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• Date of publication Jul 12, 2022 Category: Book Review

  Elusive science cultures

  by Padraig Murphy

  The latest in a growing number of edited volumes that take science communication as a phenomenon to be explored through science cultures is a rich book full of theoretical and methodological rigour. There are 17 chapters included here from 33 authors across 16 different countries containing selected paper contributions from the 2018 Science & You conference in Beijing jointly organised by the Chinese National Academy of Innovation Strategy and the University of Lorraine, France. With an opening address by Massimiano Bucchi, chapters are arranged thematically, with emphasis on the roles of institutions, state and media in the social dynamics and public understandings of science and technology across global cultures.

  Volume 21 • Issue 05 • 2022

• Date of publication Jun 28, 2022 Category: Article

  Plausibility of scientific findings: institutional factors in lay evaluations

  by Elizaveta P. Sheremet , Inna F. Deviatko

  One of the recent “crises” experienced by science is associated with a decline in its public support. We conducted two factorial surveys among university students aiming at broadening our understanding of the information cues influencing the wider publics' judgments of science. We found that sociological and criminological research results are perceived as less plausible compared to neuroscientific and physiological research, but as more plausible than results from genetics. In contrast with the previous data on the importance of funding and institutional prestige cues as the indirect indicators of the research quality among academic experts, we discovered the absence of any effects of funding or institutional prestige for the selected type of general audience.

  Volume 21 • Issue 05 • 2022

• Date of publication Jun 10, 2022 Category: Commentary

  Responsible science communication in Latin America: reflections on challenges

  by Claudia Aguirre Rios , Sergio de Régules

  Practitioners of responsible science communication in Latin American countries face context-dependent challenges ranging from high poverty and inequality to a public from an extremely varied palette of cultural backgrounds. Effort has been done in the region to foster a coherent community of science communicators. This article reflects on the history of science communication in Latin America and how these challenges are being faced.

  Volume 21 • Issue 04 • 2022 • Special Issue: Responsible science communication across the globe (RETHINK)

• Date of publication Mar 28, 2022 Category: Practice Insight

  For real-world outcomes you need real-world training: participatory capacity building in science communication

  by Graham J. Walker

  Concepts underpinning participatory science communication have much to offer science communication training and capacity building. This paper investigates a capacity building program with 15 science communicators from nine African countries involved in a six-week program in Australia. Data was collected via surveys, observations, informal interactions and ongoing relationships tracking program outcomes. Key features with a participatory nature included: holistic programs giving participants diverse skills and entry points; ensuring participant's freedom, agency, autonomy and self-efficacy; real-world networking as a self-directed participatory process; participant-led design processes to build skills for creating programs; and, embedding training in real-world contexts with deliberately selected publics.

  Volume 21 • Issue 02 • 2022 • Special Issue Participatory science communication for transformation (PCST2020+1) (PCST2020+1)

• Date of publication Dec 09, 2021 Category: Article

  Individual solutions to collective problems: the paradoxical treatment of environmental issues on Mexican and French YouTubers' videos

  by Cecilia Lartigue , Guillaume Carbou , Muriel Lefebvre

  The impact of human activity on our planet is undeniable. However, this matter of fact is not fully understandable without analyzing the narratives through which people make sense of it. In this study, we aim to describe the narratives present in environmental discourses of Mexican and French YouTubers' videos. This corpus is intended to show how environmental issues are framed in the ever-growing discursive arena of entertainment and “influencing” streaming video. We set out to perform a cross-country comparison, with the purpose of contributing to the discussion of whether environmental discourse is country-specific or shared by various nations and, possibly, even global. Our study contributes to the understanding of the social construction of the environment via these discourses. Our main result points to a paradoxical treatment of environmental issues: the YouTubers of our sample represent them as collectively induced problems, but seem to mainly believe that individual-based solutions would resolve them. More broadly, our study suggests a tendency to the individualization and, therefore, the depoliticization of environmental issues as well as a globalization of the environmental discourses in YouTubers' videos.

  Volume 20 • Issue 07 • 2021

• Date of publication Oct 11, 2021 Category: Article

  Awareness, views and experiences of Citizen Science among Swedish researchers — two surveys

  by Pavel Bína , Fredrik Brounéus , Dick Kasperowski , Niclas Hagen , Martin Bergman , Gustav Bohlin , Mari Jönsson , Stephen Coulson , Tim Hofmeester

  In 2021 Sweden’s first national portal for citizen science will be launched to help researchers practice sustainable and responsible citizen science with different societal stakeholders. This paper present findings from two surveys on attitudes and experiences of citizen science among researchers at Swedish universities. Both surveys provided input to the development of the national portal, for which researchers are a key stakeholder group. The first survey (n=636) was exclusively focused on citizen science and involved researchers and other personnel at Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). 63% of respondents at SLU had heard about citizen science (CS) prior to the survey; however a majority of these (61%) had not been involved in any CS initiative themselves. Dominant reasons for researchers choosing a CS approach in projects were to enable collection of large amounts of data (68%), improving the knowledge base (59%), improving data quality (25%), promote participants’ understanding in research (21%) and promote collaboration between the university and society (20%). The other survey (n=3 699) was on the broader topic of communication and open science, including questions on CS, and was distributed to researchers from all Swedish universities. 61% of respondents had not been engaged in any research projects where volunteers were involved in the process. A minority of the researchers had participated in projects were volunteers had collected data (18%), been involved in internal or external communication (16%), contributed project ideas (14%) and/or formulated research questions (11%). Nearly four out of ten respondents (37%) had heard about CS prior to the survey. The researchers were more positive towards having parts of the research process open to citizen observation, rather than open to citizen influence/participation. Our results show that CS is a far from well-known concept among Swedish researchers. And while those who have heard about CS are generally positive towards it, researchers overall are hesitant to invite citizens to take part in the research process.

  Volume 20 • Issue 06 • 2021 • Special Issue: Third International ECSA Conference, Trieste 2020 (Ecsa Conference 2020)

• Date of publication Aug 23, 2021 Category: Book Review

  A look at the complex issues of science communication: the Routledge Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology

  by Andrea Rubin

  In the year of the PCST Conference that brings together scholars and experts in public communication of science, Routledge published the new edition of the Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, edited by Massimiano Bucchi and Brian Trench. The book, in its third edition, seeks to update and define the field of study and application of science communication from both a theoretical and empirical point of view mostly in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic which undoubtedly represents an event of historical significance that cannot fail to question scholars on the medium and long-term effects.

  Volume 20 • Issue 05 • 2021

• Date of publication May 10, 2021 Category: Article

  A question of dialogue? Reflections on how citizen science can enhance communication between science and society

  by Katherin Wagenknecht , Tim Woods , Christian Nold , Simone Rüfenacht , Silke Voigt-Heucke , Anne Caplan , Susanne Hecker , Katrin Vohland

  Citizen science is a transdisciplinary approach that responds to the current science policy agenda: in terms of supporting open science, and by using a range of science communication instruments. In particular, it opens up scientific research processes by involving citizens at different phases; this also creates a range of opportunities for science communication to happen This article explores methodological and practical characteristics of citizen science as a form of science communication by examining three case studies that took different approaches to citizens' participation in science. Through these, it becomes clear that communication in citizen science is ‘÷always’ science communication and an essential part of “doing science”.

  Volume 20 • Issue 03 • 2021 • Special Issue: Re-examining Science Communication: models, perspectives, institutions, 2021 (RETHINK)

• Date of publication Feb 22, 2021 Category: Practice Insight

  Searching for the Sources of the Nile through a podcast: what did we find?

  by Emanuele Fantini , Emilie Buist

  Podcasts are gaining traction in academic practice and debates. This article reflects on the experience of “The Sources of the Nile”, a podcast on media, science, and water diplomacy. By presenting the podcast structure and production process, we sketch a “podcast pathway” that might serve as a guide for others. We share the results of a survey conducted among our listeners and we review the episodes discussing what we learned on distributions of voice, knowledge and water in the Nile basin. We conclude by reflecting on the connection between the technical production of the podcast and the type of knowledge that it generates, and by pointing at the importance of placing the podcast within a broader community of interests and practice.

  Volume 20 • Issue 02 • 2021

• Date of publication Feb 09, 2021 Category: Article

  The collaboration in the production of ‘Life of Galileo’ in a science museum in Rio de Janeiro

  by Carla Almeida , Diego Vaz Bevilaqua

  Science and theatre have a long history of interactions, which usually promote collaborations between artists and scientists. Focussing on the theatre performed in the context of science communication, this article aims to analyse the collaboration between artists and scientists in the production of the play ‘Life of Galileo’, by Bertolt Brecht, at the Museu da Vida. Based on the interviews with 12 people involved in the production, we identified a strong involvement in the project, which provided a rich exchange and knowledge acquisition, in addition to raising relevant questions about the theatre performed in the specific context of science communication.

  Volume 20 • Issue 02 • 2021