Brussels, 23/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - At the instigation of the European Commission a conference was staged last week in Brussels to consider the theme of « Science and governance in the knowledge-based society: a challenge for Europe », and it was attended by 500 scientists, politicians, and representatives of industry, the media and NGOs.
Commissioner Philippe Busquin extolled the virtues of a new contract between science and society so as to help civil society have a bigger input in the scientific and technological decision-making process. The conference participants once again stressed the key role the media has to play in bringing science and the community closer together. The participants want the media to be able count on having reference information at its commend, information that would represent a wide range of viewpoints. Set to come into being in the European research area, the European scientific and technological reference system should help make a contribution in this respect. There is also a need to ensure scientific and technologic information is effectively circulated so as to promote more involvement of citizens in the decision-making process and improve transparency. This means action will have to be taken to improve the teaching of science at all levels of the educational system. The conference also stresses the need to (1) conduct forward-looking studies so as to pinpoint and plan for potential risks and (2) to develop an early warning and rapid response system where even the weakest alarm signals would be taken into account so as to avert crises or manage them well enough to retain the confidence of public opinion.