El conocimiento como infraestructura democrática: el caso de la Oficina C. Entrevista a Ana Elorza

Abstract

The interview with Ana Elorza Moreno, Director of Strategic Projects at the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), analyses the development and consolidation of parliamentary scientific advice in Spain. Elorza examines the creation of the Office of Science and Technology of the Congress of Deputies as a milestone in the institutionalisation of the relationship between science and politics, highlighting its function of bringing rigorous and understandable scientific evidence to legislative work. The interview addresses Method C as a distinctive methodology for the preparation of reports based on multidisciplinary evidence, which makes scientific uncertainties and disagreements explicit without prescribing political decisions. Elorza highlights the role of the network of more than 400 collaborating experts, the Advisory Council composed of twelve key scientific institutions, and participation mechanisms such as pairings and C Dialogues. The interview also examines the impact of Office C on parliamentary culture, its integration into the First Open Parliament Plan of the Congress (2025-2027), and its insertion into the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment Network (EPTA). Elorza concludes that the main challenge is to consolidate the cultural change initiated, institutionalising collective intelligence and positioning scientific knowledge as essential democratic infrastructure for more informed, transparent and public interest-oriented governance.