Warren Pearce presented the UK teams chapter for the forthcoming CompCoRe edited volume, Socially-Distanced Science, first at the Institute for Science and Society, University of Nottingham on February 9 and then at the 3S Group (Science, Society & Sustainability), University of East Anglia on May 25. The chapter examines the imagined public within the UK’s scientific advice system to explain why the UK was one of the worst performers during the public health in terms of public health outcomes even though it was considered one of the most prepared nations for a pandemic before Covid-19.

UK Team’s James Wilsdon, a critic of UK’s Independent SAGE, was invited to the group’s briefing on May 6 as a guest. Wilsdon’s talk focused on the role of humility and openness in UK’s systemic advice system, asking why past lessons were forgotten. You can watch Wilsdon’s remarks here.