There are many possible pathways towards a carbon-neutral future — and achieving it by 2050 is possible but requires urgent action. This is the conclusion of a group of top scientists tasked by the European Commission with advising on how to facilitate the energy transition in Europe.
The European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism published two major documents on a systemic approach to the energy transition in Europe yesterday:
In these documents, the experts underline that the energy transition is far from a purely technical challenge. To make the transition a reality, we need to solve a huge systemic problem, coordinating countless individual voluntary decisions on investment, consumption and behaviour across Europe.
This means transforming the entire European energy system — a change which will affect every part of our society and require huge investment during the transition. It must be done in a socially equitable way. And we already need to accelerate progress if we want to achieve the EU’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Professor Peter Lund, chair of the SAPEA working group that wrote the report, said:
“The SAPEA report does not recommend an unequivocal policy package for Europe, but rather a set of policy options addressing various important facets of the overall challenge of the energy transition to reach carbon neutrality.
“However, as a central conclusion, any successful policy must involve a carbon pricing mechanism, in both the EU Emissions Trading System and Effort Sharing Regulation sectors, that delivers a sufficiently high carbon price while putting the pricing in a socially just frame.”
Professor Antonio Loprieno, the chair of the SAPEA Board and President of ALLEA, added:
“The transition of the energy system to tackle climate change is a key challenge and priority for the European Union, and its implications will impact on all parts of our societies, including a range of technical, economic, and social aspects. It is particularly important, that policymakers are well informed by science while making decisions on such complex issues.
“This report takes a multidisciplinary and systemic approach and provides evidence-based observations for achieving the EU’s emission targets by 2050 from an energy system transition perspective, thus brings the best and newest scientific knowledge into policymaking.”
SAPEA is part of the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism. Together with the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, it provides independent scientific advice to European Commissioners to support their decision-making. SAPEA brings together outstanding expertise from natural, applied, and social sciences and humanities, from over a hundred academies, young academies and learned societies in more than 40 countries across Europe. ALLEA is involved in SAPEA as one of its European academy networks.
Learn more about SAPEA and their Evidence Review Reports here.
How can we connect research and practice in the science communication field? How can science communication help make science more trustworthy? What lessons have we learned on the relationship between science and politics during the Covid-19 pandemic? Over 1000 participants joined two days of digital discussions and workshops to tackle these and more questions at the Future of Science Communication Conference.
After a year of planning and curating, the event took place in digital format on 24-25 June, co-organised by ALLEA and Wissenschaft im Dialog, the organisation for science communication in Germany and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the scope of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The international conference brought together actors from research and practice of science communication. Its goal was to sensitise the various stakeholders from science, science communication and politics to the respective challenges and to provide an impetus for stronger networking and transfer between the ‘science of science communication’ and European practitioner communities.
Attendees could enjoy three keynotes and six panels, participate in ten workshops and attend three lightning talk sessions, a poster session and a matching session. All sessions were related to one of five topics: Science & Politics, Trust in Science, Target Groups of Science Communication, Open Science & Citizen Science, and Fake News & Disinformation.
“We are at a Fork in the Road moment in science communication.” – Mike Schäfer (University of Zurich)
From Science Communication to Trust in Science
Day one started with welcoming words from Thomas Rachel MdB (Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and the ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno, before featuring two keynotes by Mike Schäfer (University of Zurich) and the Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Commission Nicole Grobert (University of Oxford), who shared input from their scientific and political perspectives.
Schäfer presented an overall analysis of the science communication field with three main questions: how can we move forward, what is going well, what is not going so well. His take-home message was to recognise that science communication is in a “Fork in the Road” moment. Institutions, scientists and communicators should work together to push forward and scale up the synergies between practice and research. For instance, he proposed to increase “inreach” into science: motivate, train, support, valorize and sensitize scientists for societal demands.
The Chief Scientific Advisor Nicole Grobert added a science advice perspective to the discussion and provided insights on how to communicate emergency and strategic science advice. Particularly, she suggested to follow four key questions when communicating science advice for policy:
What we know
What we don’t know
What is uncertain
What cannot be known
The discussions continued in the afternoon with the panel “Trust in Science: nurtured, built or earned?”, moderated by Dr. Birte Fähnrich (Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences/Zeppelin University) and with speakers Rainer Bromme (University of Münster), Maria Baghramian (University College Dublin/PERITIA), John Besley (Michigan State University) and Tracey Brown (Sense About Science).
The debate focussed on how to create a concept of trust in science useful for science communication. Speakers debated how to frame such debate for practical approaches, from focusing on the causes of distrust to understand the importance of trustworthiness in science. Their advice to the science communicators was:
Make the right questions about science (Brown).
Talk about your honesty, good intentions, competence (Besley).
Explain the process of science (Baghramian).
Foster epistemic trust (Broome).
“The infodemic in fact preceded the Covid-19 pandemic by many years” – Cissi Askwall (VA Public & Science)
Are we living an “infodemic”?
The second day was kicked off by our third keynote speaker, Cissi Askwall, sharing her perspectives from science communication practice, who argued that the “infodemic in fact preceded the Covid-19 pandemic by many years”.
Friday’s first panel “Fake News & Disinformation: A pandemic of its own?” developed further this question. The debate featured Natali Helberger (University of Amsterdam), Dan Larhammar (ALLEA/Royal Swedish Academy) and Philipp Lorenz-Spreen (Max Planck Institute for Human Development) and was moderated by journalist Kai Kupferschmidt. Panellists discussed digital media literacy and the importance of including schools in the debate on fake news. Lorenz-Spreen added: “We cannot rely on the idea that with the next generation and digital natives problems with fake news will disappear. We can see even university students today can be victims of fake news.”
In a pre-recorded impulse video, Dietram A. Scheufele (University of Wisconsin-Madison) challenged common wisdom on the relevance of disinformation in today’s science communication debates: “There is very limited social scientific evidence, if any, to suggest that misinformation directly connects to more pro-social behaviours, for instance, physical distancing or getting vaccines when available”. The moderator Kupferschmidt provided additional thought-provoking ideas and key takeaways on a Twitter thread:
I‘ve spent a lot of time in recent months thinking and talking about what is broken in our information ecosystem. Yesterday I had the pleasure to moderate a debate about misinformation and the pandemic with @nhelberger, @DanLarhammar, @philipplenz6 and (pre-recorded) @scheufele.
Friday also featured a panel discussion on science and politics moderated by ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno. The panel included Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius (Alfred Wegener Institute), Dr. Janusz Bujnicki (International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn (Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies Potsdam) and Dr. Bella Starling (Vocal / Wellcome Engagement Fellow / Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust). A key question that centred the debate was: What do policymakers want from scientists? Ortwin Renn had some suggestions:
What do policymakers want from scientists? O. Rehn says:
– Englightement: be informed! – Instrumental knowledge: what are the consequences of policy options? – Strategic advice: how can reach certain objective? – Monitoring – Co-create: sit together to frame problems.#FSCC21pic.twitter.com/rMo9eI2dKM
In the final panel discussion, panellists touched on the question whether there is a gap between research and practice in science communication. Brian Trench (Dublin City University/PCST Network) asked whether instead we are overstressing this disconnection between the science of science communication and science communication practice. He also presented his manifesto for a future of science communication that is authentic, engaged, open, surprising, uncertain, ethical, inclusive, unfinished and interpreting.
“Science Communication is about interpreting the meaning of science for people” – Brian Trench (Dublin City University/PCST Network)
SAPEA and PERITIA workshops
Two ALLEA projects also found space in the programme. The workshop “Communicating microplastics risk: Balancing sensation and reflection” was hosted by SAPEA and featured Bart Koelmans (University of Wageningen), Sabine Pahl (University of Vienna), Lesley Henderson (Brunel University) and Toby Wardman (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies).
Additionally, our PERITIA colleagues organized two workshops, “Trust in science in social surveys: challenges, measurement and case studies” and “Using experiments to fight science disinformation online: an evidence-based guide”. The first workshop provided an overview on the nuances and complexity of measuring trust in science across countries and different contexts.
Many of you might have crossed paths with @LornaSchuette during the conference. She is covering parts of the #FSCC21 with graphic recordings. You will find them in our highlight documentation afterwards but here is a little sneak peak from one of the workshops. pic.twitter.com/gfY2ibsARu
The second workshop led by Carlo Martini (PERITIA) offered an overview on strategies to tackle disinformation attempts with the use of attention and monetary incentives interventions on social media. The contribution of John Cook (Monash University) brought additional perspectives on the use of gamification to foster critical thinking. Read more about this on our interview with him at the ALLEA Digital Salon.
For further reading on the contents of the conference, you can find the summaries of Day 1 and Day 2 published at the German science communication portal Wissenschaftskommunition. More documentation will be published in the coming months. If you want to receive future updates, subscribe to the ALLEA newsletter.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/banner2.png6361063alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-29 13:22:012021-08-03 16:52:04Future of Science Communication Conference: Moving Forward Research & Practice
This webinar will review the latest scientific evidence on the biodegradability of plastics from SAPEA and discuss the policy recommendations made by the European Commission’s independent Group of Chief Scientific Advisors.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Thumbnail_Event_June-16.png6281200alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-16 15:08:572024-03-26 15:26:12Plastic Pollution: Are Biodegradable Plastics a Solution?
ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno became the new chair of the Board of SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies). SAPEA is part of the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism and brings together outstanding expertise in engineering, humanities, medicine, natural and social sciences from over 100 academies, young academies and learned societies across Europe.
President Loprieno took over the Chairmanship from Sierd Cloetingh, the President of the Academia Europaea, on 15 June. He will lead the transition of the EU-funded project towards its next phase.
“This is an exciting time to become chair of the SAPEA Board, with important new projects on the horizon and more public interest than ever in the role of scientific evidence in policy. I thank Sierd for his excellent leadership until now, and I look forward to contributing to the ongoing success of SAPEA”, said Loprieno, fellow of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences.
The SAPEA Board consists of the presidents of the five European Academy Networks, who work on a voluntary basis and act as a central body for decisions on joint activities within SAPEA.
About SAPEA
Together with the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, SAPEA provides independent scientific advice to European Commissioners to support their decision-making. It also works to strengthen connections between Europe’s academies and Academy Networks, and to stimulate debate in Europe about the role of evidence in policy-making. As one of five academy networks in Europe, ALLEA is involved in the SAPEA project.
Professor Antonio Loprieno assumed the Presidency of ALLEA in May 2018 and was re-elected in 2021. He studied Egyptology, linguistics and Semitic studies at the University of Turin in Italy, and has served as Rector of the University of Basen (2006-2015) and President of the Jacobs University Bremen (2019-2020), among other responsibilities.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/sapea2.jpg4911876alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-17 15:55:542021-08-03 16:52:20ALLEA President Takes over as Chair of SAPEA
On 8 June, ALLEA and Scholars at Risk organised the international virtual conference ‘Academic Freedom and Intellectual Dissent’ with the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and US linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky as star speakers. The event focussed on the role of intellectual dissent and academic freedom in democratic societies in a Western, particularly European, context.
Academics and politicians came together to discuss the scope and the limits of academic freedom in the context of political populism, privatisation and the exigencies of the post-Covid social and educational landscape.
“When academic freedom is seriously undermined, in extremis, scholars may find themselves targeted for public vilification, job loss, imprisonment, or even death in parts of the world”, said the President of Ireland in his address.
President Higgins advocated for “the recovery of the right to pose the important questions, such as Immanuel Kant did (…): What might we know? What should we do? What may we hope?”.
In his keynote, Noam Chomsky reflected on the crisis and privatisation of universities and academic institutions. He advocated for enabling the scientific community to make use of research funds without the intervention of politicians or donors.
He pointed out to this underlying tension within academic institutions as one of key aspects impeding the scientific community to reach an ideal of academic freedom. “Looking over the centuries, the ideal has often been uphill, but it has been a constant battle to try to sustain it in the face of external, social, economic and ideological pressures”, he argued.
Chomsky also challenged the idea of attributing the drivers of innovation and discovery in today’s societies to private businesses’ risk-taking. “This doctrine is mostly myth. Most of this work takes place in the public sector with public funding”, he stated.
Academic Freedom: Positive vs Negative
ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno opened the event with a call for action to the academic community: “There needs to be a little bit of more courage on the side of academic leaders, to be proactive in defending these values”.
In his keynote, he outlined the semantic trajectory of the concept “academic freedom”, from the “scholarly freedom” of medieval times to the “quest for truth” that catapulted the Enlightenment.
He also underlined the fundamental distinction between positive and negative academic freedom. Negative liberty refers to “removing the barriers to fulfil one’s academic mission” whereas “positive” implies advocating for a certain number of rights by the academic community.
“Do we want to protect individual rights, or do we want to enforce a certain number of values that we shared as an intellectual community?”, he asked.
“One pillar of democracy”
The panel discussion, chaired by scientist Jim Al-Khalili (Royal Society), delved into various aspects of academic freedom, from its inclusion in higher education and research policy to the role of scientists as activists and intellectual dissidents.
The speakers included Maeve Cooke (University College Dublin), Christian Ehler (Member of the European Parliament), Roja Fazaeli (Trinity College Dublin, Scholars at Risk), Andrea Peto (Central European University) and Peter-Paul Verbeek (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, KNAW).
MEP Ehler related the current threats to academic freedom in Europe to two trends: the extreme democratic tensions, particularly in democratic discourse, and the democratic decline in EU Member States.
“If academic freedom falls, one pillar of democracy falls with it”, he concluded.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/president3.jpg5821110alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-14 15:13:452021-08-03 16:52:29Discussing Academic Freedom with the President of Ireland and Noam Chomsky
On 3 June, ALLEA, EASAC and FEAM co-organised an online discussion event to present the results of their first tripartite collaboration, in which they join forces to explore how barriers for sharing personal health data outside the EU/EEA for research in the public sector can be resolved. The joint report was be presented by the lead experts and then discussed with relevant stakeholders in a panel discussion.
Event Agenda
Introduction and presentation of academy networks
Welcome by Professor Christina Moberg, President of EASAC
Presentation of the project
Chair: Professor Antonio Loprieno, President of ALLEA
Why we did this project together; what is the value of international health research and what may now be lost – Rosa Castro, FEAM Policy Officer
Main findings from the project – Professor Giske Ursin, Cancer Registry of Norway; and Dr Heidi Beate Bentzen, University of Oslo
Panel discussion
Chair: Professor George Griffin, President of FEAM and co-chair of the working group
Short interventions followed by questions and discussion
Professor Robert Eiss, US National Institutes of Health
Brendan Barnes, EFPIA – European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations
Gözde Susuzlu Briggs, Data Saves Lives/European Patients’ Forum
Professor Christiane Woopen, Professor of Ethics and Theory of Medicine, chair EGE
Alisa Vekeman, European Commission, DG Justice
Summary and closing remarks
Professor Volker ter Meulen, co-chair of the working group
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Screenshot_3.png418609alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-10 14:57:352021-08-03 16:52:43Watch Recording: Webinar on “International Sharing of Personal Health Data for Research”
This conference on 8 June will focus on the importance of intellectual dissent and academic freedom to democratic societies in a Western, particularly European, context. The speakers and the panel will discuss the scope and the limits of academic freedom in the context of political populism, neoliberalism and the exigencies of the post Covid social and educational landscape.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Thumbnail_Event_June-3.png6281200alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-03 13:25:592024-03-26 15:26:45Discussion Event for ALLEA-EASAC-FEAM Report on “International Health Data Transfer”
PERITIA invites you to the lecture “Trusting wisely in social and digital networks” by Philosopher Mark Alfano (Macquarie University) on 2 June, 17:00 (CEST). The event is hosted by our partner Institut Nicod (France).
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Thumbnail_Event_June-2.png6281200alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-02 10:17:122024-03-26 15:27:04Mark Alfano on Trusting Wisely in Social and Digital Networks
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Thumbnail_Event_June-1.png6281200alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-06-01 09:14:012024-03-26 15:27:18Dan Sperber on Trust vs. Argument
Energy Transition Needs to Accelerate Urgently, Says EU’s Scientific Advice Mechanism
There are many possible pathways towards a carbon-neutral future — and achieving it by 2050 is possible but requires urgent action. This is the conclusion of a group of top scientists tasked by the European Commission with advising on how to facilitate the energy transition in Europe.
The European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism published two major documents on a systemic approach to the energy transition in Europe yesterday:
In these documents, the experts underline that the energy transition is far from a purely technical challenge. To make the transition a reality, we need to solve a huge systemic problem, coordinating countless individual voluntary decisions on investment, consumption and behaviour across Europe.
This means transforming the entire European energy system — a change which will affect every part of our society and require huge investment during the transition. It must be done in a socially equitable way. And we already need to accelerate progress if we want to achieve the EU’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Professor Peter Lund, chair of the SAPEA working group that wrote the report, said:
Professor Antonio Loprieno, the chair of the SAPEA Board and President of ALLEA, added:
SAPEA is part of the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism. Together with the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, it provides independent scientific advice to European Commissioners to support their decision-making. SAPEA brings together outstanding expertise from natural, applied, and social sciences and humanities, from over a hundred academies, young academies and learned societies in more than 40 countries across Europe. ALLEA is involved in SAPEA as one of its European academy networks.
Learn more about SAPEA and their Evidence Review Reports here.
Future of Science Communication Conference: Moving Forward Research & Practice
How can we connect research and practice in the science communication field? How can science communication help make science more trustworthy? What lessons have we learned on the relationship between science and politics during the Covid-19 pandemic? Over 1000 participants joined two days of digital discussions and workshops to tackle these and more questions at the Future of Science Communication Conference.
After a year of planning and curating, the event took place in digital format on 24-25 June, co-organised by ALLEA and Wissenschaft im Dialog, the organisation for science communication in Germany and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the scope of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The international conference brought together actors from research and practice of science communication. Its goal was to sensitise the various stakeholders from science, science communication and politics to the respective challenges and to provide an impetus for stronger networking and transfer between the ‘science of science communication’ and European practitioner communities.
Attendees could enjoy three keynotes and six panels, participate in ten workshops and attend three lightning talk sessions, a poster session and a matching session. All sessions were related to one of five topics: Science & Politics, Trust in Science, Target Groups of Science Communication, Open Science & Citizen Science, and Fake News & Disinformation.
From Science Communication to Trust in Science
Day one started with welcoming words from Thomas Rachel MdB (Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and the ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno, before featuring two keynotes by Mike Schäfer (University of Zurich) and the Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Commission Nicole Grobert (University of Oxford), who shared input from their scientific and political perspectives.
Schäfer presented an overall analysis of the science communication field with three main questions: how can we move forward, what is going well, what is not going so well. His take-home message was to recognise that science communication is in a “Fork in the Road” moment. Institutions, scientists and communicators should work together to push forward and scale up the synergies between practice and research. For instance, he proposed to increase “inreach” into science: motivate, train, support, valorize and sensitize scientists for societal demands.
The Chief Scientific Advisor Nicole Grobert added a science advice perspective to the discussion and provided insights on how to communicate emergency and strategic science advice. Particularly, she suggested to follow four key questions when communicating science advice for policy:
The discussions continued in the afternoon with the panel “Trust in Science: nurtured, built or earned?”, moderated by Dr. Birte Fähnrich (Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences/Zeppelin University) and with speakers Rainer Bromme (University of Münster), Maria Baghramian (University College Dublin/PERITIA), John Besley (Michigan State University) and Tracey Brown (Sense About Science).
The debate focussed on how to create a concept of trust in science useful for science communication. Speakers debated how to frame such debate for practical approaches, from focusing on the causes of distrust to understand the importance of trustworthiness in science. Their advice to the science communicators was:
Are we living an “infodemic”?
The second day was kicked off by our third keynote speaker, Cissi Askwall, sharing her perspectives from science communication practice, who argued that the “infodemic in fact preceded the Covid-19 pandemic by many years”.
Friday’s first panel “Fake News & Disinformation: A pandemic of its own?” developed further this question. The debate featured Natali Helberger (University of Amsterdam), Dan Larhammar (ALLEA/Royal Swedish Academy) and Philipp Lorenz-Spreen (Max Planck Institute for Human Development) and was moderated by journalist Kai Kupferschmidt. Panellists discussed digital media literacy and the importance of including schools in the debate on fake news. Lorenz-Spreen added: “We cannot rely on the idea that with the next generation and digital natives problems with fake news will disappear. We can see even university students today can be victims of fake news.”
In a pre-recorded impulse video, Dietram A. Scheufele (University of Wisconsin-Madison) challenged common wisdom on the relevance of disinformation in today’s science communication debates: “There is very limited social scientific evidence, if any, to suggest that misinformation directly connects to more pro-social behaviours, for instance, physical distancing or getting vaccines when available”. The moderator Kupferschmidt provided additional thought-provoking ideas and key takeaways on a Twitter thread:
Friday also featured a panel discussion on science and politics moderated by ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno. The panel included Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius (Alfred Wegener Institute), Dr. Janusz Bujnicki (International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn (Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies Potsdam) and Dr. Bella Starling (Vocal / Wellcome Engagement Fellow / Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust). A key question that centred the debate was: What do policymakers want from scientists? Ortwin Renn had some suggestions:
In the final panel discussion, panellists touched on the question whether there is a gap between research and practice in science communication. Brian Trench (Dublin City University/PCST Network) asked whether instead we are overstressing this disconnection between the science of science communication and science communication practice. He also presented his manifesto for a future of science communication that is authentic, engaged, open, surprising, uncertain, ethical, inclusive, unfinished and interpreting.
SAPEA and PERITIA workshops
Two ALLEA projects also found space in the programme. The workshop “Communicating microplastics risk: Balancing sensation and reflection” was hosted by SAPEA and featured Bart Koelmans (University of Wageningen), Sabine Pahl (University of Vienna), Lesley Henderson (Brunel University) and Toby Wardman (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies).
Additionally, our PERITIA colleagues organized two workshops, “Trust in science in social surveys: challenges, measurement and case studies” and “Using experiments to fight science disinformation online: an evidence-based guide”. The first workshop provided an overview on the nuances and complexity of measuring trust in science across countries and different contexts.
The second workshop led by Carlo Martini (PERITIA) offered an overview on strategies to tackle disinformation attempts with the use of attention and monetary incentives interventions on social media. The contribution of John Cook (Monash University) brought additional perspectives on the use of gamification to foster critical thinking. Read more about this on our interview with him at the ALLEA Digital Salon.
For further reading on the contents of the conference, you can find the summaries of Day 1 and Day 2 published at the German science communication portal Wissenschaftskommunition. More documentation will be published in the coming months. If you want to receive future updates, subscribe to the ALLEA newsletter.
Plastic Pollution: Are Biodegradable Plastics a Solution?
This webinar will review the latest scientific evidence on the biodegradability of plastics from SAPEA and discuss the policy recommendations made by the European Commission’s independent Group of Chief Scientific Advisors.
ALLEA President Takes over as Chair of SAPEA
ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno became the new chair of the Board of SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies). SAPEA is part of the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism and brings together outstanding expertise in engineering, humanities, medicine, natural and social sciences from over 100 academies, young academies and learned societies across Europe.
President Loprieno took over the Chairmanship from Sierd Cloetingh, the President of the Academia Europaea, on 15 June. He will lead the transition of the EU-funded project towards its next phase.
“This is an exciting time to become chair of the SAPEA Board, with important new projects on the horizon and more public interest than ever in the role of scientific evidence in policy. I thank Sierd for his excellent leadership until now, and I look forward to contributing to the ongoing success of SAPEA”, said Loprieno, fellow of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences.
The SAPEA Board consists of the presidents of the five European Academy Networks, who work on a voluntary basis and act as a central body for decisions on joint activities within SAPEA.
About SAPEA
Together with the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, SAPEA provides independent scientific advice to European Commissioners to support their decision-making. It also works to strengthen connections between Europe’s academies and Academy Networks, and to stimulate debate in Europe about the role of evidence in policy-making. As one of five academy networks in Europe, ALLEA is involved in the SAPEA project.
Professor Antonio Loprieno assumed the Presidency of ALLEA in May 2018 and was re-elected in 2021. He studied Egyptology, linguistics and Semitic studies at the University of Turin in Italy, and has served as Rector of the University of Basen (2006-2015) and President of the Jacobs University Bremen (2019-2020), among other responsibilities.
Discussing Academic Freedom with the President of Ireland and Noam Chomsky
On 8 June, ALLEA and Scholars at Risk organised the international virtual conference ‘Academic Freedom and Intellectual Dissent’ with the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and US linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky as star speakers. The event focussed on the role of intellectual dissent and academic freedom in democratic societies in a Western, particularly European, context.
Academics and politicians came together to discuss the scope and the limits of academic freedom in the context of political populism, privatisation and the exigencies of the post-Covid social and educational landscape.
“When academic freedom is seriously undermined, in extremis, scholars may find themselves targeted for public vilification, job loss, imprisonment, or even death in parts of the world”, said the President of Ireland in his address.
President Higgins advocated for “the recovery of the right to pose the important questions, such as Immanuel Kant did (…): What might we know? What should we do? What may we hope?”.
In his keynote, Noam Chomsky reflected on the crisis and privatisation of universities and academic institutions. He advocated for enabling the scientific community to make use of research funds without the intervention of politicians or donors.
He pointed out to this underlying tension within academic institutions as one of key aspects impeding the scientific community to reach an ideal of academic freedom. “Looking over the centuries, the ideal has often been uphill, but it has been a constant battle to try to sustain it in the face of external, social, economic and ideological pressures”, he argued.
Chomsky also challenged the idea of attributing the drivers of innovation and discovery in today’s societies to private businesses’ risk-taking. “This doctrine is mostly myth. Most of this work takes place in the public sector with public funding”, he stated.
Academic Freedom: Positive vs Negative
ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno opened the event with a call for action to the academic community: “There needs to be a little bit of more courage on the side of academic leaders, to be proactive in defending these values”.
In his keynote, he outlined the semantic trajectory of the concept “academic freedom”, from the “scholarly freedom” of medieval times to the “quest for truth” that catapulted the Enlightenment.
He also underlined the fundamental distinction between positive and negative academic freedom. Negative liberty refers to “removing the barriers to fulfil one’s academic mission” whereas “positive” implies advocating for a certain number of rights by the academic community.
“Do we want to protect individual rights, or do we want to enforce a certain number of values that we shared as an intellectual community?”, he asked.
“One pillar of democracy”
The panel discussion, chaired by scientist Jim Al-Khalili (Royal Society), delved into various aspects of academic freedom, from its inclusion in higher education and research policy to the role of scientists as activists and intellectual dissidents.
The speakers included Maeve Cooke (University College Dublin), Christian Ehler (Member of the European Parliament), Roja Fazaeli (Trinity College Dublin, Scholars at Risk), Andrea Peto (Central European University) and Peter-Paul Verbeek (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, KNAW).
MEP Ehler related the current threats to academic freedom in Europe to two trends: the extreme democratic tensions, particularly in democratic discourse, and the democratic decline in EU Member States.
“If academic freedom falls, one pillar of democracy falls with it”, he concluded.
Watch the recordings on ALLEA’s YouTube channel.
Watch Recording: Webinar on “International Sharing of Personal Health Data for Research”
On 3 June, ALLEA, EASAC and FEAM co-organised an online discussion event to present the results of their first tripartite collaboration, in which they join forces to explore how barriers for sharing personal health data outside the EU/EEA for research in the public sector can be resolved. The joint report was be presented by the lead experts and then discussed with relevant stakeholders in a panel discussion.
Event Agenda
Introduction and presentation of academy networks
Welcome by Professor Christina Moberg, President of EASAC
Presentation of the project
Chair: Professor Antonio Loprieno, President of ALLEA
Panel discussion
Chair: Professor George Griffin, President of FEAM and co-chair of the working group
Short interventions followed by questions and discussion
Summary and closing remarks
Professor Volker ter Meulen, co-chair of the working group
Academic Freedom and Intellectual Dissent
This conference on 8 June will focus on the importance of intellectual dissent and academic freedom to democratic societies in a Western, particularly European, context. The speakers and the panel will discuss the scope and the limits of academic freedom in the context of political populism, neoliberalism and the exigencies of the post Covid social and educational landscape.
Discussion Event for ALLEA-EASAC-FEAM Report on “International Health Data Transfer”
Mark Alfano on Trusting Wisely in Social and Digital Networks
PERITIA invites you to the lecture “Trusting wisely in social and digital networks” by Philosopher Mark Alfano (Macquarie University) on 2 June, 17:00 (CEST). The event is hosted by our partner Institut Nicod (France).
Dan Sperber on Trust vs. Argument