The communication of chemistry to wider society is difficult because of ‘chemophobia’, its inherent complexity and its lack of unifying grand themes. To engage with citizens about the benefits and related dangers of the field, chemists must improve their dialogue with broader sections of the public — but how?

This introductory essay looks back on the two decades since the journal Public Understanding of Science was launched. Drawing on the invited commentaries in this special issue, we can see narratives of continuity and change around the practice and politics of public engagement with science. Public engagement would seem to be a necessary but insufficient part of opening up science and its govern...

Despite growing interest in the environmental performance and management of public organizations, relatively little is known about the steps individual public employees are taking at their own discretion to promote environmental sustainability and environmental stewardship in the workplace. This article examines public employees’ participation in eco-helping and eco-civic engagement in the work...

Public engagement in science and technology has grown in importance as developments in science and technology make increasingly significant impacts on people’s lives. Now, efforts to engage publics in social decision-making or consensusbuilding regarding science and technology involve participation, learning or deliberation opportunities, as well as interactive or coproductive efforts among var...

Drawing on the theoretical view of cyberspace’s role in engagement in public discourse and civic activities, the current study investigates how social media use is related to public discourse and civic engagement in mainland China. Moreover, we examine how political interest, general trust in people, and life satisfaction modify the interdependence of social media use and public discourse and c...

Five years on from Godlee and Chalmers’ advocacy of greater patient information to improve access to clinical trials,we have conducted research showing that engaging clinicians with local research and trial information is as critical to enabling participation as are public engagement and information provision. Our study explored the perceptions, motivations, and barriers to trial participation ...

The United Kingdom's 100,000 Genomes Project has the aim of sequencing 100,000 genomes from National Health Service patients such that whole genome sequencing becomes routine clinical practice. It also has a research-focused goal to provide data for scientific discovery. Genomics England is the limited company established by the Department of Health to deliver the project. As an innovative scie...

Governments around the world are increasingly using the internet to inform, interact and communicate with their citizens, thereby fostering e-public engagement. A significant research focus has been restricted to how governments use the internet, the policies surrounding its use, and how it impacts or benefits governance and public engagement. However, there is a need for studies to investigate...

Trust is frequently discussed with reference to the professional-patient relationship. However, trust is less explored in relation to the ways in which understanding of, and responses to, questions of ethics are discussed by both the "public" and "experts." Public engagement activity in healthcare ethics may invoke "trust" in analysing a moral question or problem but less frequently conceives o...

In dealing with scarcity of resources within healthcare systems, decision-makers inevitably have to make choices about which services to fund. Setting priorities represents a challenging task that requires systematic, explicit and transparent methodologies with focus on economic efficiency. In addition, the engagement of the general public in the process of decision-making has been regarded as ...