We are living through very puzzling times. Times where the unexpected, the counter-intuitive and the irrational make headlines day after day. In this new world order, some remnants of old models of governance are re-emerging. These are entered on top-down governance, sometimes stretched to the point of generating strongly nationalist and authoritarian regimes. Yet, new governance models are needed. Scientists, with the March for Science due to take place on 22nd April 2017, give a strong signal, that bottom-up input into policy is needed. Unlike any time ever before, technology makes it easy for people in power to consult citizens on how their lives should be governed. Meanwhile, the input of the humanities and deeper philosophical questioning could help us inform future policy decisions. The trouble is that the mechanisms for such bottom-up governance have not yet been fully elucidated. To contribute to discussions on this issue, it is now time for EuroScientist and HSE community members to step in. Read more [...]
EuroScientist publishes in exclusivity the Brussels Declaration on ethics & principles for science & society policy-making, launched on 17th February 2017 at the AAAS meeting. This document outlines a set of 20 principles related to the ethics and the mechanisms through which scientific evidence is taken into account as part of the policy making process for issues relevant to science and society. This declaration proposes a dramatic shift in the way scientific evidence informs policy. It suggests integrating the views of practitioners in relevant fields, thus instilling a bottom-up approach to the policy making process. This is in sharp contrast with the existing top down policy making principles. Find out more in this op-ed written exclusively for EuroScientist by some of the authors of the Brussels Declaration. Read more [...]
Our democracies have bugs, lack user-friendly features and under-perform. Above all, they are in need of major upgrades. Political and economic systems are failing us because they are structured vertically through top-down hierarchies. Instead we need to adopt a new economic system, driven by principles related to “act local, think global" philosophy. In this stimulating opinion piece, Lorenzo Fioramonti, director of the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation, in South Africa, shares his vision about creating a highly integrated horizontal economic system. Read more [...]
Françoise Barré Sinoussi, 2008 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, supports the citizen initiative of the Euroscientist allowing scientist from across Europe to have a voice and share their concerns. Read more [...]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
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