Bussu, S., Davis, H., and Pollard, A. (eds.) (2014), The Best of Sciencewise Reflections on Public Dialogue, Sciencewise, UK
Engaging the public in dialogue around policy issues can be a daunting prospect. Sciencewise now has ten years of experience in supporting policy makers to engage the public on policy issues involving science and technology. In addition to their extensive range of dialogue project case studies, evaluations, reports on what the public think and guidance materials on public dialogue, Sciencewise has written over twenty thought leadership and research pieces which explore key developments in the theory and practice of public dialogue; highlight issues to consider when thinking about whether and how to engage the public; and connect public dialogue with broader policy debates.
This piece provides a taster of this research. It has been designed to be read in around an hour. It starts by giving an overview and key lessons from their thought leadership and research on public dialogue, pulling out the key themes and most valuable insights that have been explored in their work to date.
The main section highlights five key readings which address pivotal issues around public dialogue. It then takes a step back from this body of work, to look at opportunities for future thought leadership work. The annotated bibliography at the back gives a full overview of all Sciencewise papers.