Interview with Robert Watson (by Reiner Grundmann)

July 3, 2015

Back in 1995, while researching for my book Transnational Environmental Policy, I interviewed Bob Watson who was at the time Associate Director for Environment in the Office of the President of the United States in the White House. I am grateful to him for granting permission to publish the whole transcript of the interview (I had …

Public debate: Who decides the future: science, politics or the people? (video)

July 1, 2015

Following our conference, Circling the Square 2, a public event was held in the Council House in Nottingham city centre. The event was a debate and discussion about the relationship between science and politics, titled ‘Who decides the future: science, politics or the people?’ Speakers included Professor Mike Bonsall, a member of DEFRA’s Advisory Committee on Releases …

Panels from Day 2: Science and civil society; Responsible innovation, impact and the economy; Science, social science, and the changing role of the university

June 29, 2015

From the second day of our conference Circling the Square 2 ——————- Panel 4: Science and civil society Panellists:  Stevienna deSaille (Sheffield), Maurice Frankel (CFOI), Helen Pallett (UEA), Ben Pile (writer). Chair: Alison Mohr Listen to audio ——————- Panel 5: Responsible innovation, impact and the economy Panellists: Sarah Hartley (Nottingham), Kathryn Oliver (UCL), Alexandra Saxon (RCUK), Jack Stilgoe (UCL). …

Scientists speaking with one voice: panacea or pathology? (Judith Curry)

June 26, 2015

The authority of a scientific body is not undermined by questioning, but rather depends upon it – Beatty & Moore At the Conference Circling the Square that I attended in Nottingham earlier this week, Mike Hulme gave a keynote talk on  “Scientists speaking with one voice: panacea or pathology?”, discussing issues around the consensus debate on climate …

Miles Parker on ‘science advice’ (speaking notes, panel 1)

Topic Scientific Advice (Miles Parker speaking notes) Date 22 June 2015; Venue Highfield House, University Park Nottingham The topic is about advice. I’m speaking not as an academic but as a practitioner, having been involved in providing scientific advice for policy making throughout a 40 year career as a scientific civil servant, from which I’m …

Jurassic World: Frankenstein for the 21st Century? (Jack Stilgoe)

June 25, 2015

I was speaking yesterday at the Circling the Square conference in Nottingham and asked to say something about responsible innovation. Here’s the gist of what I said. I’ve been told to issue a SPOILER ALERT!, although I don’t think I’m giving away much of Jurassic World in harvesting its narrative.           …

Consensus in science (Brigitte Nerlich)

At the Circling the Square 2 conference there was a lot of talk about ‘consensus’ and Mike Hulme gave an inspiring key note lecture about the concept from a philosophical and sociological perspective. All this made me think a bit more about the meaning of consensus. It seems to me that the word has (at …

Circling the Square (by Paul Matthews)

I’ve been attending a two-day meeting at Nottingham, Circling the Square, organised by Reiner Grundmann and colleagues from the Institute for Science and Society at Nottingham. This follows a successful similar meeting last year. The conference has its own blog, where video, audio and text from the meeting are gradually being uploaded. The themes of …

Panels from Day 1: science advice; science, uncertainty and science advocacy; science and the media (audio)

From the first day of our conference Circling the Square 2 ——————- Panel 1: Science advice Panellists: Miles Parker (Cambridge), Louise Shaxson (ODI), Gerry Stoker (Soton), Hans von Storch (HZG). Chair: Ian Gibson Listen to audio ——————- Panel 2: Science, uncertainty and science advocacy  Panellists: Conrad Brunk (Victoria), Judith Curry (Georgia Tech), Andrew Peters (SRUC), Dan Sarewitz (Arizona). Chair: Sarah Metcalfe …