Project description
Global perspectives on science communication
Science communication is a global field of research and practice central to the relationship between science and society. While recent large-scale studies of science communication have focused on European and Western contexts, the EU-funded GlobalSCAPE project will contribute to a more comprehensive picture of science communication by focusing on science communication professionals working in non-Western countries and in regions where science communication can be challenging or under-valued. The project will implement a programme of electronically-facilitated diary studies to determine the challenges and opportunities faced by science communication professionals as they navigate a rapidly changing field. A deeper understanding of how science communication happens in different geographical, cultural, and political contexts will foster collaboration and support global efforts to democratise science.
Objective
The principal aim of GlobalSCAPE is to generate a detailed picture of science communication in a global context.
Recent research focused on taking stock and re-examining the role of science communication has concentrated primarily on science communication in Europe and the western world. GlobalSCAPE expands outwards from this to take stock of the lesser-heard voices: the science communicators working in non-western countries and in regions where taking stock of science communication is particularly difficult. The experiences of science communication professionals in these regions have traditionally been under-represented. GlobalSCAPE will ensure that a full and accurate picture of global science communication can be established.
The central component to the methodology implements a large-scale programme of automated diary studies to gather perspectives of science communication professionals. Those perspectives and variations will be mapped over time, providing a powerful tool for analysis.
The landscape and modes of science communication are changing. This is, in large measure, the result of advances in digital communication in combination with ready and widespread access to smart devices. In its methodology, GlobalSCAPE builds on the very technologies that are changing this landscape. It exploits the global ubiquity of smart devices to implement an innovative and large-scale programme of data collection through the use of state-of-the-art methods in automated diary studies and draws on the expertise of a multi-disciplinary and international team of partners.
GlobalSCAPE will:
1. Present a more complete and fine-grained picture of global science communication
2. Map that picture over time to identify shifts in priorities and incentives/disincentives
3. Innovate a new and ambitious methodology to measure and assess science communication
4. Maximise the resources of SwafS-19 to support the work of science communicators where it is most needed
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
D02 CX56 Dublin
Ireland