From Asteroid to Oceans: Using Public Engagement to Inform Policy Decisions


The Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes (CSPO) and its partners have become global innovators in developing methods and tools that bring informed public voices and perspectives into critical scientific and technological decisions. At the New Tools for Science Policy breakfast on Thursday, October 1, 2015, a model of public engagement was presented that recently provided useful input for NASA’s Asteroid Initiative. Working through the Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology (ECAST) network, CSPO brought together university, museum, and client partners to provide an unprecedented, real-time technology assessment for a federal agency.

Public engagement on NASA’s Asteroid Initiative allowed lay citizens with various backgrounds, values, and knowledge to express views that credentialed experts might otherwise overlook—but which, as NASA discovered, can be very useful for robust decision making. By hosting a public forum on a complex topic that required consideration of highly technical issues, CSPO has developed a powerful tool for bringing informed public perspectives into today’s most important scientific and technological debates.

Part 1 of 2 featuring Ira Bennett, Co-director, CENTSS, Clinical Associate Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, and Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU; Amy Kaminski, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Chief Scientist, NASA; Darlene Cavalier, Professor of Practice, Arizona State University, Founder of SciStater and ScienceCheerleader; Mahmud Farooque, Associate Director, DC Office, Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, Arizona State University; David Sittenfeld, Program Manager, Forum, Current Science and Technology, Museum of Science, Boston; and David Tomblin, Director, Science, Technology and Society Program, A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park.

Date:
October 01, 2015
Run time:
2:01:39
Location:
ASU Washington Center
Presented by:
Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes