The Basque Parliament has given the green light to an amendment presented by PNV and PSE-EE in which the regional government is urged to "maintain and strengthen its commitment to extending scientific knowledge to society".
The Plenary Session of the Chamber addressed this issue this Thursday following an initiative by EH Bildu. The original proposal of the abertzale coalition was finally rejected, garnering 39 votes against (PNV, PSE-EE, and Vox), 27 in favor (EH Bildu and Sumar), and seven abstentions (PP).
EH Bildu's non-binding proposal stipulated that the Basque Government should open a specific line of work to promote citizen science and launch a concrete action program to deepen this area.
In its text, EH Bildu called for the dissemination of the philosophy and guiding principles of citizen science "so that research projects with these characteristics are developed" in all departments of the regional Executive.
Likewise, it requested that the philosophy, guiding principles, and experience of citizen science be made known both to the public and to the Basque Science and Technology network "through concrete action programs".
The PP's amendment, which asked the Government to open a line of work to promote citizen science "by developing a specific action program, with clear budgetary allocation, and prioritizing public-private collaboration to maximize efficiency," was also rejected.
Said program, as detailed in the popular text, should incorporate evaluation indicators such as the number of projects financed, the volume of active citizen participants, and scientific results published in open access, "with annual impact reviews to guarantee return on investment."
Finally, the transactional amendment by PNV and PSE-EE was approved with 38 favorable votes from both parties, 27 abstentions (EH Bildu and Sumar), and eight votes against (PP and Vox).
Through this initiative, the Parliament underlines the relevance of promoting actions that bring scientific knowledge closer to all citizens, and urges the Basque Government to "maintain and strengthen its commitment to extending scientific knowledge to society."
Furthermore, the Chamber calls on the Executive to continue deploying the measures included in the Project for the Social Dissemination of Knowledge "through the strengthening of scientific culture and the improvement of the relationship between science and society".