Post-techno-fix blues
by Molly Webb
Wouldn't it be great if complex social problems all had a "techno-fix"? Yes! But unfortunately, they don't. That's why we're experimenting with how public engagement can feed into the knowledge of experts who make decisions about directions of scientific research.
At the Science and Society Forum in Brussels a couple of weeks ago, I met with a self-organized group of organizations -- European Science Social Forum Network -- who are concerned that the vision for the European Framework Programme 7 (FP7) will be too focused on technology development and wealth creation, and not enough on solving problems.
Their petition states that the FP7 research agenda needs to be about addressing public health issues, climate change and more. With a list of signatories including astrophysicists, carpenters and teachers, they have generated some wide-ranging public interest.