The promoter of the Science Connecting People project (“SCOPE” – Science COnnecting PEople), the FabLab association, together with its project partners, began work at the beginning of January 2021 on activities to survey public opinion and to assess the needs of society. 

Work on this project element began in early January with a working meeting at the Faculty of Architecture attended by representatives of the Faculty of Architecture, the Ruđer Bošković Institute and the FabLab association. Kristina Careva, PhD, also joined the meeting in the role of participation expert. Dr Careva took on the task of preparing and coordinating a total of three focus groups which, alongside the surveys of public opinion and of the needs of society, will define the research topics to be pursued during this three-year project. 

A second working meeting in mid-January was attended by representatives of the academic and research community so that they could contribute to defining how this element is to be implemented. Dr Careva proposed to the participants a schedule for carrying out the project activities within this element. 

In order to define the participants of the future focus groups according to the quadruple helix methodology, representatives of civil society organisations, in addition to the academic and research community, were also involved in nominating the focus group members. The first focus group within this element is planned for February 2021.