I WAS seated next to a politician at dinner a week or two ago. Not, I hasten to add, a York politician.

Searching for a suitable conversational topic with which to engage a typically dry scientist, he opened with the gambit: "Well, what do you think about all this global warming stuff then?"

Saving me the trouble of formulating an immediate response, he quickly went on to offer his view that "meself, I'm not convinced; after all, you scientists still can't make up your minds."

This brief expression of opinion relating to one of the greatest threats facing mankind highlighted important issues relating to the public understanding of science.

Firstly, there is the difficulty, so often manifest by both the public at large as well as the media that serves it, with the concepts of risk and probability, rather than having clear-cut, black and white answers.

Secondly, faced with difficult decisions it is natural for us all, but particularly for politicians, to delay the adoption of unpopular standpoints in the face of perceived uncertainty - even when the odds are heavily weighted in one direction.

Since the beginning of Science City York, keeping the local community informed has been a priority and remains so. There is now an active agenda of events, both large and small, to provide information on major issues of the day as well as on how Science City contributes to job and wealth creation against an essential background of sustainability.

The recent York Festival Of Science And Technology - "Bringing Science to Life" - was the most successful ever with 15,500 attending - almost twice as many as last year.

The festival's objectives were to increase the York public's understanding of and interest in science and technology; and to raise awareness of science and technology career opportunities available in York and the surrounding area.

The theme of "sustainability" was especially chosen to dovetail with Europe's largest science festival - the BA Festival Of Science - that will be held here in York during September this year and where "global energy" will be a key theme.

As well as these large, set-piece, events, York now has a regular series of popular, less formal, activities where scientists and public can come together and exchange views.

The now well-established "Cafe Scientifique" is one of these and it was a full house at Science City York's April get-together where residents were offered a glimpse of new technologies that could have a key part to play in the future.

Festival organiser Amy Parkinson of Science City York, enthused: "Changes in science and technology influence so many aspects of everyday life, at home and at work, that the continuing success and growing public involvement in events such as the York Festival Of Science and Technology and Cafe Scientifique, which both celebrate and inform us about science, is fantastic."

The latest Cafe Scientifique was also a chance for participants to have their views formally recorded and fed back to Parliament as part of Government's Science Horizons' survey - a series of discussions being held across the UK about new technologies; their likely affect on society; and the future as a whole.

The audience was asked to consider and comment on a range of scenarios, each describing different types of technology which could be common place 20 years from now.

Informing the evening's debate were Professor Andrew Webster and Dr Darren Reed, from the University of York's Science and Technology Studies Unit (SATSU), and Dr John Barrett, from the Stockholm Environment Institute, an independent, international research institute based at the university, specialising in sustainable development and environment issues.

Between them, they covered futuristic topics ranging from the pros and cons of genetic vaccines, through smart home technology, to considering a proposal to introduce a scheme of "carbon trading" as a method of tackling climate change.

The vast majority of scientists now agree that carbon dioxide (CO2) released by burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming. One way of reducing the amounts of CO2 that are released into the atmosphere is for governments to set limits on the amount of CO2 industry can produce by giving them a set number of carbon credits.

Companies that produce less than their limit can make money by selling their remaining CO2 allowance to companies that exceed their limit. In the future, it may be that individuals as well as companies are given a set number of carbon credits that they can use or trade.

While the audience acknowledged the scheme as innovative, most remained unconvinced as to how it would work in practice, with particular concerns surrounding black market trading and the seemingly unfair advantage of the wealthy able to increase their carbon quota through unit purchase.

Professor Andrew Webster summed it all up: 'The event not only gave members of the public in York the chance to anticipate future developments in some key areas of science, but also displayed their capacity for highly engaged and informed debate.

"Future challenges won't be met by technical 'fixes' alone, but by precisely this sort of dialogue."