NEXT STEPS: COLLABORATIONS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Different experiences and opportunities in science education have been presented during this Workshop, giving us a possibility to discuss and compare, which are crucial steps to evaluate and improve. I will elaborate on possibilities to propose international activities including European and extra European countries. Science education has a long and well established tradition in Europe; modern instruments and innovative methods are in progress and have been implemented in different settings. Moreover, since the establishment of the "Lisbon Strategy" in 2000, presenting Europe as a "knowledge society", the promotion of scientific citizenship has become one of the priorities for the European Union. A continuous transfer of knowledge to society is needed to promote scientific evidence based decisions and policies, and the general public should be able to understand and use scientific concepts. Today we talk about evidence-informed decision, meaning the use of scientific knowledge integrated with knowledge of the community of reference (social, historical, anthropological, psychological, oral history, that are both quantitative and qualitative data). This means that the set of elements of informed decision making are widened and more articulated, and that the scientific methodologies used are both quantitative and qualitative, to include participation and the direct involvement of social actors in governance.