Practices and Perceptions About Public Participation in Science and Technology and in Climate Change: The Cases of Portugal and Spain

Abstract

An increasingly number of reports (eg. IPCC, 2007, 2013, 2014a, IPCC, 2014b) and scholars (eg. Caride & Meira, 2004; O’Neill & Nicholson-Cole, 2009; Lakoff, 2010; Phillips et al., 2012) have called attention to the urgency of deepening public engagement in debates and decision-making processes on climate change. However, the participation of Portuguese and Spanish citizens on the issue has been basically fulfilled through non-dialogical initiatives and their action is often limited to energy saving behaviours and recycling. Based on an exploratory survey study with 227 Portuguese and Spanish citizens, the article analyses behaviours, perceptions and constraints related to participation in climate change. The main factors that influence citizens’ engagement in debates and decision-making processes are identified, and the importance that they award to participation in decisions that involve science-related matters is analised. Data suggest some concern and a good degree of interest in climate change, and especially its effects, by citizens in both countries. The majority of respondents stated that they felt reasonably well-informed about these themes. Inquired citizens consider that public consultation on science and technology issues is insufficient, although the majority states that they have not been actively involved in such processes. They also recognize that they have little participation in these matters, in particular climate change, and point out, as relevant constraints, their scientific illiteracy and lack of interest for scientific issues, the resistance displayed by decision-makers to democratizing these kinds of debates and implementing participatory mechanisms, the difficulty in accessing information and difficulties in the communication between scientists and citizens.