democracy
A multilingual news platform for better-informed EU citizens
Wouldn't it be great to be able to access foreign news in your own language? A recent STOA study explores the idea of a news streaming platform that could transform how EU citizens access information across linguistic boundaries. The ESMH spoke with the two main authors of the study from the Centre for Media Pluralism ...
Mirko Bischofberger: ‘AI offers a promise of a better way of communicating’
Dr. Mirko Bischofberger is an expert in science communication. He is a lecturer at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Zurich and Lausanne (ETH and EPFL), as well as the universities of Zürich and Basel. Mirko studied molecular biology, specialised in computational biology and worked for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, a renowned Swiss newspaper. He ...
Elisabetta Tola: ‘We need spaces to learn, share, and reflect together’
Elisabetta Tola is a science, data, and investigative journalist. She is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Facta.eu, an Italian independent media outlet that applies the scientific method to journalism and promotes science journalism as a cornerstone of democratic participation. Elisabetta is also the CEO of formicablu, an Italian science communication and multimedia production agency, and ...
Science communication in the digital age: How to navigate the risks and rewards?
The digital revolution and dawn of generative AI are fundamentally reshaping the conditions for science communication and journalism, giving rise to new threats but also new opportunities to improve the reach and accessibility of scientific knowledge. These themes are the focus of the European Science-Media Hub (ESMH) Summer School 'Science Communication in the Digital Age', ...
Podcast: ‘Academic Freedom in the EU: defending a pillar of democracy’
Academic freedom is a fundamental EU value that’s under threat. That’s why the European Parliament’s panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) is taking action. In 2022, STOA launched the Forum for Academic Freedom. Its annual high-level conference this year brought together academia, decision makers and experts, to explore how academic freedom can ...
Yves Dejaeghere on participation and citizens’ assemblies: ‘Young people, minorities and people with a lower socio-economic status are very often left out’
Yves Dejaeghere is the executive director of the Federation for Innovation in Democracy – Europe. He participated in this year’s Annual lecture hosted by Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) on 24 January 2024, discussing how democracy can work for everyone. He talks to the European Science-Media Hub on citizens’ participation and assemblies ...
Prof. Sylvia Kritzinger: ‘Europe needs to very seriously take our young citizens into consideration and engage them in politics’
Sylvia Kritzinger is Professor for Methods in the Social Sciences at the University of Vienna (Austria). Her research focuses on citizens’ political attitudes and voting behaviour, democratic representation, and political participation, voting at 16. She participated in this year’s Annual Lecture hosted by the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) ...
How to ensure democratic integrity and participation: interview with Prof. Michael Bruter
In 2024, the world will witness pivotal elections, including those for the European Parliament in June. With political populism, polarisation and turmoil stemming from crises like the Russian-Ukraine war, the stakes for democracies around the world are high. Hence, this year's Annual Lecture hosted by the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future on Science and ...