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The lifelong learning debate is shaped by a dichotomy between learning for inclusion based on economic productivity, and learning for a social purpose and for active citizenship. Most of the debate in the social purpose model has focused on the arts' and social sciences' curriculum and has largely ignored science. For many years, the decline in science education has been marked while at the same time we as a society have been challenged by issues such as BSE and genetically modified food which highlight the need for a scientifically literate population. This paper argues that the social citizenship dimension is crucial to achieving appropriate levels of understanding of current scientific thought among adults. This is explored from the perspective of practitioners within the university sector and within the context of an ecological experiment involving a local community and their District Council.