Selected examples of our work
To give you an idea of our work here you find
illustrative selected examples of what has arisen from NGO &
citizen demands. Research demands of NGOs and citizens on new
technologies can serve as an early warning system on citizens’ concerns
or open up new research perspectives on emerging technologies. Already
at the early stages of mobile communication a concerned citizen was
looking for research information on health hazards by mobile phones
before this topic gained media attention. When the development of fuel
cells was at an initial stage, another citizen wanted to know how to
use them for power generation for private homes.
Volunteering
A neighbourhood centre can increase its capacities
with assistance from volunteers. But there may also arise some
practical problems from volunteers and professional social workers
working shoulder to shoulder. The manager of such a neighbourhood
centre asked for literature on the following issues: What are the
motivations of volunteers? Which personal gratification do they search
for? What conflicts can evolve between those who do unpaid work and
those who are paid for their work, and how to manage them? The Science
Shop Vienna compiled a list of literature on these issues.
Women in non-traditional professions
Compared to professions that are typically pursued
by males, professions that are typically pursued by females often are
paid lower and embedded in structures that make working less
satisfying. A well-known centre for advice and information helps young
women, who prepare for an education in a male domain. The Science Shop
Vienna compiled a large list of related literature which they needed to
set up their library.
Police women
In the nineteen nineties, when the question was
posed by a women´s group in Lower Austria, there were only male
policepeople in Austria. For several reasons the group saw
disadvantages for women and advocated for opening the profession for
women, too. The Science Shop Vienna conducted an international
literature research on gender issues in the executive force. Meanwhile
there are female police officers in Austria as in many other countries,
too.
Statistics on criminality of citizens and non-citizens
The requesting person needed arguments against
xenophobia in his neighbourhood. The statistics that could be acquired
from the Federal Ministry of the Interior were not up to date. The
Institute for the Sociology of Law and Criminology provided new
material.
Rennbahnweg
A initiative of tenants advocated against further
buildings in their housing estate. They wanted information on the
following topics: Infrastructure in the housing estate – existing
facilities and tenant demands. After confering with the initiators and
extensive research on literature also an expert examined the situation
on site and wrote an advisory opinion.
Evaluation of school projects to prevent drug addiction
If youth are actually addicted to drugs or alcohol,
then it is most times too late to do much against the consequences: a
shortened life in disease, poverty and misery. Prostitution and
criminality to provide drugs are further costs that also society has to
carry. Hence, all efforts have to be taken to make children and youth
less vulnerable to addiction. “Peer-education” is a promising method to
support the psychic robustness of young people. The first projects at
Austrian schools were not only met by hopes, but also by suspicion:
parents and teachers doubted that such open programmes would do more
harm than good. This is why a youth counselling center contacted the
Science Shop Vienna. The project was evaluation in the framework of a
Master thesis by a student of pedagogy.
Gudrun Loidl, Peergroup-Projekte zur primären
Suchtprävention im Bereich Schule, Diplomarbeit Universität
Wien, 1998
Violence against children
A women’s refuge in Lower Austria that does not have
the funds for optimally care for the children who are refugees in the
house, demanded information on how to optimally care for children who
have been traumatized by experiencing or watching massive domestic
violence. Related to these issues is the question of consequences if
the necessary care cannot be offered.
Literature was researched, reviewed and sent to the refuge for women,
and the Science Shop Vienna found a student who wrote a Master thesis
on this topic.
Robert Schmid, Notwendigkeit von Kinderbetreuung in
Frauenhäusern, Diplomarbeit, Universität Wien 1998 (The need
for children´s care in women’s refuges)
Preventing sexual abuse of children
An instructor for courses on self-defense for girls
from 6 – 19 years old wanted to know, what ideas and expectations girls
have, when they attend such courses, which sort of courses are the most
appropriate (e. g., teaching only physical defense or would it be
better to offer a physical-psychological programme?), how efficient
such self-defense courses are, for which age group they make sense, and
which opinions and experiences there are.
Additionally to consulting and researching literature, a Master thesis
was written.
Birgit Luttenfeldner, Die Veränderung von Angst
durch das Programm "defendo", Institut für Pädagogik,
Universität Wien, Februar 1997 (Changes of fear by the programme „defendo“, University of Vienna 1997)
Self-help group of former psychiatric patients
A group of psychiatric ex-patients believed that an
on-going social survey was based on a biased, non-representative sample
that does not reach all groups of psychiatrically diseased people. They
thought that the survey was very important to shed light on the life
and care situation of the concerned people and wanted to bring in their
opinions and experiences. The Science Shop Vienna brought together the
researchers and the members of the group.
Residential home for people in need
A social initiative in Lower Austria directs a
residential home for homeless people who have no financial resources.
They support them in searching jobs and reducing debts, so that there
are realistic perspectives to regain an independent life. Attaining
their goals becomes more and more difficult, because in their city the
housing market offers less and less affordable apartments. For this
reason they wanted to build an apartment house as a transitory solution
between a residential home and independent living in an own apartment,
because it allows for saving money for an own apartment. A student
developed a sponsoring concept for this apartment house.
Eco-labels for textiles
Media and authorities pay attention to eco swindle
on food. But is there an eco swindle on textiles, too? A citizen wanted
to know, if the labels that suggest naturalness deliver on their
promise, too., when it comes to clothes. Our colleagues from the
Science Shop Bonn had a recent brochure on the topic. (Cornelia
Voß, Kann denn Mode "öko" sein? Einkaufsleitfaden
Naturtextilien, Bonn 1995)
Rat control
An environmental consulting group in Lower Austria
asked in 1994, if there is a non-toxic way of fighting rats, a method
that uses congenital behaviour of rats in order to reduce their number.
Several institutes like the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology and
the Institute of Ethology at the University of Vienna were contacted.
Additionally, the Science shop staff researched literature on this
topic and consulted a biologist, who had written a Master thesis on
rats recently, on the issue. Consensus was that hygiene was still the
most effective measure to contain the spread of the unpopular rodents,
namely by closing down food sources such as unclosed garbage bins or
cupboards with alimentation. Experts severely doubted the topic could
be handled within a dissertation or master thesis: rat observation is
tricky, because the objects of research are difficult to access in
their canals and underground tunnels.
Is a mobile phone dangerous to health or not?
This is one of the first research requests directed
to the Science Shop Vienna in the early nineties, but there is still no
sufficient scientific consensus on it: Does the radiation of a mobile
phone damage nerves, brain or any other parts of the human body? We
reviewed research literature and asked a lot of experts who gave
divergent opinions. The answer from then is still valid: The suspicion
that mobile phones may not be safe for our health can neither be
dispelled nor fully proven from a scientific point of view.
Light for the Auditorium Maximum of the University of Vienna
A student asked if the poor illumination of the
University of Vienna’s Auditorium Maximum, its largest auditorium, is
bad for the eyes and reduces the performance of the students.
The
Science Shop Vienna researched, measured the illumination and found out
that the illumination of the Auditorium Maximum only met the standards
of the Austrian ÖNORM regulations for a henhouse. There was
evidence that such weak light reduces cognitive performance and visual
acuity. When the Auditorium Maximum was renovated some years later, our
results were taken into account and illumination was improved.