November 8, 2021 | Report-Backs
The Second Peruvian STS Meeting was an opportunity to bring together experts and practitioners of science and technology communication, policy, and decision making. The event focused on two main themes (1) Science and technology communication and scientific culture, (2) Governance of science, technology, and innovation. The first one examined the practices, media and conceptual, socio-cultural and political communication, including cultural avatars in the different ways that have been popularized in our country too. The second one analyzed the organizations and actors involved in initiatives of public policies in science, technology and innovation.
It was created an environment in which academia met practitioners and fostered dialogue between the multiple science and society’s organizations and activists, as well as Peruvian Scholars working in other countries such as the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, etc. At the same time, it was also an opportunity to strengthen the ties within the Latin American Science, Technology and Society (STS) community that has been growing in recent years. STS Chile has been pivotal in supporting our Peruvian community since the first meeting in 2018. In this second meeting, Gloria Baigorrotegui, a Chilean scholar, participated in the plenary sessions with a presentation titled: “STS studies and their (un)sufficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
Due to the interest in Science Communication, this second meeting had the participation of Bruce Lewenstein with the presentation title “Why public engagement is-and always has been and always will be- critical for science”. This topic was not so heavily developed during the first meeting, but we hope that in the future, many more science communication practitioners and scholars get together and discuss broad topics such as citizen and science, science education, etc. Policy and governance are recurring themes of the Peruvian meetings since the participation of Francisco Sagasti in the first meeting. This time we invited Marco Rinaldi (CONCYTEC), with the presentation titled “¿How to promote scientific culture in Peru? Importance of the STEM popularization program”. Many scholars in social sciences are interested in policy and governance, which also signals that this could be a theme that could grow in the future, with initiatives such as COMP Core.
The next year we planned to extend the event to other themes such as (1) education and participation in science and technology and (2) gender and inclusion in science and technology. In the last year, there has been an increasing interest, research, and new initiatives related to these topics that need a space to discuss and change the experience between the actors involved.
We also want to give a special shout-out to Patricia Rodriguez, Solange Ramos y Martín Rojas, who moderate this event. Without their help, this event would not have been possible. Also special thanks to Adriana Gonzales (Sidereus Nuncius) and Amanda Vilchez (Ciencia Ciudadana Perú), for their work. Finally, we want to thank the organizations that supported this event: Sidereus Nuncius, Ciencia Ciudadana Perú, Serendipity and Cientificospe.
First-day event: https://bit.ly/2Wnpkac
Second-day event: https://bit.ly/3DdXrlN
Adriana Thalia Gonzales Del Carpio holds a degree in sociology with a specialization in the management and mediation of culture and science. She is a member of Sidereus Nuncius:
Peruvian Community of STS. She is interested in science & culture, video games and innovation. Contact
Amanda Vilchez Zuñiga is a iologist and science communicator in formation. President of Citizen Science Peru, an organization oriented to reconnect society and science through the
development of participative research projects. She is interested in science communication, community science and the study of urban ecosystems. Contact
Sebastián Zárate Vásquez is a PhD student at NC State’s Forestry and Environmental Resources Department. Sebastian comes from Peru with a background in social sciences. He is interested in science and technology policy in Latin America, sustainability, emerging technologies, natural resources, and the environment. Contact
Published: 11/08/2021