The Journal "Agriculture and Forestry"
Časopis "Poljoprivreda i šumarstvo"
- Since 1955 -
Volume 69, Issue 4 (15.12.2023)
| Volume : | 69 |
| Issue : | 4 (15.12.2023) |
| Authors : | Isabella DE MEO, Ecaterina Nicoleta APOSTOL, Mika KALLIO, Sonia MARONGIU, Nicolae Ovidiu BADEA, Alessandro PALETTO |
| Title : | SCIENTIFIC CAFÉ AS A TOOL TO INVOLVE CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE FORESTRY SECTOR: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH |
| Abstract : | In recent decades, the social demand for the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes on environmental issues has been growing worldwide. Among the techniques for involving civil society, the Scientific Cafés are new and flexible tools aimed at ensuring effective communication between scientists, practitioners, civil society, and decision-makers on scientific topics in an informal and inclusive way. From 2004 to today, the Scientific Cafés are increasingly spreading in several scientific fields including forestry. The aim of this article is to analyze the state-of-the-art of Scientific Cafés at an international level and to propose a novel procedure for organizing Scientific Cafés to be adopted in the forestry sector. The literature review show that the first publication on “science cafés” dates back to 2004, while 73 peer-reviewed articles have been published to date (on average just under four articles per year). These publications consider the Scientific Cafés in four senses: science education; science communication; public engagement; and cultural investigation of science. The present study describes the approach followed in a public engagement activity carried out in the framework of ForestValue2 (Horizon Europe project). The approach is developed in five steps: i) identification of the scientific topics; ii) selection of the audience (general public or a specific target group of stakeholders); iii) Scientific Café organization (in person or virtually); iv) definition of the participatory technique; and v) definition of the outcomes. Finally, the approach is based on a few key aspects that create a successful Scientific Café: informality and accessibility of the events as well as a friendly, inclusive, and non-competitive environment |
| For citation : | De Meo, I., Apostol, E.N., Kallio, M., Marongiu, S., Badea, N.O., Paletto, A. (2023): Scientific café as a tool to involve civil society in the forestry sector: A methodological approach. Agriculture and Forestry, 69 (4): 285-301. doi:10.17707/AgricultForest.69.4.20 |
| Keywords : | Public participation; transdisciplinary research; citizens’ engagement; Café support group |
| download paper | |