UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies

Image: Jack Stilgoe (3rd from left) at the House of Lords Seminar

On 15th January, Jack Stilgoe chaired a panel discussion at the House of Lords on 'Experts, publics and open policy'. The speakers were Dr Gemma Harper, Chief Social Researcher at DEFRA, Sir Roland Jackson, CEO of the British Science Association, and Lord Krebs, Chair of the House of Lords Science & Technology Committee. The event was standing-room only and the discussion ranged widely over questions of how we make sure that government policy is evidence-based while not pretending that the experts have all the answers, how public deliberation can and should feed into policy and how the civil service will reconfigure its approach to these issues given planned cuts and reforms. The many Tweets from the discussion can be seen here: http://sfy.co/iDQp