**Section 3**

**Citizenship Participation and Sustainable Communities** 

120 Social Sciences and Cultural Studies – Issues of Language, Public Opinion, Education and Welfare

Weintraub, E. Roy (2002). *How economics became a mathematical science*. Durham, North

Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1958). *Philosophical investigations*. Trans.G.E.M. Anscombe. New York:

Wilson, E.O. (1998). *Consilience: The unity of knowledge*. New York: Alfred Knopf.

Carolina: Duke University Press.

Macmillan.

**7** 

Carlo Sessa

*Italy* 

**Sustainability Science** 

**and Citizens Participation:** 

**Interface to Address Grand** 

**Societal Challenges in Europe** 

*ISIS – Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems* 

**Building a Science-Citizens-Policy** 

The recent *Europe 2020 Strategy* adopted by the European Union formulated ambitious policy objectives in areas such as climate change, energy security, demographic ageing or resource efficiency. The Europe 2020 flagship initiative *Innovation Union* called for linking future EU funding programs more closely to these objectives by putting a stronger focus on tackling societal challenges. These will be addressed, amongst other things, by launching *European Innovation Partnerships* in areas in which government intervention is clearly justified and where is deemed necessary to combine the EU, national and regional efforts in Research and Development (R&D) and demand-side policies. Examples of such partnerships areas of great concern for the European citizens: active and healthy ageing; smart and livable cities; water-efficient Europe; smart mobility for Europe's citizens and

The European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) are new avenues for doing sustainability research combining scientists, policy makers, citizens and civil society organizations, and sectoral stakeholders in a shared process. This chapter presents a method for doing participatory research and evaluation with panels of randomly selected citizens, in sustainability domains related to the grand societal challenges addressed by the Europe

The method has been designed and applied in three pilot EU funded projects of knowledge brokerage and participatory assessment, related to sustainable cities (RAISE: www.raiseeu.org), sustainable urban transport (MOVE TOGETHER: www.move-togetherexhibition.net) and sustainable coastal water management (AWARE: www.aware-eu.net). Only in the latter project, however, the method has been fully tested at European and local

The following sections will present the method and the results of the more recent and mature pilot experience – the AWARE project after which the method is named – and

discuss theoretical foundations and future prospects for practical application.

**1. Introduction** 

2020 strategy.

business; agriculture productivity and sustainability.

levels, and subject to a fully-fledged evaluation activity.
