Handling Scientific & Technical Information in Contentious Public Issues

Skill Building

 Speakers:
Steve Smutko & Kay Haaland
919-515-4683
steve_smutko@ncsu.edu
NC State University
This workshop is an introduction to a training curriculum that is designed to aid Extension professionals who work on contentious public issues. It focuses on one very important component of public issues education - those situations where information is likely to be debated and discussed apart from a public issue that concerns a community and divides its members. Extension professionals have long been purveyors of scientific and technical information. However, information transfer alone is not sufficient to assist groups in working through complex public issues. There are best practices - workable solutions - to help groups reach agreement on the information they need, and how to best use it. In this workshop participants will receive the curriculum materials and be introduced to tools and strategies-the best practices to (1) manage warring or contested science, (2) manage scientific and technical uncertainty, and (3) deal with information imbalances that often characterize environmental justice issues.

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For more information about the conference, contact the conference co-chairs: Cindy Bigger, cbigger@umn.edu, (888) 241-0843, or Rick Maurer, richard.maurer@uky.edu, (859) 257-7582.

For questions, comments or concerns about the 2006 NACDEP Conference website, contact emilye@srdc.msstate.edu.