VA barometer 2018/19: Strong confidence in research and researchers in Sweden

A large majority of the Swedish public have high confidence in research and researchers. In addition, most Swedes believe that science has made life better for ordinary people. Three-quarters of the Swedes also believe it is important for the public to be involved in research. These are some of the findings from this year’s annual VA Barometer, now available in English.

Citizen science experiment to investigate light pollution

Members of the public, school pupils, scout groups and other outdoor associations across the whole of Sweden are being invited to look to the night skies and count the stars that they see, in this year’s Swedish mass experiment. Using a cardboard tube and a special app, the Star-Spotting Experiment will create valuable knowledge about light pollution. VA now invites international partners to run the experiment in their countries too.

Forthcoming activities

VA is involved in two newly-started EU projects. In EU-Citizen.Science, together with 13 other partners, we will be creating a European platform for Citizen Science. In RETHINK we are helping to map and develop new methods for science communication in a digitalised world. VA is partner in a range of different EU projects funded by Horizon 2020. Combined, we are currently working with 48 organisations in 17 countries.

Are you interested in Science Shops and community-based participatory research? Apply for a place at the EU SciShops summer school being held in Cyprus from 1 to 4 July. The focus will be on skills development, knowledge exchange and networking to help make your initiatives more participatory and sustainable. Registration for external applicants is open until 31 March.

Sweden’s largest Forum for Science Communication is taking place on 3 April in Gothenburg. This year’s theme is Advocacy – good, bad or dangerous? Guest contributors include Imran Khan, Head of Public Engagement at the Wellcome Trust, UK, and Mairéad Hurley from Science Gallery Dublin. Parts of the conference will be recorded and available to watch online.

A large-scale survey is currently underway to investigate what researchers in Sweden think about communication and open science. The survey, being run by VA together with a number of Swedish funding bodies, is asking thousands of Swedish researchers about the incentives and barriers they encounter when communicating their research, the type of support they need, as well as their views on the transition to open science. Results will be available in autumn 2019.

In the coming months, the EU ORION Open Science project is running Open Science workshops for researchers in a number of European countries, including France, Israel, Spain and Germany. If anyone is interested in hosting an Open Science workshop, then they are welcome to get in touch with the ORION training team.

VA’s recent activities

Many Swedish teenagers have difficulty determining the credibility of digital news. Young people who see themselves as skilled at searching and fact-checking online information are in fact those that are worse at identifying false or biased news. These are the findings of a new study from the News Evaluator, a citizen science project on digital source criticism run by VA in partnership with Uppsala University and RISE Interactive.

Over the past few months, VA has moderated and participated in a series of webinars – Urban Lunch Talks – organised by JPI Urban Europe. The webinars have explored dilemmas related to making urban environments more inclusive. All of the webinars are available to view on JPI Urban Europe’s website.

As part of the EU BLOOM bioeconomy project, VA has held two workshops in Sweden bringing together various stakeholders to brainstorm ways to best communicate what the bioeconomy is all about to public audiences. BLOOM is also producing resources to help teachers learn more about the bioeconomy and incorporate it into their teaching.

Interested in learning more about Open Science? The EU ORION Open Science project has produced a series of podcasts exploring different aspects of Open Science in conversation with guest experts. From data sharing to citizen science and from peer review to professional development, the podcasts explore the good, the bad and the ugly of the current scientific system, and how Open Science practices can improve the way we do science.

VA’s recent publications and resources available in English

VA Barometer 2018/2019: An annual survey into the Swedish public’s general attitudes towards science and researchers.

VA information folder 2019: Information about VA and its members.

Public attitudes to life sciences research in six European countries: results of a survey conducted by the EU ORION Open Science project

VA in social media