Mindfulness is credited with helping people undergo an inner transformation, which could help bring about change in the world. In an opinion piece, former British MP, Chris Ruane, talks about the recommendation of a new UK report, called Mindful Nation, to ensure that the mental health benefits of mindfulness can be brought to areas as diverse as education, health, criminal justice and the work place. He also shares his vision on how this practice could be extended at EU-wide level, with further adoption by MPs and MEPs across the political sprectrum. Read more […]
Transparency is relevant to every policy areas, from how scientific advice is used–or whether it is used at all–to how research impact is defined. The trouble is that most policy processes are not clearly outlined. Find out more, in this insightful piece, about the policy areas which have a bearing on research activity, whose transparency has yet to be improved. Like in all discussions of this nature, it is also essential to remember the role played by human nature is ensuring transparency. Read more […]
In this investigative piece of pan-European journalism, _EuroScientist_ focuses on a case study showing how an evidence-based approach could inform policies that are better suited to protect EU citizens. In this article, we focus on the case of the steel industry. It appears to have managed to render ineffective in protecting the health of EU citizens a 2010 Directive regulating industrial emissions, due to come into force in 2016. The piece reveals how decision-making mechanisms have ultimately been dampened down by many lobbying and political compromises. As a result, industry has been left to decide which tests are to be implemented to control harmful emissions, without the obligation of implementing what available evidence considers the most effective technology. Read more […]
Find out how the European Parliament has an in-house mechanism to provide scientific advice, as part of the policy making mechanism. This advice is provided by the Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) Panel, which is supported by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS). Since 1974, STOA has also integrated a foresight activity designed to anticipate the possible long-term unintended consequences of legislation on society. Read more […]
If we use scientific excellence as a judging criterion, Greece is one of the richest European countries. However, in this opinion piece, John Ioannidis, shares his views on the real brakes standing in the way of further developing Greek research. This professor of medicine, health research and policy, and statistics at Stanford University, and former professor at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece, is better known for his work showing that most published research findings are false. Here, Ioannidis gives a frank account of the reality of how Greek politics does not give Greek research the best possible chance of blossoming. Read more […]
The urgency of the European refugee crisis sharply contrasts with the lack of ready-made policy response. So what do migration scholars have to say about it? In this insightful piece, EuroScientist pinpoints key-pieces of evidence that may help to inform a better policy while debunking xenophobic myths. Read more […]
The League of European Research Universities, LERU , launches today, 16th September 2015, a new report showing how Gendered Research and Innovation (GRI) can foster new knowledge and solutions to global challenges. And such challenges are not minor. Indeed, research failing to account for sex and gender specificities can put lives at risk and be costly. Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering, and Environment is a US/EU initiative whose goal is to explore how gender analysis can open doors to discovery. Meanwhile, international, collaborations supported by the European Commission and the US National Science Foundation developed state-of-the art methods for sex and gender research. Read more […]
In the past, policy makers assumed that governments could only change behaviours through rules and regulations. now they are designing programmes that reflect how people really act, as a means to induce behavioural change. The ‘nudge’ theory opens the way for nuanced and pragmatic harm reduction policies, argues Alberto Alemanno, who is Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law and Risk Regulation at the Paris School for Business and Management, France. Read more […]
International drug enforcement is failing to win the war on drugs. This ailing prohibitionist approach costs tens of billions of euros in global diplomatic relations plus vast health and social costs, including thousands of deaths and millions of infections such as HIV ad HCV. Michel Kazatchkine, UN Secretary-General Ban-ki Moon’s special envoy on HIV/AIDS to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, explains why fighting drug matters more than ever. Read more […]
Drugs are a modern plague. It is difficult to develop effective policies and programmes based on objective evidence. Indeed,the evidence base for prevention programmes is rather patchy. Françoise Dubois-Arber, from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUSMP) at Lausanne University Hospital, in Switzerland, shares her views on what works and what does not, when it comes to drug prevention programmes. Read more […]
Alcohol is addictive. Global action to reduce harmful use is already underway. But governments still struggle to implement effective policies against drink abuse.It now imperative that policy-makers appreciate the complex individual, societal and cultural factors that affect their work. Marjana Martinic, deputy president at the International Center for Alcohol Policies, Washington, D.C. USA, shares her views on how diverse interventions have been tested and are likely to be appropriate and enjoy public support. Read more […]
Smoking is a global killer epidemic.The advent of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, has once more raised important ethical issues–and this time I worry that perhaps smokers’ rights are being ignored. The evidence that e-cigarettes have great potential for helping adults to quit is compelling, so we should avoid laws that hinder smokers from switching to less harmful alternatives. Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking & Health ASH UK, shares her views on this controversial topic. Read more […]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
