3.5.2019 Luncheon event: Interaction between Science and You

Interaction between Science and You: Science serving the public interest & Citizen Science

A large portion of research is publicly funded in most countries around the world. This means that the tax-payers are supporting research: they are key stakeholders. The public is, almost without exception, benefitting from research outcomes. And more importantly, the public is interested in what’s going on in the laboratories, on field work expeditions and in researchers’ offices.

People’s interest towards scientific research is reflected also in the increased participation in citizen science. Whether we are talking about being better informed about science, participating in the scientific process itself by observing, gathering or processing data – citizens can play a major role in advancing science within society. There are already many successful examples of citizen science like Lake and Sea wiki, SuALT web- based service for archeological findings, Baltic App for Baltic Sea environmental observations etc.

The purpose of scientific research is to produce new information for the society’s use, but for the time being, a great deal of research data is difficult to reach by the greater audience. The aim of this event is to learn more on how the European Commission, the Universities and NGO’s make research results accessible to society at large, support the public’s engagement in scientific research and create novel ways to enhance interaction between science and society.

Programme

12:30 -13:15 Lunch and video address of Rector Jari Niemelä/University of Helsinki

13:15 Opening words Jean-Claude Burgelman/DG RTD/Open Science

13:45 -14:30 Panel Discussion – Open Science and its impact on society & citizens

Jean-Claude Burgelman/Head of Unit – Open Science/European Commission
Hilde Van Kiel, Director of KU Leuven Libraries and member of LERU’s Open Access/Open Science Policy group
Ville Nousiainen/City of Helsinki – Forum Virium – Project Officer for EU-funded HOPE project; Production of real-time and detailed air-quality information using a 5G network and by empowering citizens in Helsinki
3 May 2019 12:30-14:30, Helsinki EU Office, Rue Guimard 7, 1040 Brussels

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