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SCIENCE, COMMUNICATION
 A foundation for environmental debate
Images of the green movement dominated by activists spiking the wheels of industry could be a thing of the past, if the GreenFacts Foundation has its way. Stakeholder dialogue, clear communication and co-operation are the new mantras driving the environment and health debate.
 | It's a long road ahead, but the environment deserves the effort
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In the wake of highly publicised health scares and growing concerns about the likes of genetically modified organisms and stem cell research, the public have grown suspicious of science and scientists. Communicating science – critically and authoritatively – to the broader public has become increasingly important both at the policy-making level and in the media (see Headlines 10 June and 26 May 2003).
“Better communication of the scientific facts on environment and health issues will lead to more rational debates and sounder policy decisions.” On first reading, this sounds like a statement from the ‘science and society’ programme in the EU’s current Framework Programme for research (FP6). But it is, in fact, GreenFacts Foundation’s vision. This non-advocacy group contributes to stakeholder dialogue and publishes authoritative scientific information on health and the environment.
GreenFacts’ uses a three-level structure (abstract, summary and full study) for publishing on-line scientific studies. This enables its main audience – journalists, policy-makers and educators – to find the salient environment and health issues quickly and easily. By summarising the texts in a language suitable for non-specialists, the scientific information is opened up to a wider audience.
The facts count
GreenFacts was established in December 2001 with the help of start-up capital from Solvay, a global industrial group. From the beginning, the organisation recognised that progress in health and the environment would need to come from “dialogue and co-operation, rather than activism and confrontation”. Even in its short lifespan, several landmark events have taken place to alter the shape of the green-industry relationship.
“We have noticed increased stakeholder dialogue, with more environment NGOs and industry coming together. We’re using science as a common ground. If both sides agree on the scientific facts, a consensus can be reached between traditional adversaries,” said David Zaruk, operations manager at GreenFacts. He notes last year’s Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development as an example of this new relationship, where the head of Green Peace International sat with industry leaders to discuss what could be done to improve the world’s environment and level of health.
For its part, GreenFacts will organise a conference under the banner ‘Conveying Science into Policy’. The event, taking place on 16 October at Brussels’ Atomium, will bring together the different stakeholders to examine how science is communicated and how environmental decisions are made.
Up to 50 eminent voices in the field will take part in working groups to discuss three key questions: Who communicates science? What is the nature of environmental decision-making? And how can governments and institutions improve the image of science? The results of the three morning sessions will be presented in the afternoon.
The latter question being of special interest in the context of FP6’s ‘science and society’ activities, as well as the new long-term strategy on environment and health jointly announced by the Commissioners responsible for the Environment, Public Health and Research.
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Source:
EU sources, GreenFacts Foundation
Contact:
david@greenfacts.org
More information:
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