such structures/bodies in eco-systems?
- how can we improve the mutual understanding and trust of actors in science and policymaking?
- what is the role of the public/citizens in all this?
The event included panellists Rudi Hielscher, Coordinator of SAPEA, Brian Norton, Fellow of the Royal Irish Academy, and Julian Revalski, President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Among other objectives, the JRC workshop series aims at building a knowledge base to understand in what ways and under what conditions particular building blocks within different eco-systems work and national eco-systems are connected.
