Can't Be Ignored: The "Popular Science Battle" of Global Cities

Since April, the Shanghai Municipal Science Popularization Regulations have been officially implemented, with more detailed and perfect laws and regulations to promote the improvement of public scientific literacy.

The role of technology in today's society is unquestionable. Looking at countries and regions around the world, most of them have their own "signature actions" in the field of science popularization. At the same time, the main body of science popularization and the funding mechanism have also been innovated.

Walk into the British Museum of Natural History in London, where a large number of fossils and specimens of animals and plants are full of eyes. But outside of this, many visitors were impressed by one thing - the statue of the British biologist Darwin stands out in the museum. The founder of the theory of evolution sat silently watching the frozen history of the museum and watching visitors come and go. Human exploration of science and nature intersect in his gaze, and everyone who sees it is moved.

Science popularization is referred to as popular science, also known as popular science or popular science. At a time when the humanistic literacy of social sciences is increasingly valued, how to use various media to make the public accept natural science and social science knowledge in a simple and easy-to-understand way, advocate scientific methods, disseminate scientific ideas, and carry forward the spirit of science has become one of the core requirements of social education. In many countries and cities, there are their own thinking and practices.

Look for popular science

New growth points

Retrospective people's thinking on the goal of science popularization——

Before the 1980s, it was believed that the improvement of citizen science literacy pointed to by popular science included at least two basic aspects: one was to master scientific terms and concepts, and the other was to master basic skills in scientific experiments. At that time, the school's scientific and technological activities were also basically centered on cultivating the quality of these two aspects.

In 1983, the American scholar Miller proposed a new framework for scientific quality, and he believed that scientific quality has three aspects: one is to master scientific terms and concepts; the other is to understand the processes and methods of science in dealing with real problems; and the third is to understand the relationship between science, technology and society. By the 1990s, some countries had added a fourth aspect to Miller's scientific quality system, namely a basic understanding of emotional attitudes and values towards science.

In 1985, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom took the lead in proposing in the report "Public Understanding Science" that the scientific quality of citizens is not only scientific and technological knowledge, and the scientific popularization work of citizens cannot be limited to the popularization of scientific and technological knowledge, but should have the following aspects: in the broad educational context, develop scientific thinking methods - observation, search for patterns, explanations, experiments, exchanges and applications; through direct participation in scientific activities, obtain brain and hands-on skills; through systematic learning, understand and understand the knowledge system known as "science" To understand the nature of advanced technological societies, to understand the interaction between science and society, and to understand the contribution that science has made to cultural heritage and what it may make in the future.

Then, in the mid-to-late 1980s, the American Association for the Advancement of Science also developed Science for All: The U.S. 2061 Program. The report provides a broad definition of the scientific and cultural qualities of the public.

This change in the context of this new theory on the cognition of scientific quality has had a profound impact on science education and science popularization work in various countries in the world since the 1990s.

From the perspective of the sociology of science, the popularization of science is a widespread social phenomenon, which must have its own "growth point", which is at the intersection of nature and man, science and society. Science popularization must make full use of the various circulation channels and information dissemination media in modern society, and lose no time in widely penetrating into various social activities in order to form a large-scale, vigorous, and socialized popularization of science.

After years of exploration, many overseas countries have developed and formed their own characteristics in the fields of science popularization management system, construction of science popularization channels, improvement of science popularization content, and financing of scientific communication activities.

For example, in terms of management model, Singapore is government-led, and the government guides the development of science popularization in a strong way. The United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom belong to the social regulation type, and the government does not directly participate in the management of science popularization, but indirectly manages science popularization through legislation, economic policies and private science popularization agencies and intermediary organizations. More and more localities choose the government and social interaction model, in the same country, for different fields of science or different levels of the same field of science, adopt different management systems, and adopt different management methods for the same field of science in different development periods.

Public facilities

Consider carrying more popular science functions

The public is the main body participating in science popularization, and the popularization of science and technology for the public has received more and more attention. When the government or enterprises build public and public welfare facilities, they increasingly consider the bearing of science popularization functions, and many "marriages" have become good stories.

For example, in the design process of the Long Island Natural History Museum project, there was a deep involvement of the Japanese High Voltage Research Center. With the help of the American Geometry Center, the Minnesota Science Museum is eye-catching in terms of the fusion of science and artistry, putting a beautiful veil on science, attracting more visitors, and further amplifying the radiation effect of popular science.

In Japan, science popularization has always been completed by the government, industry, academia and the public, and they are the common promoters and disseminators of science popularization.

The official science popularization institutions include the Ministry of Culture, Education, Science and Technology, the Affiliated Science and Technology Conference, the Science and Technology Promotion Business Foundation, and the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute. Non-governmental science popularization institutions include the Museum Association, the National Association of Science Museums, and the National Alliance of Science and Technology Museums. They perform their respective duties, communicate with each other, and there are many ways to popularize science. In particular, popular science publications, design and printing are exquisite, in newspapers, periodicals, books everywhere can see popular science publications propaganda advertisements, book introductions and publication previews. Most popular science books and periodicals are accompanied by reader survey cards to understand the situation and needs of readers, to understand the readers' opinions on this book and magazine, and through what channels the books and periodicals came to the hands of readers.

Every year in mid-August, Australia hosts national science festivals (weeks) in major cities, but there are differences in the name of the event. Known as the Australian Science Festival in the capital Canberra, it was Australia's oldest science festival, the first of which was held in 1993, when more than 70,000 visitors participated in 65 of these events. Since then, the Festival has grown rapidly and attracts about 120,000 visitors a year to 180 high-quality events organized by it. In other states it is called "Science Week".

The Australian Science Festival Organizing Committee believes that the impact of science on society is all-round, so the annual science festival does not have a theme. The Science Festival focuses on the influence of celebrities, and invites celebrities to participate in the activities in the Science Festival, which increases the appeal to the public. These celebrities include relevant senators, senior officials in government departments, Nobel prize winners, etc.

During the Science Festival, a number of popular science lectures will be held in the lecture hall of the National Convention and Exhibition Center, and various forms of exhibitions and scientific practice activities will be carried out. The exhibitors are mainly from the scientific research and education departments. For example, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, canberra Technical College, Australian Academy of Sciences, National Science and Technology Centre, etc. have set up booths or activity areas in the museum to carry out various activities such as popular science promotion, hands-on experience, gifting or selling scientific souvenirs. The main group of people participating in the science festival is teenagers. Science Festival activities are free and open to teenagers.

Under big data technology

Explore "Focus Science"

It is worth mentioning that stimulating the sense of responsibility of science popularization participants has become the key to science popularization work.

"Made in Germany has been laid from the podium of primary school teachers." Many Europeans say so. In Germany, popular science education is an important part of its education system.

The Space Systems Institute in Bremen is one of the 16 research institutes of the German Aerospace Center throughout the country and an important science education base in North Germany.

Before the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, from Monday to Friday, there would be as few as dozens of primary and secondary school students, as many as hundreds of primary and secondary school students, entering the teaching laboratory on the first floor of the institute to participate in popular science education.

The teaching laboratory covers an area of about 1,000 square meters and is divided into 5 different types of teaching experience areas. Students come from the Bremen region, Lower Saxony and other surrounding primary and secondary schools, and some even come by train for two or three hours. Each study is led by several teachers who are specially responsible for popular science education in the school, responsible for the itinerary and safety of the students, and of course, the academic performance of the students.

Those responsible for popular science education include many professor-level researchers in the institute. Although they have a lot of scientific research, they still enjoy it. Oliver, the relevant person in charge, believes that this is not only a good opportunity to promote the image of the Space Center, but also part of the fulfillment of social responsibility, "especially as a public scientific research institution that uses taxpayer money, it is our responsibility to introduce the research results to the public." ”

Although the German Aerospace Center belongs to the German secret-related unit, it will not reject children because of its involvement in secrets. In fact, the scope of students' activities is not limited to the teaching laboratories on the first floor, most of which will open up science corners for visitors. Of course, these laboratories receive corresponding subsidies for science popularization from the government, and some can even reach 1/3 of the total annual funds of the laboratories, so the laboratories of the institute also actively support the cause of science popularization.

In the UK, a wide variety of science museums and science centres play an irreplaceable role as important places for non-formal science education.

The United Kingdom vigorously supports the cause of science and technology museums from both legislative and financial guarantees. As early as the end of the 18th century, the British government enacted the Museum Act, which gave legal protection to museums, including the Science and Technology Museum, and determined its status as a public interest legal person. The British government not only spends a lot of money to establish a science and technology museum, but also allocates a large amount of money to the science and technology museum every year to ensure its operation.

In recent years, with the popularity of the Internet, online science popularization and online and offline combination platforms have become new communication carriers. Online science popularization is not only limited to the release and presentation of scientific knowledge, but also communicates and disseminates through network interaction. In addition, the professional needs of popular science subjects in the field of science have been further strengthened.

Under the background of the development of big data technology, while continuously mining common characteristics and needs through accumulated data, how to better personalize communication, increase audience stickiness, and even achieve "focus science" to some extent has become a new topic.