Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/18941

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/17533

KEYWORDS : science shop;civil society;participatory research;popular education

"Science Shop" is defined as a system which provides independent, participatory research support in response to concerns experienced by civil society. In the Netherlands, science shops have been operated in almost every university since 1970s. The same types of science shops have been conducted in some other countries such as United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark since 1980s. The European Commission is now supporting to disseminate this concept to other European countries, especially to Eastern Europe. In this paper, we will discuss the possibility of the transferring the effectiveness of science shops to the Japanese society. For this purpose, we will review the character, the history and the actual process of science shops. The necessity of "the participatory research" such as science shops are gradually increasing in various parts of the world. Additionally, some cases in third world countries shall clarify the importance of learning from their experience.