Lourdes Patiño is a psychologist; her training includes two master's degrees (in Psychology and Innovation), a diploma in Educational Assessment, and a university diploma in Gender Studies. She has worked for 27 years in the fields of public communication of science, social appropriation of science and technology, psychology, consulting, educational evaluation, and gender research. She has led or participated in several projects in Mexico, Costa Rica and Brazil.

Among these projects, Lourdes coordinated five state diagnoses on the dissemination of science and technology, as well as the Diagnosis of Public Communication of Science in Latin America (commissioned by the Network for the Popularization of Science in Latin America and the Caribbean). She also coordinated the development of a pedagogical model and a science experiments manual for the visually and hearing-impaired children.

Lourdes has coordinated and participated in the edition of several books on topics of public communication of science. She has been a project evaluator for the national council and several Mexican state science and technology councils. Lourdes Patiño has conducted some research on the impact of science popularisation and on scientific culture and the social appropriation of science in Mexico, including "What science does the citizen require?"

Lourdes has promoted the formation of networks of science communicators in Mexico and was President of the Mexican Society for the Public Communication of Science and Technology. Due to the activities that she has carried out in most of the states of the country and the positions she has held, Lourdes has had relationships with institutions in the science-technology and education sectors. She is currently a partner and senior consultant at Fibonacci – Innovation and Scientific Culture, and Executive Director of Network for the Popularization of Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (RedPOP).

Abstract

Policy and citizenship are two fundamental concepts in any democratic society. Policy, understood as a process by which people make collective decisions to manage the affairs of a community, state, or nation, requires citizens not only with an awareness that participation in social issues is important, but also informed citizens with critical thinking so that they can give their opinion and evaluate the actions of government on the various issues of social life.

Strengthening the scientific culture of people in a society contributes to the creation of citizenship. A population with a solid scientific culture is better prepared to participate in political and social decision-making related not only to science and technology, but also to a variety of issues, because in everything there are sciences that provide a better understanding of the natural and social world: health, combating climate change, environmental preservation, economics, discrimination and other forms of violence, support and adoption of emerging technologies, among many other issues.

In addition to giving a general framework of the relationship between scientific culture and the development of citizenship, the talk will share some data from the research "What science does the citizen require?" (in which the speaker participated as a researcher) carried out in Mexican in 2018-2019, which showed perceptions and attitudes towards science and technology, which provide information and generate thoughts on how to address audiences with very dissimilar, sometimes even contradictory, positions and ideas about science.

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