Science shops in Europe: the public as stakeholder

摘要

After two decades of relative silence, science shops seem to be back on the agenda of science policy-making. In this article, country-specific and country-independent factors for their success and failure and their co-operation with civil society are discussed in terms of different traditions in political culture. Science shops seem to be at a cross-roads, where their work focus and their coalitions may have to change. On the one hand, they are still connected to their roots, the social movements. On the other hand, a general trend towards business co-operation in science policy can be observed. The increasing debate about science and society interfaces lends importance to the science shop concept, as is especially visible in the recent support given them by the European Commission.