Many governments are looking to democratize the way in which decisions are made by getting regular people, not elected officials, to come together. These assemblies are designed to be a microcosm of a larger population with panel members selected to be representative whether that be by age, gender, etnicity, beliefs or so on. But putting panels together is easier said than done for the organizations that convened them. A new paper has been published that describes how to do it as fairly as possible using some clever maths.
Satellite imaging has shown population increases are 10x higher in flood prone areas than previously thought, and a new way to introduce fairness into a democratic process.
In this episode:
00:47 Calculating how many people are at risk of floods.
Researchers have used satellite imagery to estimate the number of people living in flood-prone regions. They suggest that the percentage of people exposed to floods has increased 10 times more than previously thought, and with climate change that number is only set to climb.
Citizens’ assemblies are small groups of people invited to come together to help inform and affect policy decisions. But deciding who is in these groups is a mathematical challenge — the process needs to be random, but still reflect social demographics. This week, researchers describe a new algorithm that could offer a solution.
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how ships could spread a deadly coral disease, and research shows that female scientists are less likely to be cited in elite medical journals.