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

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

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

Plataforma Online PERSIST. Ferramenta de avaliação para atividades de envolvimento com a ciência

A plataforma digital PERSIST é um instrumento de avaliação da eficácia de uma atividade de envolvimento com a ciência. Foi desenvolvida no âmbito de um projeto Erasmus+. Está disponível em acesso aberto em https://persist.erasmus.site/pt/platform/.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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

Alterações climáticas e as crianças: novas vulnerabilidades

É reconhecido pela comunidade científica que as alterações climáticas terão, como uma das suas consequências mais visíveis, a ocorrência com maior frequência e intensidade de eventos climáticos extremos. Estes eventos poderão, em muitos casos, resultar em desastres ou catástrofes de dimensão significativa, cujos impactos se farão sentir de forma mais intensa sobre os grupos mais vulneráveis, entre eles as crianças. No caso de catástrofe, as crianças são um dos grupos mais vulneráveis. As suas características especificas em termos físicos, emocionais/psicológicos e educacionais, associadas a fatores como a idade, o género, as condições de saúde, o acesso a recursos, o ambiente construído em que vivem ou as redes de sociabilidade, colocam-nas habitualmente numa situação de grande dependência e vulnerabilidade. Isto mesmo é reconhecido pela agência das Nações Unidas encarregue de trabalhar com as crianças – a UNICEF – que assumiu recentemente a necessidade de reforçar o seu trabalho e intervenção sobre o tema das alterações climáticas, por o considerar como uma das grandes ameaças aos direitos das crianças no presente e, em particular, no futuro. Os resultados a apresentar estão integrados no projeto de investigação CUIDAR – Culturas de resiliência à catástrofe entre crianças e jovens, financiado pelo programa Horizon 2020, que está a ser desenvolvido no ICSUlisboa,em parceria com o Reino Unido, Espanha, Itália e Grécia.The scientific community recognizes that climate change has as one of its more visible consequences the more frequent occurrence of extreme climate events. These events could, in many cases, result in significant disasters and catastrophes, whose impacts will be felt more intensively by vulnerable groups, among them children. In case of catastrophes, children are one of the vulnerable groups. Its physical, emotional/psychological and educational characteristics associated with age, gender, health conditions, access to resources, physical environment, sociability networks place them in a particularly vulnerable and dependent situation. This situation is recognized by the United Nations Agency in charge of working with children – UNICEF – who recently assumed the need to strengthening its work on climate change, for the impacts and threats that presents to children’s rights in the present and in the future. The results presented are part of a wider research project - CUIDAR - Cultures of Disaster Resilience amongst Children and Young People, financed by Horizon 2020, that is being developed ate ICS – Ulisboa, and includes partners from the UK, Spain, Italy and Greece.This project has been funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 653753 The results presented are part of a wider research project - CUIDAR - Cultures of Disaster Resilience amongst Children and Young People, financed by Horizon 2020, that is being developed ate ICS – Ulisboa, and includes partners from the UK, Spain, Italy and Greece.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio