The crisis, which is caused by the pandemic due to COVID-19 and has engulfed all aspects of the lives of people all over the world, has made the essential role of science, and along with it the vital role of a discipline which is known as ‘the public understanding of science’, in combating the undesired consequences of the current crisis ever more significant.
Covid-19 demonstrated that in modern times in which the whole world, as a result of scientific and technological revolutions, has turned into a thoroughly interconnected set of organic and non-organic networks, to fight against the type of dangers that can rapidly and widely spread to all places there is no other way but to make proper use of science and technology and the public awareness and responsibility. The irresponsible behaviors of some the political leaders and many citizens in various countries in dealing with the Coronavirus have made it clear that upon encountering the undesired and unwanted consequences of people’s reactions towards complex emergent phenomena, responsibly providing accurate information to the public and presenting the results of scientific findings to them in a correct way is a necessary measure to reduce and eliminate the actual and potential aspects of the dangers.
Since the 1980s, when The public understanding of science, which is also known by other names such as ‘Scientific Literacy,’ ‘Public Communication of Science/ Public Transmission of Science,’ ‘Public Accountability of Science,’ ‘Public Engagement with Science,’ and ‘Science in Society,’ became an academic discipline in the West, it has attracted the attention of the public and has developed exponentially. But of course, the history of this activity goes further back than the 1980s. In Iran, it is now more than two decades that this activity is being pursued in a systematic manner by various institutions and organizations. Iran’s National Research Centre for Science Policy plays a central role in this respect.
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