CIPAST case-study based training package now online
CIPAST activities have confirmed that training for public participation in science and technology has to be considered as a multiple objective aim: as training activity before (and for) the implementation of a public participation initiative but also as an offer to get informed about public participation in general – and not being directly targeted to the translation into training action. CIPAST therefore has decided to put case studies at the core of its training and to focus on a process of active and participative learning.
CIPAST in Practice now provides elementary sets for teaching and learning which are based on ‘real life case studies’ and which can be used and re-assembled by potential users . The given tools are completed through information resources about designing participatory procedures experts, literature and additional experiences.
All case studies presented in this training package were developed by involving actors and users. All case studies were tested in training sessions in two international workshops 2006 and 2007.

You can order a free CD of CIPAST in Practice from Norbert Steinhaus, norbert.steinhaus@wilabonn.de or make use of the training offers here at the CIPAST website.
English version: Go to CIPAST in Practice. Click on top right in the new window to get the French version!

The main aim of Chloe Alexander's study was to examine whether two of the European Commission’s recent objectives are being reached by the funding of European network projects. The first of these aims is to improve European integration between member states by harmonizing economic, social and cultural practices. The second is to construct platforms for the exchange of information and experience regarding the field of deliberative participation methodologies in the area of science in society.
The empirical aspect of the thesis took the example of CIPAST. Nine interviews with representatives from each partner institution were carried out during the 2007 Procida Workshop. The effectiveness of the CIPAST project, the network structure of the project and the developments of deliberative democracy in the different member states were discussed.
The conclusion confirms that the two goals of the European Commission are being reached through the funding of the CIPAST project and network.
You can download a pdf of the study (0.5 MB) here.
Contact Chloe Alexander here. 

To support the struc-turing of an expanded network of European organizations already involved or interested in participatory processes regarding scientific and technological issues. the CIPAST consortium decided to set up a database, in order to facilitate knowledge and information transfer between the members of the network.
The link to the CIPAST database can be found here on the CIPAST website. For further information, please contact the database manager at cipast@geniusoft.ch or the webmaster at norbert.steinhaus@wilabonn.de.

Based on the results of the first CIPAST training workshop, held in Dresden, June 2006, the Procida-Naples workshop aimed at fostering organisational learning, dissemination of good practices across institutions and countries, as well as critical self-reflection. 
The wonderful mediterranean atmosphere of the island of Procida in the Gulf of Naples and the phantastic organisation by the host Cittá della Scienza allowed a fruitful exchange of experience and expertise and offered much scope for establishing contacts or consolidating networking.  

Case studies and Poster sessions
The 2nd CIPAST training workshop"How to design and organise public deliberation" from June 17th to June 21st 2007 presented the state of the art of knowledge on public participation in science and technology and refered to concrete experiences in European countries.
After introductory lectures the participants worked on concrete case studies, offered by the CIPAST consortium but also introduced by the participants themselves. 
Many of the case studies which could not have been selected for a detailed discussion in work groups were prepared as posters and presented during the workshop's poster session. Some questions and experiences raised in the participants' case experiences were also adapted for a discussion in the workshop's Open Space session. 
You can download the presentations and case study materials from the subpage 'workshop programme'.

More to come soon - knowing that you wait for the pictures. But your comments are also welcome. Please send me your Procida impressions and experiences.
Yours, Norbert Steinhaus (norbert.steinhaus@wilabonn.de)