The French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Agence Nationale pour la gestion des Déchets Radioactifs or Andra) is a public institution supervised by the Ministries of the Environment, Higher Education and Research.
For 30 years, as part of its mission to disseminate scientific and technical culture, it has striven to raise awareness about its industrial and scientific activities, particularly amongst the general public, as regards a major issue. To achieve this, it uses all means of communication and is implementing varied and innovative mediation systems. It assists the public in developing a critical approach to science, to the issues it involves and to its industrial implications.
Andra lends its expertise to the State to find, implement and ensure safe management solutions for all French radioactive waste.
A particular problem it faces within the context of its mission is the dissemination via social media of distorted or erroneous information.
Science&You organises training courses for doctoral students, and offers a colloquium for professionals and events aimed at the general public. Its objectives are: to make research accessible, to exchange knowledge, and to bring science to the general population. As one of the event’s partners, what, in your view, are the issues surrounding scientific mediation, and why should we support Science&You?
The major challenge is indeed to bring the general population within the scientific sphere, to allow the public to ask the right questions, to get involved, to develop a critical approach. Mediation systems must be simple, educational and accessible to the majority of our visitors, which is in itself an initial challenge. A number of sometimes conflicting issues must be taken into consideration. Tours of Andra’s Underground Laboratory must provide simplifications of complicated information, whilst ensuring that these do not bypass scientific challenges or uncertainties. Sometimes the idea is also to demonstrate that a scientific approach proceeds step by step, in a constant state of “doubt”. Indeed, such doubt is the basis for questions, acts as an incentive and demands honesty, sincerity and modesty when presenting results; so mediation and its associated means must allow the public to understand not just the scientific approach, but in particular that its doubts or uncertainties actually represent its tools, its safeguards and one of its driving forces.
Historically, as one of its partners, we have provided support to the University of Lorraine. As regards communication, we participate in a number of joint events, such as the Science Festival (Fête de la Science) and the Journées Hubert Curien (Hubert Curien Days). We are therefore very happy to be lending our support once again for this new edition of Science&You.
What professional and civic role(s) do they play in scientific mediation? How is scientific mediation employed when dealing with controversial issues, particularly where the general public is involved?
Just as doubt provides an incentive to scientists, the population also has a role to play in communication and scientific mediation initiatives. Within the context of complicated and controversial issues, there is an obligation to provide clear, sincere and above all verifiable information. During the implementation of mediation initiatives, members of the population may also raise questions that we had not thought of or explored; so we need to adjust our methods and our means. We need to look at issues, even disturbing ones, as a means of progressing, without which mediation is reduced to mere communication.
What new challenges have emerged from the Covid pandemic in terms of communication around the management of radioactive waste?
Of course, like everyone else, we had to cope with the closure of our public spaces and find inventive and daring ways to provide scientific mediation. Since we were unable to meet with the public or offer tours, exhibitions or information sessions, we introduced alternative arrangements. Via these new means of communication/mediation, members of the public also discovered new opportunities for interaction. Mediation via electronic means allowed members of the public to express themselves more freely, without the pressure imposed by the presence of other people, the fear of being judged, etc.
For example, we offer virtual tours, live online conferences and electronic conferences, associated with interactive chat and a digital escape game. There have been more spontaneous requests, which are largely absent from the usual questions we get asked face-to-face – in short, a sort of lack of inhibition resulting from digitisation and pseudo-anonymity.
It is also evident that digital tools will play an increasingly important role in our mediation options, face-to-face or not. For example, inserting augmented reality or 3D sequences into virtual tours provides a fun element as an aid to understanding the issues. Although nothing can replace a real tour of our sites, the pandemic has forced us to innovate.