Prior to Christmas 2020, new restrictions were introduced in Sweden to reduce the spread of infection. At the same time, there was a decline in the public’s confidence in politicians, who were also perceived to be less in agreement about how the pandemic is being handled, than previously. These are two of the latest findings of a study being conducted by the non-profit organisation VA (Public & Science) to investigate communication about the coronavirus in Sweden.
Confidence in politicians is rising in Sweden following the new restrictions introduced by the Swedish government. The media’s reporting on the pandemic is perceived to be more hyped and alarmist. These are some of the latest findings of astudy being conducted by the non-profit organisation VA (Public & Science) to investigate communication about the coronavirus in Sweden.
This year’sEngage Festival, organised by theNational Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) in the UK, offered a week-long smorgasbord of discussions, workshops, inspiring examples of practice and networking for those working with public engagement. VA contributed to two sessions and gained lots of inspiration throughout the event held online from 30 November – 4 December.
Test on fruits and plants! Use new technology and artificial intelligence! Which animals are most common in testing and do we test make-up on animals? The questions and reflections were many when we met high school students at Researcher’s Night – ForskarFredag in Swedish.
A mind-blowing science show from Umeå, exciting geological adventures with Minecraft from Uppsala, a rare chance to peek into an Olympic test centre for winter sports from Östersund, were just a few of hundreds of creative digital activities held during 23 – 29 of November all over Sweden as part of ForskarFredag, the Swedish branch of European Researchers’ Night.
The goal of the Nordic Hub in the European BLOOM bioeconomy project was to communicate the opportunities and challenges with the bioeconomy, as well as to increase knowledge and demand for forest-based products and materials amongst the public. Several initial meetings were held with research institutes, universities and companies in Finland and Sweden to understand their role in the bioeconomy, the products and services they provide and the challenges they are facing in communicating with society. From this knowledge gain, we set out on an exciting journey into the innovative sector of the forest bioeconomy. Läs mer
The days are getting darker, temperatures are dropping and it’s raining almost every day. The majority of us think that November is the gloomiest month of the year here in Sweden…additionally COVID-19 continues to restrict our freedoms this year. There’s simply nothing exciting to look forward to this month other than Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales… But don’t despair, there is hope for reprieve from our boredom!
As universities seek to strengthen their connections with their local communities, concepts like ’civic universities’ and ’public engagement’ can play a key role. To help inspire their members, the Swedish non-profit organisations VA (Public & Science) and Unilink jointly ran an online conference on 12 November, to gain a better understanding of these concepts in practice.
If you had not heard of Open Science and wondered what it was, or wished there was an Open Science topic you knew more about, then the ORION Open Science Cafe on 4 November during Berlin Science Week was the perfect event.