Breaking Out of the Local: International dimensions of science shops

Abstract

In this article we want to give an overview of the international dimension and the interest of the European Union (EU) in the concept of Science Shops. The European Commission (EC) manages the day-to-day business by initiating and implementing EU policies and spending EU funds. The EC support for Science Shops has been an important factor for the international interest and progress of the Science Shop movement. This article will not give detailed information about daily routines of a Science Shop. Detailed information about the Science Shop concept can be found at the Living Knowledge website (www.livingknowledge.org). Living Knowledge represents the international Science Shop Network. In this article international developments of the Science Shop Network, like the project TRAMS, and Science Shop backgrounds will be linked with past and new EU policies like the EU 7th Framework Programme for Research. It shows how community-based research does not only have a local dimension. The international Science Shop activities show the strengths of international cooperation to break out of the local and to bring local issues on the international agenda. Detailed information about the Science Shop concept and daily routines of a Science Shop can be found at the Living Knowledge website (www.livingknowledge.org), e.g. at the FAQ section and in the toolbox.

Citizen-driven participatory research conducted through knowledge intermediary units. A thematic synthesis of the literature on “Science Shops”

“…In the 1980s, severe cutbacks in financial support from the French government heightened the precarious state of the existing Science Shops and eventually they were all forced to close their doors [Stewart, 1988]. It has become increasingly apparent that when governments and universities prioritise market-oriented knowledge transfer, they prefer to fund science parks and knowledge/technology transfer units, rather than science shops, which tend to be more concerned with the social impact and democratisation of science [DeBok and Steinhaus, 2008;Fischer, Leydesdorff and Schophaus, 2004;Vargiu, Cocco and Ghibellini, 2019;Wachelder, 2003;Urias et al, 2020]. However, Science Shops provide a balance in a context where more commercially oriented technology transfer and science parks are supported for economic reasons [Leydesdorff and Ward, 2005].…”

“…As Wachelder [2003] and Leydesdorff and Ward [2005] argue, the ability to adapt the model to these external changes is what will permit these structures to survive. Science shops, while maintaining their mission-driven commitment to solve societal problems, may have to rethink their focus and alliances on a regular basis to stay resilient [DeBok and Steinhaus, 2008], while upholding the social and public values from which they were initially born.…”

Ensuring durability of community-university engagement in a challenging context: Empirical evidence on Science Shops

“…The above refers to dealing with sustainability and continuity over time as being connected to factors that are intrinsic to the Science Shop itself. Literature on Science Shops (De Bok & Steinhaus 2008;Leydesdorff & Ward 2005;Wachelder 2003) maintains that such internal factors come to interplay with external ones to a relevant extent and determine organisations' durability. The Dutch experience is often reported in literature as paradigmatic (Farkas 1999).…”

Science Shops as key intermediary structures to respond to the current health research agenda bias: Evidence from the InSPIRES project

“…Science Shops emerged in The Netherlands in the 1970s, facilitated by a favourable political context that allowed university staff and students to start partnerships with civil society organizations (CSOs). Students, supervised by senior researchers, undertook research projects for free upon CSOs' requests 3,4 . In the 1980s, the Dutch Science Shop movement inspired other European countries.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] Science Shops differ in the activities they conduct, how they are organized, in which context and fields they work, and how they operate. 4 However, although no dominant organizational structure defines a 'Science Shop', they all aim to respond to research topics identified and prioritized with a bottom-up approach. 1 Despite the growing interest, their role is currently relatively small as few Although participatory methods are increasingly used in research, most research today still addresses topics identified and prioritized by researchers and funders (public and private) that are not necessarily aligned with the research needs of a broader community of stakeholders (including citizens).…”