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04.10.2022
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Science Europe High Level Workshop on ERA 2022: Research Ethics and Integrity in the Context of Public Engagement

On 23 and 24 November in Zurich, Science Europe, in collaboration with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), will organise the 14th High Level Workshop on ERA. The topic of this year is Research Ethics and Integrity in the Context of Public Engagement 

The 2022 edition of the High-Level Workshop will provide an opportunity to address the interface between public engagement and research ethics and integrity, concentrating on three related dimensions: 

  • The ethics of interactions with decision makers: focusing on the science-policy interface, analysing mechanisms to establish trustworthy evidence bases where both researchers and policy makers understand each other’s needs, expectations, and limitations.
  • The ethics of communicating to a broader audience: looking at the interface between researchers and the media, focusing on how to outwardly communicate science effectively without compromising on ethics and integrity. 
  • The ethics of public participation in research: examining how to ethically engage citizens in research and the research process in ways that can enhance quality and impact and be relevant to public and policy needs.  

The workshop will provide a platform that will bring together the perspectives of Science Europe Member Organisations, Ministry representatives, researchers, citizens and organisations at the interface between science and society.  

The main goal of the workshop is to achieve a common understanding of how to promote more effective and efficient dialogue and collaboration between research, policy and the public. Discussions are expected to lead to the development of a guidance on how to approach public engagement with the highest standards of ethics and integrity. 

The outcomes of the workshop will feed into the work of Science Europe and its members and contribute to the implementation of the ERA 2022-2024 policy agenda, in particular the actions 'Bringing Science Closer to Citizens' and 'Deepening the ERA by Protecting Academic Freedom in Europe'. 

The High Level Workshop is restricted to Science Europe members. More details are available here

In this workshop, we would like to provide a forum to learn from and to discuss with experts the state of the art and the challenges related to ethics and integrity in public engagement, that is, the interaction of scientists with citizens, with the media and with decision makers. We would like to foster discussions on how research funders and research performers can provide a useful ethics and integrity framework for this interaction. In all discussions, we would like to integrate the perspectives of Science Europe members, of the ministers (decision makers) and of the invited experts, who represent in part the wider public and the media. I look forward to this workshop, to creating a common understanding of research ethics and integrity in public engagement and to deciding on next steps for joint actions.

- Angelika Kalt, Director of the Swiss National Science Foundation and Vice-President of Science Europe

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