The Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) has invited Holger Straßheim to chair a panel at an international conference on "Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities and the future of evidence-informed policymaking“ (6-7 May 2024, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren). The conference is organized within the frame of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. BELSPO emphasizes the need for multidisciplinary approaches in policymaking beyond linear models of science-policy advice. It brings together more than 150 participants. The panel chaired by Straßheim will focus on paradigmatic examples of boundary-crossing organizations such as the Finnish Academy of Science, the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) and UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES, a transdisciplinary and cross-regional mechanism that provides humanities-driven science to member states.

In a recent blog entry for the research project "Ethics and Expertise beyond Times of Crisis: Learning from international varieties of ethics advice", Lars Wenzel (University Bielefeld) delves into the concept of “Ethical Adhocracy”, developed during the preceding pilot project. The article discusses how ethics advice in Germany and the UK evolved in an ad hoc way during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting a shift away from traditional demands on decision-making structures.

Im Auftrag der VolkswagenStiftung ist soeben eine Studie zu Wissenschaftskulturen in Deutschland erschienen. Die Studie verweist auf signifikante kulturelle Differenzen innerhalb des Wissenschaftssystems und zeigt, dass das Verhältnis zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft in den untersuchten Feldern (Soziologie, Environmental Humanities, KI-Forschung und synthetische Biologie) sehr unterschiedlich definiert wird. Die Studie kann hier heruntergeladen werden.

The paper explores the legacy of the pandemic for future science-advice policy relationships by investigating how the UK government's engagement with ethical advice is organized institutionally. We provide an analysis of some key ethical moments in the UK Government response to the pandemic, and institutions and national frameworks which exist to provide ethical advice on policy strategies. The paper is one of the outputs of our international research project "Ethic and Expertise in Times of Crisis" (Bielefeld University and Birmingham University).

Open Access

The Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZIF) at Bielefeld University has decided to fund an international workshop on global philanthropic organizations. The workshop titled "Evidence-based benevolence? The role of philanthropic organizations global public policies" will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Alexandra Kaasch, PD Dr. Marc Mölders, Dr. Evelyn Moser (Bonn), Prof. Dr. Oliver Razum, and Prof. Dr. Holger Straßheim. In areas such as global public health, climate change, or poverty allevitation, philanthropic organizations have become both the providers and proponents of evidence-based policies. The workshop investigates the implications by assembling internationally renowed researchers. What do we know about the impact of evidence-based and data-driven policies on policy decisions? What are the underlying political and epistemic belief systems? What are the consequences for democracy?

The workshop will take place on March 27-29 at the ZIF.

Am 3. März und 4. März 2022 findet die Jahrestagung des DVPW Arbeitskreises Politik Wissenschaft und Technik statt. Die Tagung trägt den Titel "Politik, Wissenschaft und Technik im Spiegel von Krisen" und wird online via Zoom stattfinden. Mehr Informationen zum Programm finden Sie hier.

Soeben erschienen sind folgende Beiträge:

Straßheim, H. 2021. Time, Substainability, ans Public, Policy. In K. H. Goetz (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Time and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press (DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190862084.001.0001)