Center for Science Communication http://www.jst.go.jp/csc/
Opportunities for science communication are open to all. You are not asked to be specialists in the field concerned in order to take part in the activity; rather, you are to address the issue as your own and take part from your own perspective. Cultivating the ability to identify the issue, obtaining basic scientific knowledge, adopting a scientifically sound approach in thinking about the issue, and collaborating with others to work on it are all constituents of S&T literacy, which should help you in contemplating, discussing, and resolving complicated issues on the relationships between S&T and society.
Drs. Motonori HOSHI and Eizo NAGASAKI, fellows at the JST Center for Science Commutation (as of March 2015), studied ways in which S&T literacy can be promoted in society as a whole, and the means through which individuals can acquire it. Their study was based on the concept of the Science and Technology for All Japanese project * and consisted of five topics (Competency and Literacy, Japanese Cultural Background, Risks in Everyday Life and Risk Literacy, Shifts and Challenges in Japanese Post-war Education, and the Partakers of S&T Literacy). These topics were compiled into a report to further promote and build S&T literacy. This past December, the study group held a session at the Tokyo headquarters of JST where the report was shared. The presentation was followed by a structured workshop in which participants discussed strategies for building and disseminating S&T literacy, which culminated in ten project ideas directed toward the government, business enterprises, media, and educational institutions.
* The Vision of S&T Literacy in the 21st Century—Intelligence for Fruitful Lives was a research project drafted by the Science Council of Japan and the National Institute for Educational Policy Research for the purpose of considering S&T literacy for the Japanese. The project was put together as a report in 2008.
- - This is an English translation of NEWS 2 in TOPICS, which was published in the April 2015 issue of JST news.
http://www.jst.go.jp/pr/jst-news/pdf/2015/2015_04_p16.pdf
The workshop in December 2014
While envisioning a future Japanese society where everyone is familiar with S&T and having dialogue with each other, the participants, who just met for the first time, were grouped into pairs and listened to each other’s opinion.
JST, an integrated organization of science and technology in Japan, establishes an infrastructure for the entire process from the creation of knowledge to the return to the society. For more information, visit http://www.jst.go.jp/EN/