Science et Cité Foundation

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Science et Cité Foundation
S + C Logo.svg
Legal form: Foundation, endowment
Purpose: Science and society in dialogue
Chair: Nicola Forster ( President of the Board of Trustees )
Managing directors: Philipp Burkard ( Managing Director )
Consist: since 1998
Foundation capital: 250,000 CHF (2013)
Seat: Bern , Switzerland
Website: www.science-et-cite.ch

no founder specified

The nationally active Science et Cité is a non-profit Swiss foundation . It promotes the dialogue between science and society by means of low-threshold and innovative projects . She advocates the appreciation and understanding of all sciences and addresses their opportunities and limits. It also promotes feedback from the civilian population to the sciences. Science et Cité is not a charitable foundation, but operates itself. Financing is provided through performance agreements and project partnerships.

The foundation is based in Bern , with regional branches in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino .

Foundation purpose

The Foundation

  • promotes understanding and understanding of the goals and effects of science in society
  • promotes understanding and understanding of the concerns and needs of society in science through constructive dialogue
  • wants to build bridges between science and society by opening up scientific activity to the general public

The foundation is linked to the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences through a performance agreement based on Art. 31a of the Research Act.

history

The foundation was established in 1998 on the initiative of the State Secretariat for Education and Research. The sponsors were: The Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences , the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences , the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences , the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences , the Silva-Casa Foundation , the Swiss Trade and Industry Association (today: Economiesuisse ) and the Swiss National Science Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific Research . These provided foundation capital totaling 1.225 million francs.

The actual trigger for the establishment was the so-called gene protection initiative. It came to a vote in 1998 and called for the "protection of life and the environment from genetic manipulation". The political request was clearly rejected, but the referendum campaign made it clear that there was a deep gap between science and the public: On the one hand, researchers at universities and in industry who wanted to study genetic engineering and use it for themselves, on the other on the other hand, the public with their skeptical attitude towards green genetic engineering. In this situation, the new foundation should act as a neutral interface and promote dialogue and thus a climate of mutual trust between scientists and citizens.

Until 2010, the foundation received direct financial support from the State Secretariat for Education and Research . Since January 1, 2012, the foundation has been affiliated with the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences as a competence center for dialogue . The basic funding comes from the federal grant to the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. In return, Science et Cité has the opportunity to independently obtain third-party funding and develop its own activities.

organization

The foundation has its national office in Bern. Activities take place in German-speaking Switzerland, in Suisse romande as part of the Réseau Romand Science et Cité and in Ticino in conjunction with L'ideatorio of the Università della Svizzera Italiana.

  • The foundation bodies are the foundation council , the office and the auditors.
    • The Board of Trustees is the highest body of the Science et Cité Foundation. It consists of at least 5 and a maximum of 7 representatives from science, business and society.
    • The office employs a manager, a deputy manager, a project team as well as one coordinator of the Réseau Romand Science et Cité and L'Ideatorio in Ticino.
    • The independent, external auditor reviews the foundation's accounting every year and submits an audit report on the result to the foundation board.

Focus

The foundation pursues three strategic priorities and realizes both national and regional projects on its own initiative, in cooperation or on behalf of:

  1. Face to Face - direct dialogue between researchers and citizens
  2. Digital Interaction - online dialogue about science and its social relationships
  3. Learning Networks - Dialogue between actors in science communication

The foundation organizes science cafés, exhibitions , festivals and conferences , among other things .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Profile - Science et Cité. Retrieved on July 23, 2019 (Swiss Standard German).
  2. Media release from Science et Cité. Retrieved on July 23, 2019 (Swiss Standard German).
  3. a b Statutes of the Science et Cité Foundation