VOICES project gives EU citizens an opinion

The European Commission is giving EU citizens a chance to have their say on the next research and innovation framework programme.

The Commission is consulting with stakeholders on its research priorities through the pilot VOICES (‘Views, Opinions and Ideas of Citizens in Europe on Science’) project, which, if deemed successful, the EU institution says it will inspire other similar citizen consultations and public engagement initiatives towards Horizon 2020 research priorities.

So far, VOICES has held 99 participatory workshops in 33 locations in 27 European countries, in 23 languages. Around 1,000 people have participated in the focus groups, which consisted of holding pan-European participatory and inclusive face-to-face workshops. The results will be analysed and presented to the Commission for input to policy for the Horizon 2020 funding segment on reusing and recycling waste.

VOICES is also making available the documentation for developing content and training for large scale and co-ordinated focus groups in public consultations. An open source online platform (Visual Lab) will be created to make the documentation and collected information available.

The project is being implemented by Ecsite, the European Network of Science Centres and Museums. VOICES received €1.5m in EU and will conclude in January 2014.