Next Wednesday, day 10, the results of the study "Social perception of science and technology in the Basque Country 2012" will be presented in Bilbao. Through this study, we have tried to obtain a photograph of the role, image and social importance of science and technology in Euskadi. This is the second time it is carried out since the first edition was carried out in 2008. Therefore, this second study will allow us to analyze the evolution that Basque society has experienced in terms of this aspect. during the last four years.
The study consists of two parts, one qualitative and the other quantitative. The qualitative approach aims to collect core elements of the social perception of science and technology from an open approach. In this way, you can get a very complete and full of nuances about the way people see science and technology. We are interested in knowing how they value them, which aspects stand out as positive and which as negative. We are also interested in knowing to what extent they consider science important for people's lives, and what aspects of it are valued to a greater extent and why. The quantitative approach measures and prioritizes the citizen's perception of these issues on the basis of variables and pre-established items.
As is well known, the Chair of Scientific Culture of the UPV / EHU develops activities of different nature (digital publications and organization of conferences and other scientific dissemination events, mainly) with the aim, among others, of promoting scientific culture among citizens. The aspects whose dissemination is of most interests to the Chair are the basic scientific knowledge, the latest advances in science, the scientific basis of the technological tools available to people, the information related to the way in which science is made and its progress is made. , and the values of science, mainly.
In this context, it is fundamental to know how science and technology perceive the citizenship, how it values that knowledge and the activity of the scientists, what aspects of scientific and technological progress are what most interest people, what threats they perceive in that advance and what opportunities do you see? Because when defining the scope of action of the Chair, and to define its activities, it is important to have as accurate as possible knowledge of those aspects; knowing the perceptions, concerns and expectations of people we can adapt the activity of the Chair to develop their work in a way as consistent as possible to the objectives for which it was created.
Program
The study will be presented by the Elhuyar Foundation, the Department of Education, Culture and Linguistic Policy of the Basque Government and the Chair of Scientific Culture of the UPV / EHU, which are the three agents that have promoted the initiative. The presentation of the study will be followed by an open seminar in which all people who are interested in these topics can participate.
The program of the session is as follows:
10: 00h Presentation of the study "Perception of science and technology in the Basque Country"
- Leire Cancio Orueta, General Director of Elhuyar
- Miren Bego Urrutia Barandika, Director of Scientific Policy of the Basque Government
- Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, coordinator of the Chair of Scientific Culture (UPV / EHU)
