Dr Silvia Ivani
- School: School of Philosophy
- Mentor: Prof. Maria Baghramian
Challenges in public engagement and science communication: The philosophy of fruitful interactions
The way we interact with each other matters. It matters because, for example, depending on how we interact with each other, we might manage to acquire new pieces of information and knowledge. Moreover, depending on how we interact with each other, we might manage to voice our opinions, concerns, values, and ideals, and make sure that they are heard and appropriately taken into account by others. This is true in our everyday life, and also in science. The Public Engagement approach, that is, the idea that interactions and collaboration between scientists, citizens, and other societal actors should be promoted, has been widely adopted around the world. However, interacting well and making sure that our interactions are fruitful and able to deliver the benefits mentioned above is not a simple task. Scientists have limited time and resources to engage with citizens or fear personal attacks, institutions have difficulties in integrating citizens' inputs into policies on scientific matters, and citizens may feel discouraged if, when interacting with scientific experts and institutions, they feel that their contribution is not taken seriously by scientists and institutions. My research explores how we can tackle these challenges related to public engagement and science communication, with special attention to the healthcare context: How do we make sure that interactions between scientific communities and lay communities are fruitful? Moreover, what should count as a fruitful interaction?
Contact details:
Email: (opens in a new window)silvia.ivani@ucd.ie
Website: (opens in a new window)https://silviaivani.weebly.com/