Editorial: Helping scientists to communicate well for all considered: Strategic science communication in an age of environmental and health crises

Abstract

Editorial on the Research Topic Helping scientists to communicate well for all considered: Strategic science communication in an age of environmental and health crises As the scale and scope of environmental and health crises increase, it is essential that scientists communicate with a diversity of stakeholders and audiences (National Academies of Sciences, 2017). Inclusive science communication is exceptionally critical for engaging diverse audiences in scientific research and ensuring equitable applications of scientific research to meet societal needs (Polk and Diver, 2020).Despite the clear need for inclusive science communication, many practicing scientists have no formal public engagement training (Brownell et al., 2013) and there is no uniform, comprehensive approach for effective public engagement (Scheufele et al., 2021;Weingart et al., 2021). There is also a considerable gap between science communication practitioners and researchers (Han and Stenhouse, 2015). As a result, scientists' public engagement efforts risk being more reactive than strategic, and may result in unintended consequences (e.g., Ma and Hmielowski, 2022).This special issue includes 12 articles that examine inclusivity in science communication and public engagement. These articles explore inclusivity within the context of science communication training programs and practices and exemplify how social scientific and rhetorical approaches can be used to increase inclusivity in public engagement practice.

Scientific communication and scientific literacy for the public perception of the importance of environmental quality for public health

“…Therefore, SL should be an important schooling outcome and a consensus goal for science education, involving a multitude of intellectual resources, including the ability to conceptualize phenomena and reason from a scientific epistemology and build scientific ideas and arguments consistent with those of the scientific community, by analyzing and interpreting data and evidence consistently and adequately (Brown et al, 2005). In this sense, museums, educational centers and developing education and communication interventions using simple and practical educational tools also display significant potential for the promotion of environmental and scientific literacy, as well as in addressing scientific misconceptions, controversial topics and dismissing fake news (de los Santos et al, 2018;Bevilaqua et al, 2020;Suarez-Fontes et al, 2022;Suldovsky et al, 2022). These actions can also comprise an efficient strategy to select structuring concepts and themes from the Natural Sciences for the development of scientific literacy processes, such as the theory of biological evolution and/or basic paleontology concept, among others (Estrup and Achiam, 2019;Plutzer et al, 2020).…”