Civil society setting the research agenda

Science Shops are due to expand as a result of a boost in funding from the EU. Set up in the 1970s, Science Shops are an initiative in community-based research and are usually attached to a university or a non-governmental organisation (NGO). They carry out research that is identified by citizens and civil society organisations.

What is particularly interesting about the EU project (entitled Public Engagement with Research And Research Engagement with Society) is its emphasis on citizen dialogue in setting the research agenda. Science Shops aim to use community and citizen debates on science to ask ask questions. The responses are fed back to research institutes.

One of the merits of the project is that the very practical and often local focus of designing research questions for Science Shops enables participants to clearly see the effect of their efforts. As Henk Mulder, the project coordinator explained in an interview “by combining these debates with the research capacity offered through Science Shops, I hope that we can make participation in these dialogues attractive, because now it is clear that the outcomes will lead to something: research is done on questions that are put on the agenda by the [civil society organisations]. And as an institute, or even larger, as ‘science’, you can show that your dialogues are more than just an exchange of words.”

So far, research has largely been focused on questions set by NGOs and organised community groups which is, in itself, an important role. However, as Science Shops expand, it will be interesting to see how successful they are at engaging with a wider audience of lay citizens.