Swedes’ confidence in research is becoming increasingly polarised among different population groups, according to the results of the 2019 SOM (Society, Opinion, Mass Media) survey, which have recently been published. The survey, conducted in autumn 2019, also shows that confidence in Sweden’s universities and researchers has increased slightly.
Read more.
The
Falling Walls Engage Swedish Hub was officially launched in May through a series of online events exploring how to engage the public in science when we cannot meet in person. Science engagers from 16 countries embarked on a week-long virtual trip to Sweden to discuss ways to transform science engagement activities to work in the digital sphere with lots of fun activities and cultural experiences along the way. A public event involving 120 participants concluded the week.
Read about the Swedish Hub online event.
The results of a study to investigate how science and research can be made more accessible in Sweden have recently been published. Carried out by VA and the magazine Forskning & Framsteg, the study called
‘Research Foresight’ (Forskning.framsyn) also contains case studies of communication initiatives in other countries. The Swedish Research Council, who commissioned the study, have subsequently committed to the development of a collaborative national initiative on science communication.
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How do you best implement and embed Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in life sciences organisations? This is the question at the heart of the
EU ORION Open Science project, which has been developing and testing different methodologies and activities including public dialogues on genome editing, citizen science, gamification, and other co-creation experiments. ORION is now starting sharing its learnings as it enters the final year of the project.
Read more about the project’s activities to date.
Curious about the bioeconomy and how it is helping to make our lives more sustainable? On 28 May, the Nordic hub of the
EU BLOOM-bioeconomy project ran a webinar on ‘what the tree can do’ exploring developments in the forest industry. The webinar was one in a series exploring different aspects of the bioeconomy and our daily lives.
Read more and watch the webinar.
How much confidence does the public have in researchers during the pandemic? How does the public get hold of information about the coronavirus? Do citizens feel well informed? At an
international webinar on 14 May, Gustav Bohlin, a researcher at VA, presented the initial findings from our
new study on coronavirus in the Swedish media and talked with Wissenschaft im Dialog, which is undertaking a similar survey in Germany.
