March for Science reaches Berlin
A global event for the freedom of science taking place on April 22. In Germany demonstrations are planned at 20 sites - from Berlin to Heligoland.
April 22 has been dubbed “Earth Day” since 1970, when millions of Americans first demonstrated for a healthy and sustainable environment. Since then the movement has only grown and taken on major issues such as global warming and clean energy.
In January 2017, after the resounding success of the “Women’s March” in the U.S. and worldwide, and around the time the designated science advisor of the new Trump administration called climate scientists a “glassy-eyed cult”, and early budget reports offered grim prospects for the U.S. sciences, the idea for a “Scientist’s March on Washington” was born. However, the support grew faster and wider than anyone had anticipated, and soon it became the global movement "March for Science". The date for the march has been set – rather fittingly – for April 22, “Earth Day”, and so far more than 500 cities worldwide are participating.
Politicians, Nobel Laureates, and research institutes support the March
The movement may have started out as a statement against the Trump presidency, but it has become so much more than that in the last couple months. Now, it is a “movement to defend the vital role science plays in our health, safety, economies, and governments” – with global support. In Germany alone there will be events held in 20 locations - including Helgoland, which will probably host the smallest March for Science worldwide. The biggest demonstration, however, is anticipated to be taking place in Berlin. Here, people will meet on April 22 at 1pm in front of the Humboldt University, and will march to the Brandenburg Gate. On the way there the march will stop briefly in front of the Hungarian embassy to support academic freedom in Hungary, after the recent implementation of a new law. At the Brandenburg Gate a number of speeches are planned – including one by Michael Müller, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, but also other well-known science journalists, such as Ranga Yogeshwar.
Among the long list of supporters of the March for Science in Germany are not only the names of countless individual scientists, but also Nobel Laureates, as well as the president of the German Council of Science and Humanities, and the presidents of the Max Planck Society, Fraunhofer Society, Helmholtz Society, and the overarching Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany.
Want to know more about the March for Science?
Scientists volunteer to protect the validity of research
However, the people, who make the March happen, are not just the famous supporters, but the organisers. They are scientists, PhD-, and Master students from all over the world, who come together to show their support for science wherever they happen to work at the moment. In Berlin, for instance the group of organisers consists of roughly 40 people with a core group of about 15 people. Everyone is volunteering in their spare time to protect the freedom and validity of research and the scientific method against the rise of “alternative facts”. It should be noted that the March for Science in Germany aims to distinguish itself from its US- and the anti-Trump origins. In Germany other issues are at play - the March is trying to end the isolation of researchers and to start an open conversation about the importance of science.
Science is not a partisan issue
The importance and necessity of science can be seen in our day-to-day lives. Smart phones and GPS would not exist, as would many medical advances if it weren’t for researchers everywhere and the rigor of the scientific method. Similarly, technological advances for the food or fabric industry are often built upon bio-based scientific inventions. But misconceptions and the stigma of the "Ivory Tower" have made the public wary of researchers and the scientific method. This has also led to a number of critical responses to the movement, questioning whether the March for Science is indeed the right approach to convince science-sceptics. And even the volunteers themselves are aware of the possible public backlash, if the march on “Earth Day” will leave behind a similar pile of trash as the “Women’s March” did.
Although Germany might not face the kind of supression of facts or anti-science attitude as the U.S. or Hungary, there is still a notable gap between researchers and the general public that needs to be adressed. Nevertheless, standing up for science and against the spread of misinformation surely is a step in the right direction.
Judith Reichel
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