For our connected and reactive societies, saturated with verified or unverified information, knowledge sharing is a major challenge. It also responds to a demand from non-academic actors willing to collaborate in the production of knowledge and to revisit the univocal model of vertically distributed knowledge. Moreover, as the Covid health crisis has intensely illustrated, the lack of knowledge about the functioning of the research world and the questioning of the legitimacy of scientific speech are emerging elements of public discourse. Faced with this observation, collaborative, interdisciplinary and shared experiences are necessary tools to rebuild a peaceful and trusting relationship with science and to revitalize the dialogue between the academic world and the general public. They also enable to make visible all the connections between scientific work and the economic spheres, the mediation and restitution of the various media and distribution channels, local, national and international institutional partners, and collectives such as associations, lobbies, NGOs, etc.
Developing actions to promote links between science and society means
- questioning the ways in which our knowledge is produced, its impact and visibility on a wide public, the forms of mediation and appropriation,
- responding to the questions of researchers about their place in the city and to a demand from civil society about the meaning of research and the restitution of results,
- reestablishing links between the world of research and the citizen community.
An example of interdisciplinary research within Aix-Marseille University and its connections with society: the Cosquer cave, a prehistoric ornate sanctuary threatened by climate change and marine pollution.
