Tag: transparency

  • Are they really climate deniers? Closing down debate in science and politics.

    Are they really climate deniers? Closing down debate in science and politics.

    Just had an interesting back and forth with Vanessa Heggie  about ‘what to call climate deniers/sceptics’? At the bottom of her excellent post on ‘how to debate with sceptics’, Vanessa wonders whether ‘denier‘ or ‘sceptic‘ is the right word to use around climate change. This was a handy reminder that, although I read stuff on…

  • The privatisation of science is not in the public interest

    The privatisation of science is not in the public interest

    This Blog post is a summary and more extended reflection on some thoughts presented as part of the ‘Making Science Public’ launch event. In the afternoon we kick-started a debate about issues related to the privatisation of science with two short talks by Alex Smith (tasked with speaking in favour of the motion as set…

  • Making Science Public: a route to better evidence?

    Making Science Public: a route to better evidence?

    Co-authored post with Dr. Sujatha Raman, Deputy Director of Making Science Public. The role of scientific evidence within policy is one of the most vexed issues within politics and public administration. Often such evidence is complex, translated to the public via the media and subsequently used to justify particular policy actions or seen to be…

  • Science in Public 2013 – Call for Panel Proposals

    UPDATE: You can see the full Call For Papers including details of all the proposed panels at http://scienceinpublic.org/conference/  8th Annual Science in Public Conference, 22-23 July 2013 on ‘Critical Perspectives on Making Science Public’ Call for Panel Proposals The University of Nottingham is proud to host the 8th Annual Science in Public Conference, 22-23 July 2013.…

  • Inside climate science: the opening and closing of IPCC expertise

    Inside climate science: the opening and closing of IPCC expertise

    This is a guest post by the University of Nottingham’s Paul Matthews – outlining what he can (and can’t!) divulge about the IPCC’s peer review process. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the scientific body established by the United Nations to provide assessments of current knowledge in this complex and controversial field of…

  • Making the invisible visible: On the meanings of transparency

    Making the invisible visible: On the meanings of transparency

    One of the key themes of our ‘Making science public’ research programme is ‘Transparency, expertise and evidence in policymaking’. Recent encounters with various uses of the word ‘transparency’ made me put on my linguistic hat and ask: What does ‘transparency’ actually mean? In the sense of, how was it used in the past and how…