A Science Shop is a facility, often attached to a specific department of a university or an NGO, that provides independent participatory research support in response to concerns experienced by civil society.
For example, the first Science Shop attached to the chemistry department at Utrecht University was particularly skilled in evaluation reports on soil analysis.
Science Shops, in general, have aided environmentalists in better analyzing industrial pollutants, and helped workers to better evaluate the safety and employment consequences of new production processes.
The Dutch system has inspired Science Shops in nations across Europe such as Denmark, Austria, Germany, Norway, the UK, Belgium, Romania and Portugal .
The EC has financed studies and projects, such as SCIPAS, InterActs, ISSNET and TRAMS which contributed to the development of new Science Shops.
To reach this aim, the project will identify, develop, pilot and disseminate good practice and relevant resources to embed the 5 RRI policy agendas ’Public Engagement’, ‘Science Education’, ‘Open Access’, ‘Ethics’ and ‘Gender’ in academic curricula across Europe.
InSPIRES seeks to support Science Shops that approach vulnerable sectors and unorganized groups of civil society, both in urban and rural areas.
Working principally but not exclusively in health and environmental issues, InSPIRES models aim to integrate Responsible Research and Innovation, Open Science and Impact Evaluation in order to promote inclusive and culturally adaptable Science Shop projects to be accurate and responsive to civil society needs and concerns.