The Science Shop Concept and its Implementation in a French University
Résumé
Science shops are science-society interfaces that follow a bottom-up approach. They work on the translation of social-based research demands in terms of scientific questions. They support participatory research between Civil Society Organizations, academic research groups and students. The European Commission recognizes science shops as Responsible Research and Innovation tools. They are not widely known in France and southern Europe. We investigate their potentialities in terms of social innovation and co-building research analysis. We describe the co-creation process that we used for the design of our science shop in the North of France. This is based on a scenario-workshop engaging all stakeholders concerned by a science shop. Our science shop is now implemented in the “Community of Universities and Higher Education Institutions Lille-North of France”. We provide a first typology of social demands. This experiment starts with two pilot projects, benefits from the support of motivated stakeholders, and deserves to be shared widely.
