ARTEFACTS: How do we want to deal with the future of our one and only planet?

The European Commission’s Science and Knowledge Service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), decided to try working hand-in-hand with leading European science centres and museums. Behind this decision was the idea that the JRC could better support EU Institutions in engaging with the European public. The fact that European Union policies are firmly based on scientific evidence is a strong message which the JRC is uniquely able to illustrate. Such a collaboration would not only provide a platform to explain the benefits of EU policies to our daily lives but also provide an opportunity for European citizens to engage by taking a more active part in the EU policy making process for the future. A PILOT PROGRAMME To test the idea, the JRC launched an experimental programme to work with science museums: a perfect partner for three compelling reasons. Firstly, they attract a large and growing number of visitors. Leading science museums in Europe have typically 500 000 visitors per year. Furthermore, they are based in large European cities and attract local visitors as well as tourists from across Europe and beyond. The second reason for working with museums is that they have mastered the art of how to communicate key elements of sophisticated arguments across to the public and making complex topics of public interest readily accessible. That is a high-value added skill and a crucial part of the valorisation of public-funded research, never to be underestimated. Finally museums are, at present, undergoing something of a renaissance. Museums today are vibrant environments offering new techniques and technologies to both inform and entertain, and attract visitors of all demographics.JRC.H.2-Knowledge Management Methodologies, Communities and Disseminatio

Supremocracia Supremocracy

o STF está hoje no centro de nosso sistema político, fato que demonstra a fragilidade de nosso sistema representativo. tal tribunal vem exercendo, ainda que subsidiariamente, o papel de criador de regras, acumulando a autoridade de intérprete da constituição com o exercício de poder legislativo, tradicionalmente exercido por poderes representativos. Este texto mostra como o supremo, de fato, tem exercido tais funções pela análise de alguns de seus julgados mais recentes. Em seguida, propõe mecanismos capazes de lidar com as tensões produzidas pela supremocracia, sem caracterizá-la como algo necessariamente bom ou ruim, mas buscando compreender seu sentido e apontar para seus perigos.<br>The text shows how the fsc is located at the heart of our political system and warns of the dangers to democracy inherent in this stance. Such a danger lies in the fact that the aforementioned court is fulfilling, albeit in a subsidiary manner, the role of rule-maker, accumulating the authority of constitutional interpreter while retaining exercise of legislative power, which traditionally belonged to the representative powers. The text attempts to prove that the supreme court has carried out such functions within an analysis of some of its recently tried cases. It also suggests mechanisms capable of dealing with the tensions generated by supremocracy, without characterizing them as something good or bad for our political system