The missing mediator: Science debates in a knowledge based society

Members of the German Science Writers TELI started a public science debate in the run-up to the German parliamentary elections 2009. They played out their role as mediators in society. Collecting wishes from scientists and science institutions, the journalists pooled the results and concentrated them into 15 questions which they put forward to candidates. The answers of the politicians were published on the web. This was the starting point of the public “Science Debate Germany 2009” between scientists, public and politicians, transported by the media.

The prototype was the “Science Debate 2008” developed by fellow journalists during the US elections with Barack Obama and John McCain. As a result Obama put science quite high on his agenda. And science became a public topic in a country where the public was considerably less informed about science than in Europe, and where the media strictly separated science and politics from each other.

The speakers will present the results of the science debates in the USA and Germany, look behind the myth that science and science journalism have to be unpolitical, discuss science PR in relation to cognisant decisions in a democratic society, and show options for similar debates in Europe to be performed by EUSJA. In smaller groups, the audience will discuss options for science debates in Europe, develop ideas for their improvement and questions from present scientists will be collected as a basis for debates about European science