Scientists' Contributions

Scientists' Contributions

Paper presented during the 4th Annual Meeting of the European Meteorology Society/5th European Conference on Applied Climatology (27 - 30 September 2004, Nice, France)
CHALLENGES TO COMMUNICATE SCIENCE

Antoaneta Yotova - National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, Sofia 1784, Bulgaria

1. Introduction
Since the beginning of this century, communication of science has become issue of special interest and importance, so more and more attention has been paid to it by the scientific community. In recognition of the communication as necessary integral part of the process to effectively use research results in the practice, a number of activities are undertaken, under way or planned worldwide. For example, university programmes (i.e. Master degree in Science Communication) are being developed and now underway in the USA [1] and some European countries (UK, Germany, Sweden) [2]. "Europe is currently in the 'Golden Age' of science communication" according to Professor John Durant, a pioneer in the field and the founder of the first science communication Masters course in the UK [3]. "The notion that you could damage your career by popularizing (your results) has largely disappeared", said Professor Durant.
Practically, in some countries (Bulgaria) scientists face a number of problems when dealing with communication of research results obtained in the course of their studies, projects, etc. Together with the need to increase the public awareness, education and training in science as stated in international agreements like the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) [4], the communication of research results is also essential for development of adequate measures and policy that address today’s major societal problems.
This paper aims at summarizing general information and practice in science communication in Europe. For this purpose, basic concepts related to the communication of science are briefly described and then examples of "good practice" in this respect are listed. For the case of climate change research, ideas how to improve the communication of scientific results in order to better inform the general public and assist the policy and decision-making process are proposed.
2. Basic concepts in science communication
What in general means communication of science and scientific results? Some of the basic concepts can be found in Global Change NewsLetter - the Newsletter of International Geosphere-Biosphere Program [5], namely:

"(Communication) ... is how you manage information, how effectively this information is provided to ... external audiences ... . The success of an external communication strategy depends on building a strong internal communication base. ... Getting science out ... is an integral part of our work. ...
It is absolutely essential ... that communications be enhanced at all stages of our research ...
We also need to improve our communication skills to facilitate the sharing and evolution of our methodologies ...
Greater efforts are required ... to help policy makers ... (to) understand the relevance, reliability and possible limits of research results ...
(The communication) is not only a matter of information transfer or (use of) modern communication technologies. There is a specific need for reciprocal understanding that entails time, attention, and awareness."

Communication of science as integral part of the research process can be presented by the following scheme [6], Table 1:

Production
of knowledge => Communication
of knowledge => Integration
of knowledge
(as models of reality) ("... process between researchers, decision-makers, media, private sector, NGOs, citizens") (into the practice of policy and decision making)

Further to this general scheme (looks very simple!), two main types of communication can be distinguished:

internal communication - amongst the involved scientists themselves being as it is realized by special communication sessions (like the present meeting, and this session in particular!) to report and discuss recently obtained scientific results as well as to improve the scientists’ communication skills, and also by the specialized scientific publications (journals, proceedings, books, etc.);
external communication - this is the communication between researchers on one hand, and policy and decision-makers, media, private sector, NGOs, citizens, etc. - on the other. The most common ways ("communication strategy") to realize external communication are (i) development of communication plan that can include list of all the potential users (funding agencies, decision and policy makers in institutions dealing with certain field of activity - i.e., water management, urban planning, etc.) which is to be permanently updated; (ii) setting the schedule and forms to distribute scientific reports, information booklets and sheets, etc. to these users; (iii) organization of public discussions, open conferences, workshops and forums, creation of special web sites, establishment of "feedback" mechanisms that help to update the scientific agenda on the basis of responses and requirements by the users, of the recommendations, of the estimates on effects from any applications, and so on. Here, it is important to define the target audiences/potential users and their needs in certain research "products"/results - prepare and continuously update list of potential users and interested parties, as well as to pay special attention to the visual side of communication, in particular - preparation of printed reports that summarize the results, presentations for meetings (specially organized open dialogue/practical conferences or any other related), books and other information materials to be produced. It is especially necessary to develop specialized interactive web sites and links to other relevant ones (i.e. of the respective governmental and local authorities, NGOs, etc.) where research results can be submitted/uploaded.

In doing the above, it is useful to learn about examples of good practice as provided in the next chapter.
3. Good practice examples
Although relatively new in the scientific agenda, yet there are a number of "good practice" examples and positive experience in science communication that are useful to learn about in order to find forms and practices most relevant to a specific field of research, then to adopt ones to the specific country conditions in order to successfully communicate research results. In particular, the following can be recommended:

some of the present thematic areas/horizontal activities of the EU 6th Framework Programme on Research, Technology and Development, especially ones within "Science and Society" [7], as well as other EU programmes and initiatives like the conference organized by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research (EC DG-Research) "... to promote successful communication of European Research ..., to share best practice and to define strategies to improve communication, outreach and dissemination of results ... . Media professionals and research co-ordinators seized this opportunity to familiarise themselves more with each other’s needs and perspectives, and to discuss the best approaches to improving the communication and dissemination of research results to the public and the press ... ." [8]. The unit "Information and Communication" of the EC DG-Research has issued "A Guide to Successful Communications" (it is strongly recommended to see at the web address [8] as you can find a number of interesting and useful presentations during this Conference); http://www.eicos.mpg.de/3_1.php - The European Initiative for Communicators of Science => "Among the few things that a scientist could do ... to communicate better with the public. ... an endeavour on a European scale an international group, comprising both science journalists and scientists with understanding for PR activities ... The EICOS formula, based on practical experience gained in the hands-on laboratory at the Max Planck Institutes and followed by an external assignment in leading European life science institutes has become a great success and an encouragement to continue EICOS ... a programme that wants to improve the communication between journalists and scientists. Within an eight-day hands-on laboratory experience they work side by side at the cutting edge of scientific research. ";
activities within a number of projects, programmes, etc. funded both by the EC and national sources, for example: ones by the Programme Group Humans, Environment, Technology of the German Research Centre Juelich for " ... transforming research results into practical approaches ... for communication between science and society ... ", in particular - the project "Climate change in the public sphere" [9];
initiatives by the general public/civil society/Non-Governmental Organizations/individuals like "Science cafes" (http://www.cafe-sci.org.uk/3supermodels.html , http://www.bardessciences.net/une.html , http://www.videnskabscafeen.dk/default_uk.htm ), the GreenFacts Foundation, the events within the European Science Week hold every November (from 8 to 14 November this year: http://www.cordis.lu/scienceweek/home.htm), web portals [11], and many others.
4. Next to be done
Scientists understand that nobody is better able to present their scientific results than they themselves. What they need is guidance, like the above mentioned "A Guide to Successful Communications", so that to do the job well, i.e. to be active and play essential role in communicating research results in a way to provide the users with relevant, timely and understandable information, guidance what and how to proceed in using these results, etc. Together with the mass media and in co-operation with correspondingly educated and trained journalists, special forms for informing have to be found and applied for such a purpose involving modern technical solutions, devices, etc. The principle of "accumulation of small but permanent actions by many people" has to be used, moreover this approach does not require big investments, but very specific ways and forms to be used. For example, the International Climate Symbol [10] can appear in the most used web sites and to become known for as many as possible people; scientists can be more active to appear regularly in specialized public web portals [11] on hot topics. The real challenges here relate to the fact that science has to be communicated to diverse - in age, education, social status, etc., audience with different needs which makes the task extremely difficult. The key for success in communicating science is the partnership - on one hand between scientists themselves that can be done within and between their professional associations (European Association for the Promotion of Science and Technology, EUROSCIENCE, http://www.euroscience.org), European Association for the Science of Air Pollution, EURASAP, http://www.meteo.bg/EURASAP and http://www.eurasap.org, European Meteorological Society, EMS, http://www.emetsoc.org, etc.), then - between the scientific community and professional communicators (journalists, teachers, etc.) as special training is necessary for each of them.
References

http://scicom.ucsc.edu/MoreInfo.html;
http://www.scicom.hu.ic.ac.uk/aboutus.htm
The 'Golden Age' of science communication, John Durant (2004) - CORDIS News interview
http://www.unfccc.int
Global Change NewsLetter - The IGBP Newsletter No. 42, August 2000, IGBP Secretariat, Stockholm, Sweden (http://www.igbp.kva.se/uploads/nl_42.pdf )
Knowledge on Global Environmental Change within Social Praxis: What do we know? - IHDP Update 04/2003 (p.21)
http://www.cordis.lu/science-society/home.html ;
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/conferences/2004/cer2004/index_en.html ;
http://www.fz-juelich.de/mut/research/ and http://www.fz-juelich.de/mut/projekte/pro_klima_e.html
http://www.saveourclimate.org
http://www.accc.at/ ; http://www.bluelink.net/climate

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  Scientists' Contributions

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Production of knowledge =>	Communication of knowledge =>	Integration of knowledge
(as models of reality)	("... process between researchers, decision-makers, media, private sector, NGOs, citizens")	(into the practice of policy and decision making)