Mon
01
Dec
Seminars and Conferences
Uncertain facts, risks and decisions: science in today’s public action
A new appointment of the “Theseus Colloquia” series, a cycle of seminars on technology, its preconditions, and its social, economic, political, and environmental impact, promoted by the Theseus Study Center of the Politecnico and led by international experts working on fundamental issues for contemporary societies in an era of technological transformations.
The title of the meeting will be Uncertain facts, risks and decisions: science in today’s public action, in which Giuseppe Tipaldo, professor at Politecnico di Torino, will introduce the talk by professors Bruna De Marchi and Silvio Funtowicz from the University of Bergen.
Abstract
Since 1992, with the publication of Risk Society. Towards a New Modernity by Ulrich Beck, the theme of risk has taken on a central role in the social sciences. Following Beck’s analyses and Charles Perrow’s studies on complex systems and “almost inevitable” accidents, this colloquium offers a reflection on how contemporary risks now manifest in global, interdependent, and hard-to-predict forms.
The approach of Post-Normal Science, developed by Funtowicz and Ravetz, will be examined. According to this framework, when “facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent,” traditional science is not sufficient to guide public action. It becomes essential to involve an extended peer community capable of integrating expert knowledge with insights from direct experience.
Significant examples of this shift emerge in popular epidemiology and in citizen science, contexts in which local communities play a crucial role in identifying and managing environmental and health risks. In this perspective, the quality of knowledge depends not only on data accuracy but also on the legitimacy and credibility of the processes through which it is generated.
Speakers: Bruna De Marchi and Silvio Funtowicz – University of Bergen
Biographies
Bruna De Marchi studied political science and sociology in Bologna and in the United States. She served for many years as head of the Mass Emergencies Program at the International Sociological Institute of Gorizia and worked as a national detached expert at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra. She is currently affiliated with the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen. Her research interests include disasters, environmental and health risks, governance, and citizen science.
Silvio Funtowicz has taught mathematics, logic, and research methodology in Argentina, and was a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. Until 2001, he worked as a scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra. He is affiliated with the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen, where he served as an associate professor. Together with Jerome Ravetz, he developed the concept of Post-Normal Science (PNS) and the NUSAP system for managing uncertainty and assessing the quality of scientific knowledge in relation to public policy.
A light lunch will be served at the end of the Colloquium.
The title of the meeting will be Uncertain facts, risks and decisions: science in today’s public action, in which Giuseppe Tipaldo, professor at Politecnico di Torino, will introduce the talk by professors Bruna De Marchi and Silvio Funtowicz from the University of Bergen.
Abstract
Since 1992, with the publication of Risk Society. Towards a New Modernity by Ulrich Beck, the theme of risk has taken on a central role in the social sciences. Following Beck’s analyses and Charles Perrow’s studies on complex systems and “almost inevitable” accidents, this colloquium offers a reflection on how contemporary risks now manifest in global, interdependent, and hard-to-predict forms.
The approach of Post-Normal Science, developed by Funtowicz and Ravetz, will be examined. According to this framework, when “facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent,” traditional science is not sufficient to guide public action. It becomes essential to involve an extended peer community capable of integrating expert knowledge with insights from direct experience.
Significant examples of this shift emerge in popular epidemiology and in citizen science, contexts in which local communities play a crucial role in identifying and managing environmental and health risks. In this perspective, the quality of knowledge depends not only on data accuracy but also on the legitimacy and credibility of the processes through which it is generated.
Speakers: Bruna De Marchi and Silvio Funtowicz – University of Bergen
Biographies
Bruna De Marchi studied political science and sociology in Bologna and in the United States. She served for many years as head of the Mass Emergencies Program at the International Sociological Institute of Gorizia and worked as a national detached expert at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra. She is currently affiliated with the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen. Her research interests include disasters, environmental and health risks, governance, and citizen science.
Silvio Funtowicz has taught mathematics, logic, and research methodology in Argentina, and was a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. Until 2001, he worked as a scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra. He is affiliated with the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen, where he served as an associate professor. Together with Jerome Ravetz, he developed the concept of Post-Normal Science (PNS) and the NUSAP system for managing uncertainty and assessing the quality of scientific knowledge in relation to public policy.
A light lunch will be served at the end of the Colloquium.