The UNESCO Chair in Popularization of Science was launched in the fall of 2018 (1398) with signing a cooperation agreement between the National Research Institute for Science Policy (NRISP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in our Popularization of Science department. Popularization of Science is any activity which seeks to popularize science and promote scientific thinking style among ordinary people and make them interested to science and scientific activities. In other words, the purpose of Popularization of Science is to adapt and modify complex scientific ideas and findings so that non-specialist or general audiences can comprehend them. In addition, Popularization of Science includes any policy in which the role of people in scientific and technological decision-making processes becomes more prominent. The chair of Popularization of Science can provide grounds for the public to support science, supervise scientific institutions, and have an effect on science policy through Popularization of Science and raising public awareness and knowledge. Based on clause NO. 1 of the above-mentioned agreement, NRISP has been designated as the host institution for the Chair of Popularization of Science.
Popularization of Science is an effort to reflect scientific ideas in a way that all people can comprehend the basic concepts of a science. In all societies, the Popularization of Science pursues a certain goal, but the approaches to reach this goal are disparate in different societies. The driving force of this process is that in general, societies are moving towards new life styles in which the important principle of society is the need for scientific living and scientific thinking. At the end of the 18th century, the word “Popularization of Science” or “Generalization of Science” emerged but it was only in the 1940s that it was employed for science and technology. Nowadays, Popularization of Science is one of the new concepts in which all other sciences are somehow related to each other. Nevertheless, because different areas of sciences have different approaches to Popularization of Science, it is not possible to provide a single definition for this concept. One of the main tools for bringing consensus is to create a common language, or in other words, to present a definition that is acceptable to experts.
Some of the definitions of Popularization of Science provided by experts and scientists are as follows:
Base the definitions provided, Popularization of Science attempts to achieve the following items:
Click to view the photo gallery of the events organized by the UNESCO Chair in Popularization of Science and the Iran Popularization of Science Association
A future study is any efforts that visualize potentialities of future and plan for it through searching sources, patterns, and changing factors or stability. Thinking about the future is essential for the current human actions. Reaction without thinking about the future is possible; however, action is not, because action requires anticipation. Thus, images of the future (aims, goals, intentions, hopes, concerns, and aspirations) are the drivers of our current actions; Therefore, the future is something that people can design and shape with their purposeful actions. In order to act wisely, people must have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the consequences of their actions and those of others. In addition, they need to examine the reactions of others and forces beyond their control. These consequences will show themselves only in the future. In this way, people not only try to understand the things that are happening, but also try to know the things that might happen or have the potential to happen under certain circumstances in the future.
The UNESCO Chair in Popularization of Science and the Future Studies Group of Science and Technology are planning to form Future Studies Network in order to establish systematic communication between futurists.
Network goals
Grassroots Innovations Network, as a facilitator, is trying to concentrate grassroots innovations, which are scattered across the country in the form of a network and create a new wave of innovation and creativity in society. The goals of this network include: creating discourse and sharing knowledge and skills in the field of grassroots innovation in Iran; identifying and introducing grassroots innovators to society; interacting, cooperating and sharing the experiences of grassroots innovators; using the capacity and power of grassroots innovators in order to achieve sustainable development; creating a network among grassroots innovators across the country; facilitating communication between grassroots innovators and decision-making institutions; paying attention to the principles of sustainability in innovations, including mission-orientedness, being green, and meeting the country’s social and economic needs.
© Copyright 2022 National Research Institute for Science Policy. All Right Reserved.