Visual Representations of Science in a Pandemic: COVID-19 in Images

This article aims to contribute to the understanding of the social dimensions of the 2020 pandemic, with a particular emphasis on the visual practices of science communication in times of health emergency, by analyzing how the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is being visually represented. It seeks to identify the format and content of images used to illustrate online information about the pandemic, in particular, from websites of policy institutions, research promoters, and media in Portugal and Spain. By examining a sample containing 600 images, it aims to identify the messages being conveyed and the effects these images intend to provoke and to illuminate the differences in representations among the three sources of communication. Differences and similarities with visual images of previous pandemics (influenza, AIDS) are examined. This article ascertains that policy websites aim to be mostly prescriptive, relying on infographics to convey prevention and care instructions to its audiences. On the other hand, science websites rely mostly on stock photos and images from scientific articles to illustrate current research, while newspaper websites are the most diversified in terms of the images they use and the topics they cover. This study concludes that representations of science are still very much based on stereotypical imagery of labs and white coats, that representations of the medical side of the pandemic are focused on images of intensive care that aim to generate fear and stimulate responsible behavior, and that the social aspects of the pandemic are illustrated by images that focus either on pandemic prevention (e.g., washing hands) or on the impacts of the pandemic itself (e.g., empty streets during lockdown).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bringing back the debate on mediated and unmediated science communication: the public's perspective

When analysing the actors of the science communication ecosystem, scholarly research has focused on the perceptions and attitudes of scientists, science journalists, and science communicators. How the public envisages the roles of science producers and mediators is mostly uncharted territory. We address this gap, by examining the results of a public consultation in Portugal concerning science communication. We show that the public demonstrates a clear preference for science communication performed by scientists, over journalists, although credibility and trust depend on multiple factors. We also ascertain that professional science communicators are mostly invisible, though the public recognises the value of ‘translators’.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Climate change and public perception. Citizens' proposals for better communication and involvement

This paper explains how a participative approach was used to collect first-hand citizens’ suggestions on how to improve science communication regarding Climate Change. A public consultation involving citizens from 5 different European countries revealed various perspectives concerning their communication preferences on scientific topics. Five main themes emerged following citizens' proposals for better communication and involvement: producer of information, medium, message strategies, audiences and areas of action and engagement.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

"Está no nosso ADN": as iniciativas sociais das empresas e a construção discursiva da responsabilidade social empresarial

Esta tese tem como objetivo central analisar a forma como a difusão e adesão ao conceito de Responsabilidade Social Empresarial (RSE) transformou a forma como as empresas portuguesas conceptualizam as suas iniciativas sociais para públicos externos, e compreender o papel que estas iniciativas têm no contexto da construção discursiva da própria RSE. Partindo da análise de entrevistas com responsáveis pelas iniciativas sociais de 27 empresas portuguesas, o estudo centrou-se em três dimensões da construção discursiva do fenómeno: as narrativas sobre o passado; a delimitação de fronteiras discursivas; e a importância das formas de nomeação. O cruzamento destas dimensões permitiu identificar os elementos centrais do campo discursivo do investimento social das empresas. Por um lado, a crescente orientação para pensar as práticas de cariz social como ferramentas de gestão integradas na estratégia empresarial e alinhadas com a área de negócio da empresa. Por outro lado, a constante necessidade de articular objetivos morais e económicos, essencial para a construção de uma identidade de empresa socialmente responsável. Essa gestão é feita discursivamente através da ênfase nas continuidades e descontinuidades temporais entre as iniciativas do passado e as práticas do presente, pela inclusão e exclusão de determinadas formas de investimento social da esfera da RSE e pela crescente utilização do conceito comunidade para justificar e nomear as práticas sociais da empresa.This thesis aims to analyze how the diffusion and adherence to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has transformed the way Portuguese companies conceptualize their social initiatives for external publics, and to understand the role these initiatives have in the context of the discursive construction of CSR itself. Based on the analysis of interviews with the professionals in charge of the social initiatives of 27 Portuguese companies, the study focused on three dimensions of the discursive construction of the phenomenon: the narratives about the past; the delimitation of discursive borders; and the importance of naming practices. The intersection of these dimensions made it possible to identify central elements of the discursive field of corporate social investment. On one hand, the growing orientation to think of social practices as management tools integrated in the business strategy and aligned with the core business of the company. On the other hand, the constant need to articulate moral and economic objectives that are essential to construct a socially responsible corporate identity. This is done discursively through the emphasis on temporal continuities and discontinuities between past initiatives and present practices, by the inclusion and exclusion of certain forms of social investment from the CSR sphere, and by the growing use of the concept of community to justify and name the company's social practices

Trust and Mistrust in Sources of Scientific Information on Climate Change and Vaccines

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Public trust in science and expertise remains a contentious issue. When public trust is analysed, it often simplifies a complex process of information retrieval and interpretation. Questionnaire surveys help us make sense of differences among actors and countries, but they fail to provide a comprehensive analysis of the reasons that lead citizens to trust a specific actor to differing degrees. Hence, we opted for using a qualitative grounded approach to understand how citizens make sense of their trust in several actors. This article draws from the results of public consultations with citizens in Portugal and Poland about two specific science-related topics—climate change and vaccines—focusing on citizens’ perceptions of trust in several sources of scientific information. The results show that citizens’ trust varies depending on the source of scientific information, and it is affected by the topic’s visibility and different national levels of institutional trust. It also concludes that citizens use different criteria to evaluate trustworthiness and that this process leads to different ways of expressing trust/mistrust: unquestioned confidence, justified trust, reflexive trust, and active distrust. Such knowledge leads to a more in depth understanding of how trust in science is constructed, which can help science communicators and educators choose sources and materials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Citizen consultations on science communication: A citizen science approach

Citizen science is part of a wider trend in science and society of promoting two-way dialogue and engagement between scientists and the public, by involving citizens in the research process. This paper examines how CONCISE, an international research project involving Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, and Slovakia, seeks to understand how citizens acquire and use scientific information, by engaging citizens through public consultations. The consultations gathered close to 500 citizens in 2019. Asking them for suggestions on how to improve science communication and involving them in the dissemination efforts, CONCISE aims to put citizens at the core of the research process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nem em emprego, nem em educação ou formação: jovens NEEF em Portugal numa perspetiva comparada

O prolongamento temporal da condição juvenil tem vindo a tornar particularmente visível um conjunto de constrangimentos colocados às trajetórias juvenis e, em particular, aos processos de transição para o mercado de trabalho – de que o fenómeno do desemprego jovem é um dos exemplos mais paradigmáticos

Confiança

Porque confiamos uns nos outros ou nas instituições que regulam o nosso quotidiano? Quais são as implicações que daí advêm para a formação dos futuros cidadãos e para o funcionamento da sociedade? As pessoas mais confiantes são mais felizes? Em todos os inquéritos europeus nos quais a confiança é tema, os portugueses destacam-se consistentemente pela desconfiança manifestada. Seja no plano individual, seja no institucional, os portugueses tendem a não confiar. Porquê? Sociólogos, psicólogos sociais, cientistas políticos, filósofos, têm procurado responder a esta pergunta. Tendo-se encontrado regularidades (por exemplo, baixos níveis de escolaridade, de bem-estar, de perceção de controlo sobre a vida ou de participação cívica estão associados a baixos níveis de confiança), ainda estão por encontrar os fatores que explicam por que razão os cidadãos dos países nórdicos apresentam os níveis mais altos de confiança e os portugueses (juntamente com cidadãos dos ex-países de Leste) os mais baixos.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multidisciplinary decision process for ranking CO2 injection sites in deep saline aquifers

Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies are required to play a significant role towards a low-carbon future and to meet the ambitious climate mitigation targets established by the international agreements and policies. PilotSTRATEGY is a EU funded research project aiming at advancing the understanding of deep saline aquifers (DSA) resources for CO₂ geological storage in Southern and Eastern Europe and, specifically, at characterizing sites for CO2 injection pilots in Portugal, Spain and France. In the Portuguese study area, the Lusitanian basin, alternative onshore and offshore areas are being considered for implementation of pilot injection site. A decision process is required to select the final site and different previously applied methodologies, based on technical criteria, were reviewed for ranking the alternative sites. However, the decision process must also consider social and economic aspects that are not covered by the existing technical methodologies. This paper presents the multidisciplinary decision process pursued to rank and select the pilot injection site in the Portuguese target region. The method is based takes into account geological and risks criteria, but is complemented by social, economic, and regulatory aspects. The decision process is implemented in qualitative and semi-quantitative approaches, with the qualitative approach relying on a Boston Square Analysis, while the semiquantitative approach applies the Analytic Hierarchy Process to define weights to each criteria. The application of the methodology is illustrated for the Lusitanian basin

PERSIST_EU. Relatório Portugal

Este relatório tem por objetivo dar conta dos resultados alcançados com a aplicação da ferramenta digital e a realização dos Science Camps em Portugal. Em primeiro lugar, é apresentada a metodologia utilizada no projeto, nomeadamente o planeamento dos Science Camps, a sua implementação em Portugal, as alterações que tiveram de ser feitas devido à pandemia COVID-19 e o perfil da amostra de estudantes que participaram nos Science Camps Virtuais (SCV). Em seguida, são descritos os quatro SCV e expostos os resultados dos questionários. Finalmente, são apresentados os resultados da avaliação da ferramenta e dos SCV pelos participantes. Em anexo encontram-se a explicação de utilização da ferramenta digital, os questionários para os quatro tópicos, os quadros com os resultados dos questionários e as principais perguntas e respostas discutidas nos SC.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio