Viewpoint

“Citizen science”: from Science-in-society to Society-in-science

Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - 13:25

Science is getting out of laboratories and reaching the general public. That is, we are moving from the only goal of bringing Science-in-society, adding that of bringing Society-in-science: for years researchers have been blamed for living in their ivory towers, and asked to learn how to talk to common people, explaining their work and influencing policies and behaviours; now common people are stepping into science, giving their own support to a common cause.

Target: 
Citizens, Decision Makers
Topic: 
Citizens' Mobilization
Tags: 
Viewpoint, Society

How the public perceives Ebola

Monday, June 22, 2015 - 09:47

Communication is not merely a matter of passing information from one person to another. Just as important as the message itself is how the message is formulated, and who are the parties involved.  This is particularly true in case of an infectious diseases outbreak, when proper risk communication can really make the difference in terms of number of lives saved.

Target: 
Citizens, Decision Makers, Government and Public Health, Healthcare Professionals
Topic: 
Media
Tags: 
Viewpoint, Ebola, Risk perception

Stop Vivisection: an information gap between citizens and authorities?

Tuesday, June 16, 2015 - 08:49

On June 3rd, the European Commission rejected the Stop Vivisection Initiative, which asked  to abrogate Directive 2010/63/EU1 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and to put forward a new proposal aimed at phasing out the practice of animal experimentation, making compulsory the use - in biomedical and toxicological research - of data directly relevant for the human species.

Target: 
Citizens, Decision Makers, Government and Public Health, Healthcare Professionals, School and Education
Topic: 
Citizens' Mobilization, Vaccination
Tags: 
Viewpoint, Vaccine, Animal testing

Geraldine O’Hara, a doctor on the air

May 29, 2015

An infectious diseases specialist in London, Geraldine O’Hara spent two months in Sierra Leone with Médecins sans Frontières last year, at the peak of the Ebola crisis. While working in an Ebola treatment centre, she was asked to share her experience on Radio 4, a national radio station in UK. We met her at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, where she told us about how she learnt such a new job and how she realized that real-life stories might greatly improve science communication.

Target: 
Citizens, Government and Public Health, School and Education
Topic: 
Media, Social Media, Stakeholders
Tags: 
Event, Ebola, Viewpoint, Video

Involving local communities: the Ebola case

Monday, May 11, 2015 - 09:39

The report published in March 2015 by Medecins sans frontières speaks out clearly against the “global coalition of inaction” and the “vacuum of leadership” in the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Those who were struggling in the field against a huge and out-of-control emergency, without the necessary resources, list the main causes of such a situation: lack of political will, inexperience, and, sometimes, simply fear.

Target: 
Citizens, Decision Makers, Government and Public Health, Healthcare Professionals, Industry & Commerce, School and Education
Topic: 
Citizens' Mobilization, Epidemiology, Human Rights, Local Activities, Policy, Stakeholders, Treatment
Tags: 
Ebola, Viewpoint

Key points for an effective health crisis management. The Ebola case

Monday, March 9, 2015 - 10:16

Recognize and respect fear. This is one of the main lessons Ron Klain claims to have learned by his efforts against Ebola. Klain has recently served as the first White House Ebola Response Coordinator, also known as the Ebola Czar. From such a high position, he got a close and deep insight into the dramatic threat to global health represented by the West Africa outbreak.

Target: 
Citizens, Decision Makers, Government and Public Health, Healthcare Professionals
Topic: 
Epidemiology, Stakeholders
Tags: 
Viewpoint, Crisis management

Biological weapons? That’s an old story

Tuesday, January 27, 2015 - 15:09

The recent terror attack in Paris has raised the fear in Europe, but the threat regards many countries all over the world. While the French drama was on, in Nigeria more than 2,000 people were killed and in the following days children were loaded with bombs and used as living weapons in the crowd. It is then clear that terrorist groups currently menacing the world have no scruples in using any kind of weapons. In this scenario, even a biological attack is an option that cannot be excluded.

Target: 
Citizens, Decision Makers, Government and Public Health, Healthcare Professionals, Industry & Commerce, School and Education
Topic: 
Epidemiology, Media, Policy, Prevention, Social Media
Tags: 
Bioterrorism, Viewpoint
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MMLAP and other EU Projects

AsiaFluCap
Health system analysis to support capacity development in response to the threat of pandemic influenza in Asia
BEWATER
Making society an active participant in water adaptation to global change
CASI
Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation
CIMULACT
Engaging all of Europe in shaping a desirable and sustainable future
DARWIN
Expect the unexpected and know how to respond
DRIVER
Driving innovation in crisis management for European resilience
ECOM
Effective communication in outbreak management: development of an evidence-based tool for Europe
EDEN
Solutions to improve CBRNe resilience
EPISOUTH
Network for Communicable Disease Control in Southern Europe and Mediterranean Countries
EPIWORK
Developing the framework for an epidemic forecast infrastructure
EUPHARE
Strengthening of the national surveillance system for communicable diseases
EUROHEP
Surveillance of vaccine preventable hepatitis
EuroMOMO
European monitoring of excess mortality for public health action
EURONHID
European network for highly infectious disease
EUVAC.NET
Dedicated surveillance network for surveillance and control of vaccine preventable diseases in the EU
FLUMODCONT
Modelling the spread of pandemic influenza and strategies for its containment and mitigation
FLURESP
Cost-effectiveness assessment of european influenza human pandemic alert and response strategies
GAP2
Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy makers
HProImmune
Promotion of immunization for health professionals in Europe
INPROFOOD
Towards inclusive research programming for sustainable food innovations
JA-CHRODIS
Addressing chronic diseases and healthy ageing across the life cycle
M-Eco
Medical ecosystem – personalized event-based surveillance
MAPPING
Studying the many and varied economic, social, legal and ethical aspects of the recent developments on the Internet, and their consequences for the individual and society at large
MARINA
Get involved in the responsible marine research and innovation
PACITA
Knowledge-based policy-making on issues involving science, technology and innovation, mainly based upon the practices in Parliamentary Technology Assessment
PANDEM
Assessment of the current pandemic preparedness and response tools, systems and practice at national, EU and global level in priority areas
PE2020
Analysis of innovative public engagement tools and instruments for dynamic governance in the field of Science in Society
PERARES
Public Engagement with Research And Research Engagement with Society
PHEME
Computing Veracity – the Fourth Challenge of Big Data
PREPARE
Providing infrastructure, co-ordination and integration of existing clinical research networks on epidemics and pandemics
PROMOVAX
Promote vaccinations among migrant population in Europe
R&DIALOGUE
Creating mechanisms for effectively tackling the scientific and technology related challenges faced by society
RESPIRE
Improve the quality of indoor air, keeping it free from radon
SATORI
Improving respect of ethics principles and laws in research and innovation, in line with the evolution of technologies and societal concerns
SECURING CITIES AGAINST GLOBAL PANDEMICS
Investigating how cities in the West securitise against global pandemics
SEiSMiC
Creating a structured dialogue and mutual learning with citizens and urban actors by setting up National Networks in 10 countries across Europe
SIS CATALYST
Identifying how children can be change agents in the Science and Society relationship
SYN-ENERGENE
Establishing an open dialogue between stakeholders concerning synthetic biology’s potential benefits and risks
TELLME
Transparent communication in Epidemics: Learning Lessons from experience, delivering effective Messages, providing Evidence