Places making: participatory construction of scientific culture cities

In the framework of the European project Platform of Local Authorities and Communicators Engaged in Science (PLACES), we analyse the articulations between scientific communication, public perception of science, processes of citizen participation and apropiation of space, based on a case study of the inhabitants of Teruel city, Autonomous Community of Aragon, Spain. On the interrelationships between these issues, there are a number of contradictions, such as the difference between a high interest for information about science and technology and a low level of recognition and interaction with local institutions involved in those activities, the complex conceptualization of scientific space in relation to the "public-private" pair, or an articulation of a claiming civic rethoric and an insufficient co-responsibility. We conclude that, in a local context, the dimension of territoriality and, in particular, the identification with the town, is a central mediation for activating citizen participation as part of processes of appropriation of space for setting up cities of scientific culture.