The process

City Partnerships (CPs) will foster functional interactions between local stakeholders to develop effective science communication policies.

CPs arise from science communication institutions forming alliances with local policymakers. There are currently 69 City Partnerships in PLACES representing 27 European countries. These cooperative relationships will yield Local Action Plans targeting science communication policies in European cities and regions.

CPs will also grow to involve media, non-governmental organizations, universities, research institutions, companies, and more.

Local Action Plans (LAPs) will target key challenges in cities based on scientific problem-solving.

LAPs are strategic visions that will inform science communication policy at the local level for many years to come. Developments of LAPs are led by City Partnerships and they address science and technology-related issues relevant to their respective city or region. This is why citizen consultation is also a key step in drafting LAPs.

Pilot Activities will test innovative approaches to communicate science-based solutions in cities. Pilot Activities will be developed in connection with Local Action Plans, to test best practices on how to address controversial or problematic local issues in a way that actively involves citizens.

Getting together in Europe

Annual Conferences, Science Cities Workshops, training opportunities and Thematic Working Groups will bring PLACES stakeholders together in a united effort.

Annual conferences:

Science Cities Workshops are meetings used for discussing the development of local science communication policies.

Training workshops are for civil servants from all levels who want to learn how to incorporate science communication into their work.

Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) will foster high-level discussion about how science communication policies and activities connect to the Europe 2020 targets: Employment, research and development, climate change and energy, education, and poverty. The groups will promote exchanges between City Partnerships that differ in experience but have similar local contexts - and vice versa.

The PLACES Stakeholders Assembly operates at the European level to provide expert insight and analysis on project outputs. The Assembly is an external and specialized voice in PLACES composed of non-governmental organizations, journalists, universities, research centres, and others.

It all comes together here, at the PLACES OPEN web platform (www.openplaces.eu) –the workspace where all parties gather to plan, develop and exchange. The PLACES OPEN web platform is a meeting place for people working on PLACES as well as a “science in society” resource centre. The OPEN platform is just that – open. It’s for people from any number of projects or networks who want to contribute to PLACES.

Surveys, reports and assessments will document European realities of how local actors and science interact and yield recommendations for future policies. This wealth of data about science communication policies, science communication actors, as well as impact assessments of their activities and associated policies, will be synthesized into reports. These reports will contain recommendations for building effective science communication policies in European cities.

PLACES will conclude in 2014 with local and EU-level blueprints for how to build European Cities of Scientific Culture.