The debate on the relationship between science and society is old. From time to time, it is advisable to take a good look at where we are, analyze the real situation to gain perspective. Only in this way will we be able to design public and private policies to move in the right direction.
Joan Duran’s chapter entitled Scientific Culture in Catalonia: from diagnosis to challenges (in Catalan) in the 2024 Annual Report of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONCA) is a deep and broad analysis of this interaction. On the one hand, it raises the role of science in the face of global challenges. I quote some excerpts from his text: “All these challenges require interdisciplinary and global collaboration, as well as a strong commitment to the integration of science in society to guarantee a more sustainable, peaceful, ethical and inclusive future.” The challenges we face are so great that only with science can we solve them.
“In the welfare state, it is the responsibility of science to approach society, both to guarantee the social return on the investment of public resources in research, and to ensure a dialogue that allows science to understand and assume social needs. At the same time, however, the cultural, political and social system must welcome science and offer it spaces for expression and participation, such as the media, cultural infrastructures and advisory bodies, in addition to providing it with optimal budgets and promoting and protecting its entrepreneurship.” It is in fact a multidirectional responsibility, everyone has something to say and to do.
També destaca, amb l’ajut d’una sèrie d’entrevistes a diversos experts, els elements claus on cal avançar. Un d’ells, es manifest: cal ampliar i aprofundir la participació social en l’activitat científica. Com diu, “una estratègia eficaç i innovadora per implicar la ciutadania en diverses fases de la recerca científica és la realització de projectes de ciència ciutadana.” Ens cal donar mes protagonisme als projectes de ciència ciutadana, fent mes estreta la relació entre investigadors i ciutadania.
Finally, I think that the main bottleneck of the system is the lack of professionalization of local science communicators. And not because they don’t want to. As Joan Duran states in his text: “Jordi Mas Castellà, in this line, positively assesses that «Catalonia has an enormous talent of science communicators, the result of a powerful research ecosystem». However, he highlights the need to promote the profession to make it more sustainable.” Using a sports analogy, Catalonia has a precious pool of communicators, who have enormous potential to become one of the main cultural sectors of the future and contribute to linking the worlds of science and society. This requires specific policies that promote the creation of companies dedicated to dissemination and open up the international and private companies’ market where our professionals could find their business niche.