Welcome to the international
conference Communicating Science and Technology and the Science
Media Festival. The conference, which will take place at the University
of Tromsø June 6-9 2006, will focus on the question of declining
recruitment to the natural sciences, mathematics and technology.
It seeks to engage the private sector in a debate about what this
means for society as a whole.
The University of Tromsø is situated far above the Arctic
Circle, in a part of Norway that has been largely dependent on agriculture
and fisheries. Together with fish farming and biotechnology the
recent discoveries of oil and gas deposits in the region, has lead
to a new focus on technological development.
At the same time, however, the interest in science among the
younger generation has declined. Fewer and fewer students enroll
in the science classes. The region therefore faces the question
of reconciling the goals of the policy makers and the needs of industry
with the realities of the educational system. How can development
occur if too few have the necessary qualifications to be innovative?
This declining interest in science is in fact the symptom of
a general trend in European societies. Thus what may initially have
been a local problem, is now actually a question of national, and
even international, importance. This is the background against which
this conference is set. It is hoped that the conference will attract
journalists, media experts, policy makers, educators, and industrial
representatives with a vested interest in the subject, and engage
them in a fruitful debate to find out what they think. Can they
make science attractive?
