Public participation, science and society [electronic resource] : tools for dynamic and responsible governance of research and innovation / Mikko Rask, Saulė Mačiukaitė-Žviniene, Loreta Tauginienė, Vytautas Dikčius, Kaisa Matschoss, Timo Aarrevaara, and Luciano d'Andrea.

"The field of public engagement is developing fast, with phenomena such as citizen science and crowdsourcing extending the resource base of research, stimulating innovation, and making science more accessible to the general population. Promoting public engagement means giving more weight to citizens and civil society actors in the definition of research needs and in the implementation of research and innovation. As yet, there is limited understanding of the implications of widespread use of public engagement and as a result, there is a risk that it will become a burden for research and an obstacle to bridging the gap between research and society. This volume presents the findings of a three-year international study on innovative public engagement. The resulting work studies the characteristics and trends of innovative public engagement through a global sample of 38 case studies. It provides theoretical generalisations on the dynamics of public engagement, suggestions for an evaluation framework, and clear empirical examples of how public engagement works in practice. Illustrated by best practice cases, the authors identify characteristics which contribute to successful public engagement. The book is aimed primarily at scholars and practitioners of public engagement, as well as research managers, policy makers and business actors interested in the issues of public engagement. There is also a secondary market for students and scholars of European governance studies, sociology and political studies"-- Provided by publisher.