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Doing good things better is Brian's latest book. He is prolific and in this book he describes the discipline of daily writing that he used to write this book (and previous work) -- and that he leads his students to use. The principles of daily writing are given in brief at http://www.faculty.umb.edu/pjt/DailyWriting.html. Looking at Brian's website of writing, you will find material on activism, especially around developments in science and technology, but not only this.

So a couple of these annotated resources are seeming to point to the need for compelling and clear stories and communication. That would be interesting to follow up. And not just the dissemination of ideas, but the support for dialogue and deliberation.

Just found this too and wonder if there might be further work to look into. http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/marketing-communication/storytelling-and-social-change

The Public Science Project situated at the CUNY Graduate Center works in a participatory action research agenda.  They work in collaboration with groups on the ground. The website states:  "PAR Collective, we began our work as a coalition of activists, researchers, youth, elders, lawyers, prisoners, and educators, launching projects on educational injustice, lives under surveillance,and the collateral damage of mass incarceration. Most of our projects have been situated in schools and/or community-based organizations struggling for quality education, economic opportunities, and human rights. Knowledge-sharing research camps set the stage for most of our research, designed to bring together differently positioned people around a common table to design and implement the research: youth and educators; young people who have been pushed out of schools and mothers organizing for quality education in communities under siege; prisoners, organizers, and academics. Most projects have vibrant advisory boards of youth, community elders, educators and/or activists to shape the work and hold us accountable to the needs and desires of local communities." They conduct research, trainings, and consulting services as well as resources for PAR.

I haven't had time to read this fully, but it would seem finding ways to help groups of individuals work to come to decisions regarding science and technology change in a way that can expose and understand a complex situation. This bit seems relevant: "Disputes between experts provoke major difficulties for decision-making and policy implementation in the case of such public confrontations, which, more often than not, are vociferous, protracted, rancorous and unresolved. Traditionally, the neutral, disinterested and objective expert has been promoted -- not least by scientists themselves -- as the rational and authoritative arbiter of public disputes over scientific or technical issues." Published in Sheila Jasanoff, Gerald E. Markle, James C. Petersen, and Trevor Pinch (eds.), Handbook of science and Technology Studies (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1995), pp. 506-526, plus references, with minor changes due to sub-editing. Brian Martin and Evelleen Richards 1.

"For scientists, the struggle between their work and the way society views that work is nothing new, says Francesca Grifo, director of the scientific integrity program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. After all, she says, Galileo was forced by the Catholic establishment to renounce his evidence for a sun-centered solar system, and Darwin's ideas have been a political football for more than a century." This article places the current Tennessee proposed bill on "academic freedom" in the context of other challenges the scientific community faces when trying to reconcile their knowledge and research within the context of social believes and attitudes.

On-the-job learning

Those lunch pictures look great! But the real reason I responded here is that the Scott Arboretum and other public horticulture organizations across the country have assisted with many school gardens. The problems always fall back to maintenance when the children are not in school over the summer months and then they lay dormant most of the winter in colder climates.

Rhoda, those are good points. This might open up opportunities for small groups. Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, Youth Center groups, and Community Service could handle the summer months and vacation days and weeks. I am not sure if there is much that could be done in the winter in New England. I will try to have something on this for my PowerPoint.

not an extreme climatic event, but an example of improving science-policy connections

Seems they have radio broadcasts too, so I'll keep an eye open for this talk on their site. But also thanks for sharing this site itself as I was not aware of this organization.

Seeing this news item this morning reminded me that, whenever a topic is raised in a course, one then starts to "see" news about it. I put "see" in scare quotes because most likely the topic was in the news before, but now one notices it. On the substance of the news item, it does show that sometimes business picks up on the science even when it remains contested by politics. For example, nuclear power plants are not being built in most part because corporations with millions of dollars cannot see themselves making a profit and bearing the risk.

Peter - Thanks for posting this. It will be interesting to see what they disclose and to consider what thought process they used for preparing these reports.

A report based on a series of "dialogue sessions" within and among scientists and policymakers in the Canadian federal government. While the report focuses on next steps for Canada agencies in particular, the description of existing conditions and justification for a new approach ring true. It's especially interesting that they identify the need for interpreters who can work at the interface, but do not explore means for establishing that role, nor do they promote this option as a fully-developed next step.

This might be useful for those of you trying to parse out how climate science is being received by the public -- skeptics are farther between than we think, perhaps?

This compilation of papers on disaster preparedness provide some sense as to the science disciplines which can be called upon to address PPol749 Case 1.

This paper by Lord et al. provides evidence on the benefits of the constructivist teaching and learning approach. The authors show how students in a constructivist classroom environment learn more and are more motivated towards learning than those in classroom with a teacher-centric approach. I thought the constructivist approach was only effective in the social sciences yet this article shows that in the hard sciences it is also effective in increasing academic performance. I just wanted to share this with the group.

IBM is releasing a real world came around urban planning solutions. But the idea of embedding real-world solutions into a gaming environment might be one way to tackle science based issues and the policies and plans surrounding them.

Interesting. I would like to know the assumptions behind the simulations. Indeed, this game or "tool" may be helpful, yet its results may be assumption-driven. Nevertheless, it seems worthwhile learning more about it. Thanks Felicia!