The previous Transcend blog post argued that the future of research and innovation (R&I) depends on citizen engagement. It made the case for involving citizens not just as a nice-to-have feature of R&I processes, but as a precondition for generating societally relevant and responsible results.
But how do European citizens see that? Recent Eurobarometers (a series of representative pan-European surveys) provide clues as to citizens’ perceptions, opinions and preferences. Some of them are presented below.
Decreasing knowledge, information, motivation.
The majority of EU citizens (56%), feel relatively well informed about advances in science and technology (S&T), but the level has dropped since 2021, the date of the previous survey. They share the view that S&T are complicated, difficult to understand or less relevant to their daily lives. Lack of time (40%), lack of interest (up to 37% from 34% in 2021) and lack of knowledge (36%, down from 39% in 2021) are reasons not to engage with S&T [1].
At the same time, more and more Europeans (58%) are willing to learn about S&T. Preferred means of engagement range from TV programmes and podcasts; to online social media and blogs; and to talking with friends and family.
Professional scientists are regarded as best qualified to explain the impact of scientific and technological developments on society. Scientists working at a university or government-funded research organisation enjoy a higher but falling level of trust (57%, down from 61% in 2021) compared to their counterparts in the private sector.(39%, down from 40% in 2021). There is some level of engagement between scientists and citizens. However, about half of respondents (48% compared to 51% in 2021) do not think that “scientists spend sufficient time meeting people like them to explain their work”.
High but decreasing confidence in S&T.
The view that science and technology have a more positive than negative impact on society remains dominant (83%) amongst Europeans. But that, too has been decreasing since 2021 (-3%). There are several areas of concern [2].
Confidence in the benefits of S&T to the daily lives of Europeans has dropped.
There is also concern amongst a growing majority of Europeans (63%) that their ways of life are changing too fast because of S&T developments.
Furthermore, a growing majority (56%) think that S&T applications can threaten human rights, with some countries like Spain (69%), Sweden (68%) and the Netherlands (65%) more concerned than others, like Romania (44%).
Next to concerns, there are also certain expectations:
A growing majority (57% compared with 55% in 2021), expect decisions about S&T “to be based primarily on the moral and ethical issues concerned”. There is significant increase in such expectations particularly in countries like Portugal (68% compared to 46% in 2021) and the Netherlands (53% compared to 40% in 2021).
Social responsibility in a broad sense is also considered as important for S&T by 77% of respondents. The expectation is that S&T “should consider the needs of all groups of people when developing new solutions and products”.
Marginal citizen involvement and influence.
Against the expectations mentioned above, citizens feel increasingly excluded from decisions about S&T. 53% feel that they “have no option but to trust those governing science and technology”. In this context, a large majority of respondents (72%) look at their governments to take charge and ensure new technologies benefit society [3].
A majority of respondents (52%) are of the opinion that “decisions about science and technology should be made by scientists, engineers and politicians, but that the public should always be informed” and 6% think that the public need not be involved in such decisions. 32% of respondents think that “the public should be consulted and public opinion should be seriously considered” and 8% think that public opinion should be leading in any decisions about S&T.
Limited trust.
Almost half of respondents (48% compared to 45% in 2021) consider that scientists only take a narrow, specialist view and ignore the broader societal perspective. There is disagreement whether scientists are able to comprehend the complex current issues in all their complexity. There is also growing concern (52% compared to 44% in 2021) about the power balance between scientists and the rest of the population, and the danger associated with scientists’ increased power.
Security and safety a priority.
The issues above also apply to the security and safety domain. This domain is regarded by a majority of Europeans as one of the main priorities for the EU.
The opinion that security and safety should be prioritised is broadly shared across EU Member States and applies to all security research sub-domains: from border control to disaster management and to cybersecurity.
Fighting all types of threats, including in the digital domain, enjoys as 56% support amongst Europeans. The highest percentage is registered in Sweden (80%), Finland (76%) and the Netherlands (74%), and the lowest in Poland and Romania (both 41%).
Investing in technological solutions to better protect the external border and compensate for the absence of internal controls is supported by 55% of respondents. The highest support is registered for the Netherlands (72%), Lithuania (66%) and Denmark (65%) and the lowest in Latvia and Spain (both 46%), Portugal (48%) and Romania (49%).
Disaster risk and disaster management has a diverse understanding amongst respondents. It includes not only extreme weather events and floods, but also human health emergencies as well as cybersecurity. Awareness of these disaster risks amongst the EU population remains relatively low, ranging from 50% for vulnerability to extreme weather events; to 33% for cyber threats [4].
Increasingly more Europeans also think that the impact of S&T on the security of citizens is likely to grow, especially in Estonia (22%, compared to 7% in 2021), Ireland (14% compared to 4% in 2021) and Latvia (18% compared to 8% in 2021).
Takeaways.
Eurobarometer surveys provide valuable insights into European citizens’ perceptions, opinions and expectations of several security (sub-)domains. A cursory analysis highlights the relative limited knowledge and awareness of (security) S&T and R&I. It also highlights a trend towards more skepticism amongst citizens regarding trust, credibility and positive impact of (security) S&T and R&I. It also underscores differences in perceptions and preferences across geographies and socio-demographic segments. In that, they can be valuable instruments in devising more suitable strategies to engage citizens in security research and use the engagement tools developed by the TRANSCEND project.
References:
[1] EC (2025) Eurobarometer “European citizens’ knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology”, February 2025 (fieldwork September 2024 – October 2024, https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/deliverable/download/file?deliverableId=94629
[2] EU (2024) Standard Eurobarometer 102, Autumn 2024, Europeans‘ opinions about the European Union’s priorities, https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/deliverable/download/file?deliverableId=96445
[3] EU (2024) Eurobarometer “Citizens’ attitudes towards the Schengen area”, October 2024 (fieldwork March 2024) https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/deliverable/download/file?deliverableId=94054
[4] EC (2024) Eurobarometer “Disaster risk awareness and preparedness of the EU population”, September 2024 (fieldwork February 2024 – March 2024), https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/deliverable/download/file?deliverableId=94114
Written by Gabriela Bodea, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO)
If you would like to learn more about this work, please feel free to contact us at contact@transcend-project.eu.
