Scientists, students and other \u2018fact enthusiasts\u2019 gathered outside the Niels Bohr Institute on Saturday, the 22nd of April, to march together and, as plant biochemist Samir Ben Chaabane put it, do what \u00bbscientists do each and every day: celebrate science.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Signs like Science Matters<\/em>, There is no Planet B<\/em> and Science isn\u2019t Fiction<\/em> travelled through the city on an impressive river of people as they walked the streets of Copenhagen towards Christiansborg Slotsplads\u2014the final destination of the march. Once there, the crowd received several speeches interspersed with performances by an orchestra, a hip hop group, and a rock band.<\/p>\n If it turns out to be an anti-Trump thing, we\u2019re leaving.<\/p>\n Philip Jarnhus, physics PhD<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Observing the flow of marchers, one could glimpse a wide array of ages from members of older generations to children only a few months old, journeying in protective baby carriages. One such carriage conveyed the daughter of Philip Jarnhus, physics PhD who marched partly due to a concern for his daughter\u2019s future:<\/p>\n \u00bbOne of the reasons I\u2019m here is the scepticism surrounding vaccines. Another is the occasions when equal weight is given to arguments with unequal amounts of evidence.\u00ab<\/p>\n However, Philip was not interested in a protest solely against one politician, e.g. Donald Trump: \u00bbif it turns out to be an anti-Trump thing, we\u2019re leaving.\u00ab<\/p>\n Indeed, for many, the focus of this march was not on Trump or any other politician or political party: \u00bbwe generally want our studies to play a larger role in the decision-making process\u00ab said Kristin Aleklett, Microbial Ecology PhD. Christian Bourjau, a subatomic particle physics student, shared a similar desire: \u00bbwe\u2019d like politicians to apply facts and hard evidence when creating policy.\u00ab<\/p>\n It\u2019s getting uncomfortable for me to see the climate change denial while also seeing the glaciers melting in my home country<\/p>\n Icelandic robotics engineer student Bardur Isleifsson<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Another march participant, DTU professor of wind-energy Torben Mikkelsen, had a slightly different concern regarding politics: \u00bbI don\u2019t want political agendas in science.\u00ab He was referring to the Danish \u2018university law\u2019 which allows ministers to appoint the board of directors: \u00bbthe board will be under the rule of politicians, and political agendas will determine research decisions. We can\u2019t have that.\u00ab<\/p>\n Still others joined the march worried about other inner workings of the scientific community: \u00bbthere\u2019s too much competition in science. Researchers sometimes contribute to the negative attitudes towards science by communicating their findings way too hastily (under the pressure of this competition) before the proper data foundations have been established; and these findings are then quickly debunked\u00ab declared an employee of the Copenhagen Business School.<\/p>\n There were also some who believe the field of science should be more transparent: \u00bbscience is complicated and many don\u2019t understand it; we need to make it more approachable for the public\u00ab Canadian David Kadish, M.ASC mechanical engineering, commented that afternoon. Similarly, Rebecca Bolt Ettlinger (material physicist) is of the opinion that science could benefit from some more public outreach: \u00bbwe forget the importance of science and that it needs us to invest in it \u2014 we often take it for granted.\u00ab<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There were, in addition, some generally shared concerns among many of the people strolling towards Christiansborg. One of these is the infamous idea of alternative facts and news. Retiree Per Gysting said \u00bbwe must eliminate alternative facts: they will lead to complete chaos and damage our democracy. To be able to successfully promote one\u2019s own fake facts will lead to a loss of truth. It is a road towards dictatorship.\u00ab<\/p>\n Such alternative beliefs also worry Icelandic robotics engineer student Bardur Isleifsson: \u00bbit\u2019s getting uncomfortable for me to see the climate change denial while also seeing the glaciers melting in my home country.\u00ab According to Danish newspaper Politiken, the March for Science Copenhagen attracted more than 5.000 people \u2014 an international crowd that included Americans, Germans, Swedes, French and Danes among other nationalities. The March was the first step in a planned chain of actions to support and promote science: for further information and upcoming events visit marchforscience.com. Thousands of people marched for science in Copenhagen when the movement sparked into motion on Saturday 22nd of April in over 500 cities across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":48421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-science","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy they marched<\/h3>\n
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Worrying trends and the power of the march<\/h3>\n
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\nThe march came to an end at around 17:00 and the question remained: will it culminate in any significant change? \u00bbIt probably won\u2019t achieve a tangible change\u00ab noted Zo\u00eb Naseef, photo journalism and gender studies student, and added \u00bbbut it energises people and gets the conversation started.\u00ab The Niels Bohr Institute\u2019s Christian Bourjau emphasised that the march \u00bbputs a different narrative out there \u2014 it shows that there is still an abundance of people who do appreciate real insight.\u00ab<\/p>\n
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