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3S WP 2012-06 Chilvers – Reflexive Engagement: Actors, Learning and Reflexivity in Participatory Governance of Science and Technology

3S / December 4, 2014

This paper contributes to a more reflexive mode of research on public engagement with science- related issues through studying actors that mediate science-society interactions, their roles and relationships, and the nature and extent of learning and reflexivity, in participatory governance networks. A mapping framework is developed to describe the roles and relations of actors mediating public dialogue on science and technology in the British context. The roles of social scientists, participatory practitioners, scientists, policy makers and other actors in this regard are shown to be complex, ambiguous and fluid, with clear differences evident in the purposes of critical social science and policy-practice. Despite learning and reflexivity being key reasons for public participation, the ways science and policy institutions learn about and learn from public dialogue remain instrumental only, crowding out potentials for reflexive and relational learning. While actors are often highly reflective about public dialogue as individuals this is routinely closed down or instrumentalised at the level of institutions and wider policy discourses, due to ingrained routines, unreflexive science- policy cultures and incumbent power relations. This calls for renewed critical social science research alongside attempts to catalyse more deliberately reflexive learning relating to participatory governance of science and technology, that is situated, interactive, public and anticipatory.

Chilvers, J. (2012) Reflexive Engagement: Actors, Learning and Reflexivity in Participatory Governance of Science and Technology. 3S Working Paper 2012-06. Norwich: Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group.

3S WP 2012-06 Chilvers

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December 4, 2014 in 3S working paper, Knowledges and expertise, Participation and engagement, Policy and governance, Publications. Tags: institutional learning, mediators, public dialogue networks, public engagement, reflection, reflexivity

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Policy and Governance

Research in this theme explores the underlying causes, governance challenges and potential policy solutions in the transition to sustainability, particularly with reference to the role of science. ‘Governing’ refers to activities that seek to guide, steer, control or otherwise manage human societies. ‘Governance’ describes the patterns that emerge from these governing activities: administrative organisations such as government ministries, formal policies and programmes, and specific instruments such as emissions trading, and also more informal activities of non-state actors operating alongside, and sometimes wholly independent of, governments. While basic science surrounding societal problems may be rarely contested amongst scientists, debates about how to govern the responses have become more intense. The main barriers to collective action are often political and governance-related, not scientific or technological. Research in this theme aims to better understand this complexity and explore potential solutions.

Participation and Engagement

The rise of public participation in science and the environment in all its forms – ranging from institutionalised invited spaces of engagement to those that are uninvited and citizen-led – has the potential to empower citizens, enhance social justice and the quality of decisions, but also to close down, disempower and exclude. Research under this theme involves the study of democratic experiments and innovations in participatory governance. These are reconfiguring relationships between science, policy and society and coproducing knowledges, appraisals and commitments in response to sustainability challenges.

Knowledges and Expertise

Different types of knowledge are important when seeking to understand environmental issues: alongside scientific and technical knowledge, experiential, embodied, indigenous and local knowledges are often called upon in public discourse. The boundaries between these different forms of knowledge are often fluid and they can be expressed through different types of expertise. Confrontations between these different forms of knowledge and expertise can trigger public controversy. This research strand of the 3S Group studies the origins of these different forms of environmental knowledge and how their associated types of expertise are authorised in various social settings. This understanding can contribute to an improved grasp of the dynamics between evidence and policymaking and to appreciating the role and limits of knowledge in contributing to social and cultural change.

About 3S

We conduct world-leading research on the social and political dimensions of environment and sustainability issues. 3S is based in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK.

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