Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
INNOVATIONSFORSOCIALLYCREATINGASUSTAINABLEFUTURE
ofdigitaluniversalism(SayChan,2013).Soconflictingsituationscanemergethatare
harmfulforstabilityandsustainability(notsolelyintheecologicalsense).Innovations,
i.e.political,toamelioratedivisionsareneeded.Citizensshouldbeawareofsuchchal-
lenges.
Tobeawareandwellorientedinsustainabilitydiscourseandininnovationproblems
peopleshouldpossesssomelevelofscienceliteracyenablingtheirrationalandactive
engagement.Aneducationalbackgroundasaruleisnotsufcientassome“researchprac-
tices”arenecessary.Scienceliteracycomprisesadecentlevelofscientificunderstanding
ofvocabularyandlanguage,process,impacts,andnumeracyskills(i.e.tounderstand
statistic-probabilities,riskassessment-seevonRoten,deRoten,2013;SolHart,2013).
Societalscientificliteracyisvitalfortheemergenceandbuildingofknowledge-based
societiesasasubsequentformafterinformationsocieties’formation.Science(orscientific)
literacyisoftenconnectedwithcitizenscience.Therearecasesofcitizensciencetrain-
ingprogrammesonparticipantattitudes,behaviour,andscienceliteracy(seeCralletal.,
2012).Suchprogramscontributetoinformalscienceeducation,whereparticipantsshow
increasesinsocialcapital(i.e.politicalparticipationindeliberationsanddebates,grow-
ingnetworks,communityconnectionsandcommunication).Additionally,therearesound
elementsofdemocratizationandofmodernizingculture.Theyraisethelevelofscience
communication(seeKawamotoetal.,2011)andshowthatinnovationisasocialprocess
basedoncommunication,criticism,skepticism,deliberation,negotiations,andacceptance.
Citizenscienceandscientificliteracyconstituteanimportantelementofthesociallearning
processandfacilitatetheinclusionofpublicconcernsandneedsinscientificresearchand
development.
Scientificliteracyisalsovaluableinpreventingthesocialproductionofignorance
(e.g.indebateonGMOs,nuclearenergy,bio-andnanotechnologies,andenergytechnol-
ogies,suchaswindenergy-seeHirsh,Sovacool,2013).Notinfrequentlyknowledgeand
ignoranceoverlap.Scientificliteracymayhelptoseparatethemandallowcitizenstobe
morecriticalandskepticalofmediareportingoninnovationsorpoliticalpressconferences,
whileasocialacceptanceoftechnologicaldecisionsissought.
Cognitive,political,andbusinessbiasesandinterestsmakescientificandtechnological
innovationsvulnerableandeasytomanipulate.Behindinnovationsarebigmoney,com-
petitiveadvantage,monopolisticposition,politicalsuccess,internationalconnections,etc.
Soinmanycases,especiallyemotionallyandpoliticallysensitiveones,therearevarious
counteractionsperformedbyjournalists,scientists,NGOs,andpoliticians,bothnational
andlocalcommunities-financedbybusinesses.Suchcounteractionsinvolveordering
scepticalornegativeexpertise,mediacampaigns,politicallobbyinginparliaments,cre-
atingspecialscientificunits,andencouragingNGOsandlocalcommunitiestoengage
invariousmanifestationsandprotests.Itiscalled“denialindustry”andiswellrecognized
(seee.g.Dunlap,McCright,2011).“Organizedscepticism”meansmanipulationofdata
(e.g.onclimatewarming,GMOs,biomedicalresearch),attacksinthemedia,over-polit-
icizationofdebates,biasedpersuasion,personaldisqualification,andsoforth.Itisdetri-
mentaltoanimageofscience,technology,andinnovationsinsociety,showingdecisions
intheseareasasethically“dirtygames”.Buttheymayactuallybe“puregames”thatare
27