Science Minster Lord Drayson has responded to critics of the recent Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills Science and Society consultation, which aimed to support the development of a new science and society strategy for the UK.

‘I think they make a very good point,’ Lord Drayson told Science & Public Affairs. ‘We need to excite people about science... but it can't just be about raising the profile and being enthusiastic.’

‘False assumptions’

A group of over 30 academics specialising in relations between science and society had written to the Minister, criticising the consultation as starting from false understandings and assumptions. ‘We are deeply concerned that... the current consultation document significantly misrepresents the character and underlying relations between science and society,’ they wrote.

The group included Professor Brian Wynne of the Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics, Lancaster University and Professor Sheila Jasanoff of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. They expressed concerns that the consultation document assumed science was ‘automatically a public good’ and emphasised ‘uncritical excitement rather than critical engagement’.

Response from the Minister

Responding to the criticism, Lord Drayson told Science & Public Affairs: ‘We have got to question and hold scientists accountable, particularly where science is funded by the taxpayer. I think it's very important, for scientists and for government, to make sure that the taxpayers feel that important scientific questions are properly debated. I actually welcome having a debate, as we go through the consultative process on Science and Society.’

Further criticism

The academics said that the consultation document failed to learn from recent policy debates and developments that ‘emphasised the importance of opening up science policy to wider public scrutiny and debate, including the crucial pre-scientific stage of framing the questions.’ They called for ‘a radical revision’ and recommended that the ‘consultation process now take the time required to review past experiences properly, and to reflect in a more fundamental way on how to support more democratically – and technically – robust science and technology policies.’

The consultation

The Science and Society consultation looked at the engagement of science with society in its broadest sense, including the use of science by society, science education and the diversity of the science workforce. It included online discussion forums, videos and an interactive consultation document to record responses. The website states that although the consultation period closed in October, the department would continue to canvass opinion on emerging ideas.

Science & Public Affairs has recently reported on the launch of the Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre (ERC), a support structure to improve the government's corporate memory of how to undertake public dialogue, one part of a wider public engagement agenda. 

References

Correspondence

Wakeford Watch

The full text of the letter can be found at Durham University

The Science and Society consultation website