History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
Miriam Ricci et al
Institute for Social, Cultural and Policy Research, University of Salford
Changing the dialogue between science and its publics: the case of the ‘Hydrogen Economy’
Remarkable changes are affecting the ways in which science, and more broadly scientific and technological development and innovation, are funded, governed, and evaluated. Important and radical changes have also started to occur in the relationship between science and its publics, starting from the recognition of alternative, and more elaborated, understandings of ‘the public’ or ‘publics’. In recent years, several commentators have in fact championed a new model of promoting public engagement in technological innovation, which takes a radical departure from the traditional ‘deficit model’ of public understanding of scientific and technological advancements. The intensification of social research addressing public perceptions and understanding of various technological issues (Radioactive Waste Management, Genetically-Modified Organisms, Nanotechnology, etc.) has led to re-consider the concept of ‘the public’ in a less simplistic way and to recognise the variety, complexity and dynamic nature of public views and concerns (Irwin, 1995; Grove-White et al., 2000). At the same time, efforts have been made towards the development of more inclusive and deliberative forms of decision-making about technological issues, capable of assessing and incorporating public perceptions and attitudes (Wilsdon and Willis, 2004) from the early stages of the innovation process.
By drawing upon the latest findings from the literature on public engagement in science and technology, this paper illustrates a case where those new approaches encouraging an ‘interactive understanding’ between science and its publics are particularly relevant. The example is about the future of energy, and in particular the development of the so-called ‘Hydrogen economy’, in which a range of alternative, but potentially radically innovatory socio-technical systems based on hydrogen energy, is being advocated as a means of dealing with problems such as climate change and over-dependence on fossil fuels. Hydrogen as an energy carrier is in fact being promoted for use in transport and in portable and stationary applications, and is frequently described as being ‘environmentally-friendly’, and capable of being generated through renewable sources. Hydrogen is, however, an emergent technology in which there are, as yet, few demonstrable consumer applications, very little public awareness, and in which the scientific innovation is being projected into future scenarios requiring large-scale societal change whose feasibility (and desirability) remains problematic.
The paper presents and discusses the results (using qualitative data from focus groups and interviews) from a current project investigating laypeople’s and stakeholders’ views about a possible hydrogen economy and, more generally, different energy futures. In sum, the paper seeks to draw lessons about new forms of public engagement in a context characterised by extremely uncertain future developments and still unresolved technical questions, while highlighting conceptual and methodological areas that require further investigation.
The paper will argue that a recognition or acknowledgement of these routes or “games” has implications for the way we understand contemporary science, scientific knowledge and knowledge production.
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006