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Science communicators face massive challenges in Europe and across the world. These challenges are clear in the content of our work: key international issues around science and research such as the climate emergency and energy crisis. But the global nature of these challenges also raises questions about how we engage our audiences from a global perspective. This was the starting point of the GlobalSCAPE project and at its recent Final Event we had a chance to explore them in more depth with a range of international speakers both online and in person in a series of participatory panels. Policymakers, researchers and science communicators from across the world came together to discuss the impact of GlobalSCAPE for the transformation that is needed in our field.

Opening words came from Dr. Joseph Roche of Trinity College Dublin, the project coordinator of GlobalSCAPE, who set the scene by highlighting the opportunity for inclusion that the project was able to seize in terms of exploring science communication from a global perspective. “For GlobalSCAPE we thought, if we are looking at science communication, which is a global practice, we have to try to hear from the so-called lesser-heard voices.” Catherine Franche, Executive Director of Ecsite, the European Network of Science Centres and Museums, followed up by discussing the work of science centres and museums who regularly come together at international level to reflect on their field as practitioners of science communication. Ecsite was a GlobalSCAPE partner as well as hosting the final event. Catherine Franche emphasised the importance of international cooperation for European institutions like Ecsite members: “Global is a strong word. It points to our responsibility as science communicators to address global issues. We need stronger dialogues and partnerships but also new competencies and a much deeper connection between academics and practitioners.”

Our first three speakers were all members of the GlobalSCAPE Advisory board. They set out by exploring in depth some of the issues the GlobalSCAPE project tackled, from their perspective as members of the project’s expert advisory panel. First, Dr. Marina Joubert joined us from Stellenbosch University in South Africa to make the case for why systemic changes and new approaches are needed in our science communication work. She described the challenges we face in terms of politicisation of science, evolving communication ecosystems, misinformation and the need for equity and inclusion. These challenges call for science to be more open and embedded in societal needs and values. Academia has long acknowledged the democratic need to engage the public: “People have the democratic right to know and participate in science. There are moral obligations.” But she also highlighted “real-world” motivations for engagement: the need to help people prepare for the future and cope with a changing world in a way, and the importance of making science more diverse and inclusive.

Recognising these motivations for science engagement was just the first of several necessary key systemic changes that Marina Joubert described in her talk. She discussed the importance of dialogue: “The problem with the deficit model of science communication is not that we give people information. The problem is that we assume that they will simply accept it and any opposition they might have towards science will just disappear.” Emotional connections are key to engaging the public: “Connecting with your audience on an emotional level has really been proven to be a key part of science communication. What we need for people to trust science and engage with us is warmth.” Projects like GlobalSCAPE that link research and practice are essential in helping these changes take hold across our field.

Our next speaker came with insight on how approaches from outside Europe can inform our practices as a global science communication community. Samir Dhurde of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India runs a public outreach programme with an incredible impact despite limited resources. “Outreach is not something that we do only to inform and explain our work, but also to inspire and elevate the next generation’s achievements.” While India has more than a thousand science centres, many people live out of reach of conventional science communication activities. “The generation we are talking about lives in very remote places and can be economically challenged.” Low-cost solutions are crucial, using material that can be found locally. “In my outreach work, if I use material that is not local, it doesn’t make sense to them. It might be a nice show but they don’t stay connected.” He used the example of Zero Shadow Day where a simple tube could demonstrate a complex astronomical principle using low-cost material that could easily be found locally. One key point Samir Dhurde mentioned was the importance of local expertise in developing science communication activities. By listening to and working closely with an individual that is part of a local community, we can adapt our work to people’s needs and values and have a more sustainable impact.

Diversity and inclusion strategist Lenna Cumberbatch focused on what we mean when we talk about diversity, equality, equity and inclusion, and the wide range of movements and concepts that our understanding draws on. She looked at the motivations behind inclusion, going beyond the business and moral cases to a focus on integrity, embedding equity as part of our values. We need to acknowledge where we are in the process: are we truly innovative, or are we just ticking boxes? “Being innovative or cutting edge means regularly revisiting and implementing new, ambitious initiatives. But that requires investment and capacity.” She explained how SMART objectives for dialogue can help us embed inclusive practices in our science communication work: “An objective that you want to achieve needs times, dates and specific measurements to make it happen.” Participants at the event shared what they are doing to work towards equity in their practices, including how they shape their work around local cultural contexts, take creative approaches and adapt messages by listening to participants.

An interactive co-creation session followed where Dr. Joseph Roche and Aoife Taylor of Trinity College Dublin led us through some of the GlobalSCAPE outcomes in terms of policy recommendations and to help build on them, drew on the wisdom of crowds: in this case, the participants at the final event themselves. At the heart of the recommendations were four key topics: equity, openness, sustainability and innovation. The outcomes of the GlobalSCAPE project clearly underline a need to amplify lesser-heard voices through inclusive practices as the morning’s sessions demonstrated. Knowledge sharing is key to capitalise on these practices, working to spread them throughout the field. A European Competence Centre for Science Communication must be built, and advocacy for political support at all levels will be sought.

Feedback from participants on these recommendations was loud and clear. The need for knowledge sharing was ranked highest priority according to the audience at the final event, with participants seeking to define “excellence” in a way that does not perpetuate inequalities. A need was expressed for more international dialogue in our field, particularly in terms of listening to practitioners in the Global South. Our participants would like to see a European Science Communication Centre as a hub for the many existing projects and initiatives that establishes a solid and sustainable network.

A rapid-fire session took us through the many outcomes of the GlobalSCAPE project itself. GlobalSCAPE centred around a one-year diary study which captured the needs and challenges of science communication practitioners across the world, reflecting critically on the work we are doing. It went beyond the usual suspects, engaging lesser-heard voices not just as a one-off interview but reflecting over time – the first time such a broad study had been conducted in this way for our field. Over 900 people participated in the year and the retention rate was over 80%, with early results showing that the method has real potential to be carried out even further. Harry Shirley of Springer Nature described the workshops that were held online and on all continents for science communication professionals throughout the project, training them to bring the global perspective into their own local contexts. These workshops are complemented with open access training materials described by Jon Chase of Leiden University, Netherlands, who is developing material around the topics of “glocalisation” and the importance of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) in science communication. Luisa Massarani of SciDev.net took us through how GlobalSCAPE worked with the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Teaching Forum to map teaching programmes across the globe. A GlobalSCAPE mobility scheme for practitioners was also a great way to help build capacity, as Clara Boissenin and Marie Couëdic of Ecsite explained while sharing some tips about organising financial support programmes.

Discussion turned to life after GlobalSCAPE: what comes next for the movement towards a global perspective? For Harry Shirley, GlobalSCAPE demonstrated researchers’ appetite to integrate a global perspective: “the desire to learn more about how to be good science communicators in the modern world.” Samir Dhurde was emphatic about the need to work to involve people from local communities in science communication dialogue more broadly:  “There is a lot of potential to encourage and support a lot more people. There are many unsung heroes doing this work. The presence of a local person can really change the perspective of participants.” Summarising his thoughts, Jon Chase painted a clear picture of the value of networks for knowledge sharing: “I think being able to learn from things that are being done in India, Japan, Estonia, to learn about the real struggles people are having at a global level, is the really important thing.”

On behalf of GlobalSCAPE coordinators Trinity College Dublin, Aoife Taylor thanked all participants both in the final event and across the project. She underlined the key opportunities for the project’s legacy to be continued, not least in the forthcoming Horizon Europe project COALESCE which will build a European competence centre for science communication. While GlobalSCAPE is coming to an end, our international community of science communicators’ work to rethink their practices through a global lens has only just begun.

GlobalSCAPE develops workshop materials dedicated to scicomm practitioners. Our project partner Jon Chase, from Leiden University, has spent the past months working on this material with the aim to make it globally relevant and applicable in different local contexts. Today, he tells us more about this process.

I’m a science communicator, author and science rapper who is currently working at Leiden University, Netherlands on GlobalSCAPE. I’ve spent fifteen years as a science communicator, interacting with a wide range of audiences and have co-authored a number of popular science books, including The Science of Star Wars and The Science of Jurassic World. I’ve also presented and talked about science and technology on numerous television and YouTube channels. In 2017 I was awarded the UK’s Josh Award in Science Communication.

For GlobalSCAPE I’m working on a set of open access workshop materials that aim to be globally relevant and applicable to a range of science communication practitioners.

The materials are based around four modules, chosen for their potential to address areas that have been identified as lacking within science communication training and also for their potential impact on society.  These modules consider

1. A glocalised approach to science communication,
2. Exploring SciComm as an ecosystem,
3. Issues of Justice, equity, diversity and Inclusion in scicomm, and
4. Scicomm for sustainable development.

The target audience is science communication practitioners from various stakeholder groups and is intended to be used and adapted as needed by different stakeholders from different global regions, depending on their needs. It is intended that practitioners can choose whatever feels most relevant to them, to get new ideas and approaches for how they can use Science Communication to achieve broader impacts within society.

My whole approach from the outset of this project was to explore new ways of considering and approaching science communication.  As such it hasn’t been a very straightforward process.  Many of the things I have brought together do not seem to have been given a lot of specific attention within scicomm, particularly on a global level. The global aspect has proven particularly challenging as well, due to the vast differences in approaches, audiences, languages, needs, representation, funding, government support etc.  There is also a huge need to get feedback from our scicomm colleagues around the world, whose valuable knowledge and experiences are still somewhat undocumented on a global level.  We hope the diary study can inform this deficit somewhat but ultimately, the major benefit will be seen when local communicators adapt and utilise these materials to suit their needs, and hopefully be prepared to feedback any lessons learnt

A Glocalised approach to scicomm is about experiencing the global locally or through local lenses.  So on the one hand it considers the scope of scicomm activities being extended for global application.  Importantly this is not about ideas just travelling from the ‘West to the rest’,  but more about science communicators looking further afield for inspiration, partnership and impact within science communication.   On the other hand, it is about taking these diverse global approaches and adapting them to suit local needs and circumstances, which is a practice that we should be doing within science communication anyway, to improve relevance and potential impact of our activities.

As a result of modern transport and communications we are increasingly coming into contact with and becoming reliant on circumstances that are global in nature, whether it be global audiences, global issues (i.e. Climate change, sustainability, Covid-19), or global sources of research or funding.  However, often we still only regard things from our own localised perspective, which makes sense but I would argue that identifying ways to interact with a wider regional variety of actors can help to foster both global and local networks of science communication.  Ultimately, we would hope this helps the field to become more responsive to the increasingly diverse landscapes in which science communication takes place.

Mostly it is that these resources intentionally have global awareness as a key focus. We are not saying that we have reviewed or considered all of the ideas and approaches of the world, a task that is much more immense than the scope of this current project. However, we have taken pains to incorporate a wide variety of global experiences, perspectives and circumstances in order to highlight the diverse applicability of science communication nowadays.

Also, these resources are open access and open source, so they can (and should) be adapted and used as is needed and relevant within different locales and circumstances. The important thing is that science communicators take on a reflexive attitude when approaching their practice and we hope that anyone who is inspired to use these resources, can build upon them in a way that is responsive to their local needs, and isn’t afraid to challenge mainstreamed perspectives held within science communication practice and research, that is often skewed towards a Western perspective.

It depends on which module(s) they undertake but I would generally hope that participants become more aware of the diverse ways in which science communication can act within societies across the globe. Also, the hope is that the approaches considered in the modules will inspire more communicators to find new ways of using science communication to create meaningful impact within their local communities and also beyond national borders.

This special issue is one of the key outputs of the GlobalSCAPE project. GlobalSCAPE was funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 work programme topic SwafS-19 and was tasked with, among other things, taking stock and re-examining the role of science communication teaching as a dedicated academic discipline. Thanks to a very productive collaboration with the PCST (the Network for the Public Communication of Science and Technology) a map of science communication courses around the world is being developed and will help students, researchers, and practitioners to find and share science communication courses anywhere in the world. This special issue is a chance for us to learn more about how science communication is being taught in universities around the world. The collaboration between the PCST and GlobalSCAPE is coordinated via the PCST Teaching Forum and has been led by the GlobalSCAPE team member Luisa Massarani of SciDev.Net.

This JCOM special issue builds on the previous special issues in 2021 and 2022 featuring the work of the eight SwafS-19 projects. As GlobalSCAPE is the final science communication research project to be funded, we have an added responsibility to highlight the importance of gathering global voices on science communication to understand the practices, strategies, and the ramifications of how science communication is taught in a rapidly changing global landscape. This will be integral to a new Horizon Europe project that the European Commission is funding from 2023-2027 that will bring all eight SwafS-19 projects together to establish a European Centre for Science Communication.

We would love to receive a high number of abstracts but it is unlikely. The whole reason we need this special issue is because so few people publish papers on how they teach science communication. There are many possible reasons for that but one of them might be the costs associated. That is why we are so glad to be working with JCOM which publishes all its papers open access and has no article processing charges so at least there will be no financial barrier to researchers and practitioners sharing their work. We are very grateful to the JCOM Editors Michelle Riedlinger and Marina Joubert for recognising the importance of this work.

If anyone is considering submitting an article to the special issue we recommend getting in touch with any of the four guest editors, all of whom are linked to the GlobalSCAPE project: Joseph Roche (PI of GlobalSCAPE at Trinity College Dublin <Joseph.Roche@tcd.ie>), Luisa Massarani (Representing GlobalSCAPE partner SciDev.Net  <luisa.massarani@scidev.net>), Bruce Lewenstein (Member of the GlobalSCAPE Advisory Board at Cornell University <b.lewenstein@cornell.edu>), Anne Land-Zandstra (Representing GlobalSCAPE partner Leiden University <a.m.land@biology.leidenuniv.nl>).

When mapping a global picture of science communication and giving more space to lesser-heard voices outside of Europe, GlobalSCAPE doesn’t evolve in a void: it contributes to existing discussions and practices that constitute the scicomm sphere all around the world. One of the other actors evolving in this sphere is PCST, the international network of Public Communication of Science and Technology.

In the words of Luisa Massarani, the PCST Network aims specifically to:

• improve theoretical understanding of science communication by providing a forum for the latest developments
• advance the practice of science communication through a platform to consider strategies and methods
• promote exchange between practitioners and theoreticians, to boost the development of both the study and practice of science communication.

Members of the PCST Network come from a range of backgrounds covering both the theory and practice of scicomm: researchers, comms staff in research organisations, science centres & museums professionals, science journalists, scientific ethics & philosophy students, writers & editors, web designers, and even artists working with science themes. The PCST Network is managed by a Scientific Committee of which members are elected every two years at the general meeting held at the bi-annual PCST Conference.

The PCST Network and GlobalSCAPE recently agreed on a collaboration within the scope of the PCST Teaching Forum, a part of the PCST Network which is an international network of science communication lecturers at undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. levels.

The worldwide database is an initiative that was already launched before the agreement and will require systematic updates. As the research project is being carried out, two joint papers are planned for submission before the end of GlobaSCAPE.

Indeed, the database can support those involved in a course or educational programme to find other stakeholders to exchange ideas with and collaborate, but it is equally useful for those individuals and institutions that want to create new programmes to find inspiration in other existing models and to develop activities adapted to their context. Not to mention it is a convenient tool for individuals who want to enrol in a programme or course in science communication to find the perfect fit.

A year ago, GlobalSCAPE was launching a longitudinal research study with science communicators all over the world, known as Diary Study. Over the past 12 months, participants have been regularly invited to provide feedback about their views and experience with science communication.

We received many valuable contributions throughout the duration of the study and it will come to a close at the end of November. Some participants have already completed the study by responding promptly to the requests and will therefore not receive any more diary entry requests after completing the study. For the others, the Diary Study will stay open until end of November.

We would like to thank all the science communicators who participated in the GlobalSCAPE Diary Study. Please watch this space for more information about the results.