Cooperation and participation in technoscience in the Socialist and the Post-Socialist space

Interdisciplinary workshop on the transformation of the technoscientific sphere and science/society relations in the post-socialist countries

May 4-5, 2009 at Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture in Graz, Austria

Two turning points have occurred in the modern development of Central and South Eastern Europe: in 1989 the centrally planned system has collapsed, which gave way to the building of free-market economies and in 2004 eight countries became formal members of the European Union. These turning points have had a crucial influence on the development of science and technology in these countries. On the one hand these developments opened up greater opportunities for technology transfer from West to East Europe and to strengthen scientific cooperation. On the other hand democratisation processes and EU accession are likely to have changed significantly the boundaries of the techno-scientific sphere in these countries and its relationships with broader societal spheres, both with regards to the issues of science communication and stakeholders participation to ST decision-making. But while a certain progress has been made in reforming science and technology systems in Central and South Eastern countries, this is seen widely as slow and inefficient.

One aim of the workshop is to evaluate the progress that has been made so far, to identify weaknesses and new challenges and to suggest changes that can substantially increase effectiveness and efficiency. A second aspect the workshop attempts to investigate the differentiation of cooperation and participation patterns between different areas of technoscience differentiation, following the distinction between emerging technologies (e.g. nano, bio, ICT) and mature technology fields. It can be assumed that the development in mature technology fields is still influenced by some relicts of the past, while this is less the case in emerging technology fields. The innovation system model suggests that not only have industry, science and the government key roles to play in the development of a competitive techno-science sphere, but even more important is their close coordination and interaction in innovation networks. This cooperation includes three levels: among firms and with research institutes, among industrial sectors and regions, and among national governments and with European institutions. So far the development of an integrated, multilevel system of innovation seems to be a major deficit in Central and South Eastern Countries. The workshop intents to examine these deficits in more detail but it also aims at developing ideas how to overcome these difficulties.

Organisers:
Research Network 1989
Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture in Graz
Istituto Jacques Maritain
Interdepartmental Centre for Environmental Law Decisions and Corporate Ethical Certification of the University of Padua
Centre for Social Studies of Science, Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana
Department of Human Sciences of the University of Trieste

Call for Papers
Deadline for abstracts: January 30th 2009.

last modified: 2010-03-10