Ecsite has endorsed the Civil Society Convention for the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Civil Society Europe, as the coordination for civil society organisations in Europe, has established a Civil Society Convention open to all European (network) organisations that are “working towards regenerating the European project around the shared values of Equality, Solidarity, Inclusiveness and Democracy”, recognise themselves in this Joint declaration and agree to reclaim a space for civil society organisations in the Conference on the Future of Europe to join the Convention. This follows discussions that started at the beginning of 2020 with the European Parliament and the European Commission--in order to ensure space is made available for organised civil society to be part of the inter-institutional Conference Plenary.

Ecsite Executive Director Catherine Franche, gave the following endorsement to the convention during the event launch on 3 February, where over 200 organisations were present:

Ecsite is the European network of organisations that engage citizens with science and technology.

The Future of Europe is one where major challenges such as the climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity or misinformation , are seriously tackled.

The Future of Europe recognises that fighting and overcoming these challenges can only be done by and with citizens. Citizens who participate in science, contribute and influence research and policy.

Science engagement organisations members of Ecsite, - such as science museums, festivals or science centres, - fully take their responsibility and will continue to be part of the actions for a democratic, sustainable and equitable Europe.

We thus naturally join and endorse the Civil Society Convention, affirming the importance of civil society in shaping the future of Europe, the importance of European citizens with a strong scientific culture who contribute and play a valuable role in science research and policy. Democracy today requires citizens with a strong scientific and technical culture, and citizens actively involved in the research process.

You can find out more about the convention by visiting the Civil Society Europe website.