A new book "Science for Policy" edited by Ângela Guimarães Pereira and Silvio Funtowicz appeared with Oxford University Press (India).
On Thursday 5 November the book will be launched at the Université de Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Guyancourt site), in the presence of both editors and most of the contributors.
This volume discusses the changing role of science in policymaking. Producers and users of science and technology for policy are increasingly aware of the need to change the ways in which knowledge is produced and deployed, especially science‐based knowledge used to foster, support, or legitimize policy decision making. The challenge is to develop new decision‐making styles in order to cope with deep uncertainty, even ignorance, about facts, and in a plurality of value systems.
Strengthened by case studies, this volume illustrates the importance of a post‐normal concept of science in order to
ensure that scientific knowledge is deployed with integrity. The 18 thematically arranged essays discuss, in varying
mixes of theory, formal methods and empirical detail, the process, challenge, and promise of using science for
policy in governance. For example, the role of scientific information in the choices of agricultural technology and
food policymaking, or the assumptions made in the calculation of the external costs of nuclear energy.
Science for policy - Table of contents