Science Communities - engaging, informing and consulting for change.
Year Awarded
2020
Amount
€42,250
- Organisation:Atlantic Corridor
- Audience:General Public, Policy Makers
- Format:Informal Education
- Location:Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath
- Topic:Science
Project Summary
Science Communities is a citizen engagement process to bring together various stakeholders from healthcare, science, and the community [a range of age groups and backgrounds] to exchange views as to how and why some public health decisions are made. These discussions will include economic and social trade offs associated with some measures and why such trade offs are necessary. The objective is not just to engage with members of the public but also to provide a forum for those who make decisions informed by science to dialogue with the public in a meaningful way. This dialogue will not change how decisions are made as informed by science but it may change how decisions are communicated to the public and therefore impact their effectiveness. It may also allow medical and science experts to be more aware of other public concerns arising from their decision making and may therefore add another layer of rigour to decision making, which would be useful to communicate to the public.
Understanding is vital for the effectiveness of healthcare interventions which depend on community support and this cuts across everything from alcohol awareness to vaccines. Understanding depends on consultation and this proposal brings together communications, science, trust in government and understanding evidence based decision making and over coming pseudo science. It is a two way process of communication and dialogue, so that those who make decisions will communicate decisions better and those who have concerns can have them heard, thereby understanding the complexity of such decision making.