The increasing perception that public communication in science and technology is an important tool to create a knowledge society is encouraging numerous public engagement activities. However, too little is known about scientists’ opinions of and attitudes towards the public with whom they interact during these activities, especially in southern European countries such as Spain. If we want to establish an effective dialogue between science and society, we need to be aware of the opinions and perceptions that both parties have of each other. In this study, we address this issue by focusing on 1022 responses to a survey conducted among scientists in Spain to discover their views of the public, and we then compare these responses with data from other national surveys on the public’s understanding of science. The results show that approximately 75% of Spanish scientists think that the general public has a serious lack of knowledge and understanding of scientific reasoning, although scientists do recognize that science interests the public (73%). Scientists believe that the public values the scientific profession to a lesser extent than suggested by public surveys: on a scale of 1–5, survey respondents rate their valuation of the scientific profession at 4.22, whereas scientists rate the public's valuation of the profession at 3.12, on average. Significant differences were detected between scientists’ perceptions of how citizens are informed about science and what citizens report in surveys. The challenge for the future is to narrow this gap in order to help scientists gain a better understanding of the public and their interests and to make public engagement activities more effective.

There is a general trend toward more active, broader, and more inclusive participation of different stakeholders in science. Civil society organizations’ inclusion in the scientific process is being promoted. However, there are few attempts to understand the role of civil society organizations in research. This study is based on the analysis of 31 semi-structured interviews with Spanish civil society organization managers and representatives. Our main results regarding the current relationship between civil society organizations and the research system are (a) civil society organizations mainly participate in science within one single research moment and they are unaware of their potential. (b) We identify a lack of resources, mutual knowledge (among civil society organizations and academia), and capabilities as barriers for civil society organizations’ participation. (c) There is a need to strengthen links between civil society organizations and research by training in collaborative methodologies and communication skills, promoting participatory research, increasing mutual understanding about the research system and the third sector, and aligning research and civil society organizations’ objectives.

Changes in the communication ecosystem have generated profound transformations in current science communication. In the same way, the coexistence of diverse actors with different objectives and professional standards also raises new ethical dilemmas. The main objective of this research was to identify existing models of teaching science communication to scientists and professional communicators worldwide. To this end, we conducted 26 semi-structured interviews with science communication teachers from 15 different countries. From these interviews, we identified three models of teaching science communication to scientists: (A) the practical model, where skills such as writing, public speaking, etc., are taught; (B) the reflective model that teaches theory and the history of science communication to enable researchers to understand the relationship between science and society; and (C) the disruptive model, where traditional roles of scientific knowledge production as well as relationships and power roles in science are challenged. On the other hand, we have identified two models for professional science communicators: (A) the professional model, which is subdivided into two different approaches—theoretical (historical review, understanding of the science–society relationships, etc.) and skill-based (writing, audiovisual, etc.) that coexist in teaching programs—and (B) the research model, where tools, concepts, and methodologies for science communication research are taught.

We review the respective roles played by mass media, museums, universities, professional associations and administrations (national, autonomous and local). Although Spanish scientific communication has experienced growth and recession phases since the 1970s, it has never stopped professionalising. Good examples are the offer of specific university studies on science communication (mainly master's and postgraduates courses); the growth of professional associations in number of partners and in their activities; the creation of collaborative networks (such as units of scientific culture, museums and science centres, etc.); the emergence of research groups dedicated to the analysis of this field; and the consolidation of major professional events. 2. Science and SC in Spain before the 1970s The need to recount great happenings is something inherent in the human condition and even before printing had been invented, the public communication of news or events was already taking place. Epidemics, plagues, weather forecasts, environmental disasters, wars and their technological implementations, and quarrels between wise men (or among wise men, mages and monks) are examples of issues that have been present in the 'public arena' throughout history. Nevertheless, SC was transformed in Spain with the printing press and technological advances, as well as scientific revolutions and the institutionalisation of science. Scientists themselves (engineers, doctors, astronomers, naturalists etc.) for centuries acted as disseminators in Spain (López-Ocón Cabrera, 2000). The amassing of artefacts and the 'culture of the curio' (Bolaños, 2008, p. 44), common to all countries with a colonial past or that commissioned great scientific expeditions, formed the basis for some of the first science museums in Spain. Examples include the country's National Museum of Natural Sciences, founded in 1771 on the basis of the collections of Pedro Franco Dávila or, towards the turn of the century, today's Museum of Natural Sciences in Barcelona, based on the collections of Francesc Martorell. Science news in the press is as old as the press itself. SC historians have found records of science news dating back to the 17th century in France and England. Unfortunately, research into the history of SC in Spain is so scant that we have nothing on record regarding these periods, but there is every reason to think that Spain also published this kind of article in the same period. This is particularly so given the fact that the country was at its cultural zenith (the so-called 'Golden Age' of Spanish hegemony in Europe, spanning the 16th and 17th centuries), with writers such as Cervantes and painters like Velázquez.

Abstract

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A new regime of science production is emerging from the involvement of non-scientists. The present study aims to improve understanding of this phenomenon with an analysis of 16 interviews with Spanish coordinators of participatory science practices. The results indicate a majority of strategic and captive publics and point to communication as a key tool for the development of successful practices. Five key elements of the degree of integration required to develop a citizen participation in science practice were analysed: derived outputs, level of participant contribution, participation assessment, practice replicability, and participant and facilitator training. Proposals for strategies to remove barriers to citizen participation are the study's principal contribution.