Conference Program

In contemporary information ecosystems, critical thinking is increasingly challenged by conspiracy thinking and by what the literature defines as science-related populism (Mede & Schäfer, 2020). This notion refers to discursive and social dynamics that construct an antagonism between ordinary people, assumed to be virtuous, and scientific or academic elites, assumed to be corrupt or self-interested (Bory, Giardullo, Tosoni, & Turrini, 2023). Within this framework, scientific knowledge becomes a contested terrain where the legitimacy of expertise, the authority of institutions, and the boundaries of democratic participation are constantly negotiated (Pasta & Raviolo, 2023). Such tensions are particularly visible in highly mediatized environments, where the social web plays a central role in the circulation of alternative knowledge claims and in the delegitimization of epistemic authorities (Pasta, 2018).

In a post-truth regime (McIntyre, 2019), science-related populism mobilizes different “repertoires of contestation” (Ylä-Anttila, 2018), that is, argumentative strategies aimed at questioning established scientific knowledge and at weakening trust in those institutions responsible for its production and validation. These dynamics pose significant challenges for education, especially in relation to STEM disciplines, where the teaching of scientific concepts cannot be separated from the development of epistemic trust, critical inquiry, and responsibility in the public use of knowledge (Carenzio, Ferrari, Pasta, 2024; Pasta, 2025). In postdigital society, characterized by high uncertainty, collective stakes, and the need for inclusive deliberation, fostering scientific citizenship requires educational approaches that make visible the processes, negotiations, and limits through which scientific knowledge is produced.

This contribution is situated within the interdisciplinary research project Communicating Science. Mediation and mediators of scientific knowledge in complex societies (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 2022–2025), which investigates how individuals construct their understanding of science within contemporary media environments. The paper presents the results of a survey conducted in November 2025 among students enrolled in primary teacher education programmes at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan, Brescia, and Piacenza campuses). The survey explored sources of scientific information, media consumption related to science, trust in science, epistemic trust, science-related populism, naïve scientism, and beliefs about gender inequalities in STEM fields.

These data are compared with the results of the same survey administered in 2024 to a statistically representative sample of the Italian population. The comparison allows us to analyse how future teachers position themselves within current conflicts around scientific knowledge and to reflect on the educational implications of these attitudes in terms of scientific citizenship, epistemic responsibility, and democratic participation.

The findings suggest that the development of scientific citizenship cannot rely only on the transmission of scientific content, but requires educational practices that engage learners in the reconstruction of knowledge, in the recognition of uncertainty, and in the evaluation of the social consequences of scientific claims. In this perspective, teacher education becomes a crucial space for cultivating reflective and responsible forms of participation in the public life of science, capable of countering conspiracy thinking and science-related populism while preparing future citizens to navigate complex socio-ecological and technoscientific futures Brotherton, 2021).