Skip to main content
EU Science Hub
News announcement26 September 2017

JRC Annual Conference "EU for facts: evidence for policy in a post-fact world"

On 26 September the JRC is organising its annual conference on "EU for facts: evidence for policy in a post-fact world". The conference is the highlight of the JRC's 60th Anniversary celebrations.

Commissioner Tibor Navracsics at the opening session of the EU4FACTS-Evidence for policy in a post-fact world
© © European Union, 2017

On 26 September the JRC is organising its annual conference on "EU for facts: evidence for policy in a post-fact world". The conference is the highlight of the JRC's 60th Anniversary celebrations.

The topic of the conference was chosen to reflect the current crisis of evidence and facts. While the interaction between science and policy has never been straightforward, now it has been further complicated by the post-fact phenomenon. In response, the conference aims to produce a set of clear recommendations for successful evidence-informed policy making at EU level.

Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, responsible for the JRC, said ahead of the conference: "Just like Gutenberg's printing press, social media has enabled a paradigm shift in communication, wresting control from traditional information 'gatekeepers'. In policymaking, values and emotions have always had an important place alongside evidence and facts, but the lines have become increasingly blurred. The JRC is working with scientists, politicians, the media and citizens to develop new thinking and new narratives, finding a better balance between facts and values in the political discourse."

Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, delivered a key-note speech and Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, gave opening remarks in a session dedicated to the question of trust in science.

Other speakers include, among others, Pascal Lamy, former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Sir Peter Gluckman, Chair of the International Network for Science Advice to Governments, Rush Holt, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Professor Steven Sloman of Brown University's Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences.

Leading experts from the fields of science, policy and media discuss, among others, issues of trust in science, and the need to re-design policymaking using behavioural and decision science.

The EU4FACTS conference can be followed live via webstream or recording after the event.

JRC Annual Conferences

This is the third Annual Conference organised by the JRC. The first Annual Conference in 2015 focused on "Building a resilient Europe in a globalised world". The second one, in 2016, explored the topic of "Human capital for territorial growth".

Videos

Statement by Tibor NAVRACSICS, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport

Statement by Jyrki KATAINEN, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness

Statement by Carlos MOEDAS, Member of the EC in charge of Research, Science and Innovation

Related Content

EU4FACTS conference webstream

EU for facts: evidence for policy in a post-fact world

Details

Publication date
26 September 2017