tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/public-engagement-2550/articlesPublic engagement – The Conversation2023-12-04T13:26:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2187762023-12-04T13:26:50Z2023-12-04T13:26:50ZHere’s what happened when I taught a fly-fishing course in the waterways of New Orleans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563041/original/file-20231201-21-oebp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C291%2C3929%2C2835&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mae Bennett, a student in the author's class, practices fly-casting on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kyle Encar/Loyola University New Orleans </span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“The Art of Fly-Fishing” </p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>After two years of Zoom classes due to the pandemic, I thought it would be useful to offer a two-week intersession course at Loyola University New Orleans that got students away from their phones and computers. </p>
<p>I had just written <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/fly-fishing">a book on fly-fishing</a> and spent years practicing the activity as well as studying its literary representations. To teach the course, I drew on my prior experience as an outdoor guide leading river trips for the company <a href="https://www.oars.com/">OARS</a> in Wyoming.</p>
<p>My students welcomed the opportunity to learn a new skill: <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/489062840776806126/">how to cast a fly rod</a>, which is more active than other types of fishing. This is because the lure or “fly” at the end of the line does not weigh much; the cast is produced by using a weighted line that gains velocity through a carefully timed rhythm. None of the 10 students had previous fly-fishing experience, but took the course on a lark or at the urging of a friend or relative.</p>
<p>What I didn’t anticipate was how social dynamics would affect the course and what my students would get out of the experience by it being situated in our vibrant city. Our class became a roving public forum as we interacted with curious observers and passersby. I was teaching them how to fly-fish in urban bayous and park ponds, not exactly “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105265/">A River Runs Through It</a>.”</p>
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<img alt="A man stands on rocks and casts a fly-fishing rod in a body of water surrounded by trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562975/original/file-20231201-15-jdl9dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562975/original/file-20231201-15-jdl9dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562975/original/file-20231201-15-jdl9dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562975/original/file-20231201-15-jdl9dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562975/original/file-20231201-15-jdl9dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562975/original/file-20231201-15-jdl9dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562975/original/file-20231201-15-jdl9dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">This photo was made into the cover for ‘A River Runs Through It,’ a 1992 film directed by Robert Redford.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Photography-A-River-Runs-Through-It/1071967/4415537/view?fbclid=IwAR02XSDdJeQUgUd50assfw7yMeTU4e2oEErSouiGstLo_Ae6d6bm5W7u8Wk">John Kelly</a></span>
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<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>The course introduced the techniques of fly-fishing and explored what makes it different from other forms of fishing. We learned about different waters and fish species, and how fly-fishing can be used in a variety of conditions. We also discussed the <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo26756579.html">literary</a> and <a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/10/10/philosophy-fly-fishing/">philosophical</a> aspects of fly-fishing.</p>
<p>I framed the course as a “field experience,” and it took place entirely off campus and around our city instead. This ended up making the course surprisingly effective. </p>
<p>We first met in a field in City Park, where we had plenty of room to form a wide circle: Casting a fly line requires a lot of space. The students practiced casting toward the center of our circle; this way they could see each other’s forms improve, and I could move around the circle giving tips, advice and encouragement. We used pieces of yarn on the ends of the line to reduce the risk of inadvertent ear-piercings. </p>
<p>Beside this field was a pond. As the students got the basics of casting down, they could head to the shoreline and cast flies – with hooks – into the water. A few students even caught fish: beautiful little bluegills, sunfish and bass.</p>
<p>After a few days in City Park, we fly-fished along the cement-lined Bayou St. John in the heart of Mid-City. Another day we met at Lake Pontchartrain. We spread out to fish, minding the obstacles and obstructions posed by the urban infrastructure, and being careful when joggers or dog walkers passed by.</p>
<p>We gathered occasionally to discuss the theory and practice of fly-fishing. All the while, people would linger and watch with bemusement. It was rare to see fly-fishing in urban New Orleans. </p>
<h2>Why is this course relevant now?</h2>
<p>This course tuned students into our region, ecosystem and environment through a focused activity. </p>
<h2>What’s a critical lesson from the course?</h2>
<p>My students did not just develop an outdoor skill – they interacted with people in the community, blurring the boundaries between their college lives and the social fabric of the city. </p>
<h2>What materials does the course feature?</h2>
<p>On the first day, each student chose a fly-fishing book from a stack I brought, from the <a href="https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/3154/">literary</a> and <a href="https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/northern-waters">philosophical</a> to the more <a href="https://services.math.duke.edu/education/prep03/FermatsPond/FermatsPond/fish/fish.html">pragmatic</a> and <a href="https://www.patagonia.com/product/simple-fly-fishing-revised-second-edition-techniques-for-tenkara-and-rod-and-reel-book/BK709.html?cgid=books-fishing">instructional</a>. We started each morning by sharing insights and lessons we’d gleaned from our books. In the evenings, we wrote together on a Google Doc, creating a collaborative essay about the course. </p>
<p>I also used a series of <a href="https://farbank.com/pages/learn-fly-fishing-school-videos">online instructional videos on fly-fishing</a> created by outfitter <a href="https://farbank.com">Far Bank</a>, which provided fly rods for my class at a discount that they offer to educators. I purchased the equipment with my professorship funds to spare my students extra expenses. </p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>Studies have shown that <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-social-change-movements-can-learn-from-fly-fishing-the-value-of-a-care-focused-message-207284">fly-fishing can foster collective purpose</a> around environmental justice movements. Our course demonstrated how fly-fishing can also translate to public, urban contexts and facilitate positive everyday social interactions. </p>
<p>As my students gained confidence with their fly rods, they also welcomed the questions posed by onlookers who wondered what they were doing. My students would explain what the class was and what fly-fishing entailed. My students were engaging with the public about their college experience.</p>
<p>This past summer I transitioned to another institution, Washington University in St. Louis, where I’m directing a new <a href="https://publicscholarship.wustl.edu">Program in Public Scholarship</a>. I’m not currently teaching, but if I have the chance to propose a course, I’ve been eyeing the lagoons in bustling Forest Park, a short walk from campus – the perfect setting for a redux version of my fly-fishing course.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Schaberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students learned not just a practical outdoor skill, but how to explain what they were learning to curious observers.Christopher Schaberg, Director of Public Scholarship, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2126642023-11-07T13:37:05Z2023-11-07T13:37:05ZGenerative AI like ChatGPT could help boost democracy – if it overcomes key hurdles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557333/original/file-20231102-27-wtuwhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C8122%2C5394&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A voter marks a ballot during Kentucky's primary elections in May 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/voter-casts-their-ballot-in-the-kentucky-primary-elections-news-photo/1255211733">Jon Cherry/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The dawn of artificial intelligence systems that can be used by almost anyone, like ChatGPT, has <a href="https://hbr.org/2023/07/build-a-winning-ai-strategy-for-your-business">revolutionized business</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/technology/ai-united-states-regulation.html">alarmed policymakers</a> and the <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en/ai-making-world-more-nervous">public</a>. </p>
<p>Advanced technologies can feel like unstoppable forces shaping society. But a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024652">key insight</a> from scholars of philosophy and of the history of technology is that people can, in fact, exert a lot of control over how and where we use these tools.</p>
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<p>To us, as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VVrZaZAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">political</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=js76Ok8AAAAJ">scientists</a>, this new technology offers some interesting opportunities to improve democratic processes, such as through increasing civic knowledge and facilitating communication with elected representatives — if key challenges are met. And we’ve begun to research how this might happen.</p>
<h2>Increasing civic knowledge</h2>
<p>Politics can feel impossibly complicated, with emotion-laden negative marketing campaigns and political winds that seem to change almost daily. Many cities, states and countries provide <a href="https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/voters-knowledge-political-news-varies-widely-study-shows">little to no information</a> to the public about policy issues, political candidates or policy referendums. So even when citizens have the ability to exercise their democratic freedoms, they may not feel well enough informed to do so.</p>
<p>Generative AI could help. Building on platforms like <a href="https://www.isidewith.com/">isidewith.com</a>, <a href="https://www.politicalcompass.org/">politicalcompass.org</a> and <a href="https://theadvocates.org/">theadvocates.org</a>, AI could help people answer questions about their core beliefs or policy positions, and then help them determine which political candidates, parties or choices best match their views. </p>
<p>Existing websites like <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page">Ballotpedia</a>, <a href="https://votesmart.org/bills">Vote Smart</a> and <a href="http://www.vote411.org/">Vote411</a> have made tremendous advances in providing critical information like sample ballots, polling place locations and candidate positions to voters. But these websites can be difficult to navigate. <a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-and-other-language-ais-are-nothing-without-humans-a-sociologist-explains-how-countless-hidden-people-make-the-magic-211658">AI technologies</a> may be able to provide enhanced services, and at local, state, regional, national and international levels. These systems may eventually be able to use automation to provide continuously updated information on candidates and policy issues.</p>
<p>AI chatbots could also <a href="https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ChatGPT-and-Artificial-Intelligence-in-higher-education-Quick-Start-guide_EN_FINAL.pdf">interactively help people think</a> through complex issues, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-24/generative-ai-boosts-worker-productivity-14-new-study-finds">learn new skills</a> and determine their policy stances, while also providing relevant news stories and facts.</p>
<p><iframe id="k7Z82" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/k7Z82/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>However, at the moment, generative AI systems aren’t really ready to answer democracy-related questions reliably or without bias. Large language models generate text based on <a href="https://venturebeat.com/ai/with-gpt-4-dangers-of-stochastic-parrots-remain-say-researchers-no-wonder-openai-ceo-is-a-bit-scared-the-ai-beat/">statistical frequencies</a> of words in their training data, with little regard for whether the statements are fact or fiction. </p>
<p>For example, AI systems could hallucinate by fabricating nonexistent politicians or by generating inaccurate candidate positions. These systems also appear to generate output with <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/07/1077324/ai-language-models-are-rife-with-political-biases">political biases</a>. And the rules protecting the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/lawsuit-says-openai-violated-us-authors-copyrights-train-ai-chatbot-2023-06-29/">privacy of users and compensating individuals or organizations</a> whose data are used by these systems are not yet clear, either.</p>
<p>Before generative AI is ready to enhance democracy, then, there’s a lot to understand and address.</p>
<h2>Facilitating constituent communication</h2>
<p>One area for inquiry: Could generative AI help constituents communicate with their elected representatives? </p>
<p>Contacting a politician can be intimidating, and many Americans may not even know where to start. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/lawsuit-says-openai-violated-us-authors-copyrights-train-ai-chatbot-2023-06-29/">Survey research</a> reveals that fewer than half of Americans can name the three branches of government. Knowing the names of their own representatives, much less getting in contact with them, is even less common. For example, in 2018, only 23% of survey respondents in a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/04/26/10-political-engagement-knowledge-and-the-midterms/">poll by the Pew Research Center</a> indicated that they had contacted an elected official in the past year, even at a time with significant developments in national politics. </p>
<p>To encourage greater outreach to representatives, generative AI could help citizens not only identify their elected officials, but even draft detailed letters or emails to them.</p>
<p>We examined this idea in a recent study we conducted as part of our work at the <a href="https://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/polsci/research/labs/grail/index.html">Governance and Responsible AI Lab</a> at Purdue University. We ran <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z76gw9xyc752sgtvo7wjv/LLM_pol_comm_working_paper_2023.pdf">a survey</a> of American adults in June 2023 and found that 99% of respondents had at least heard of generative AI systems like ChatGPT, and 68% had tried them out personally. However, 50% also reported that they have never contacted any of their elected political representatives.</p>
<p>As part of the survey, we showed some survey respondents an example of a message written by ChatGPT to a state legislator about an education funding bill. Other respondents, the control group, saw the same example email, but with no indication it was written by AI.</p>
<p>Survey respondents who heard about this possible use of AI said they were significantly more likely than those in the control group to support the use of AI for communication with politicians, both by individuals and by advocacy groups. Because of their support for using this new technology, we had expected they would be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-014-0348-1">inclined to reach out to politicians more frequently</a> and see AI as making that process easier. But we found that not to be true.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, we have identified an opportunity. For example, public-interest groups could use AI to improve mass advocacy campaigns by helping citizens more easily personalize emails to politicians. If they can ensure the AI-generated messages are factual and valid reflections of citizens’ views, many more people who might not historically have contacted their politicians might consider doing so. </p>
<p>There are risks, though, including that politicians might be skeptical of communications they think are written by AI.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two people reach their hands out to each other to shake hands in a grassy area with other people around." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557336/original/file-20231102-19-hdyp87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In-person constituent events, like this one in 2021 with U.S. Rep. Katie Porter of California, help elected officials and the people they serve connect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/irvine-ca-sunday-july-11-2021-representative-katie-porter-news-photo/1233942362">Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Maintaining authenticity and the human touch</h2>
<p>One of the most significant drawbacks to using generative AI for political communication is that it might make the receivers of messages suspicious that they are not actually in conversation with a real human. To test this possibility, we included a warning for some of the people taking our surveys that the use of mass AI-generated messages could lead politicians to doubt whether the messages were authentically created by humans.</p>
<p>We found that these people, compared to those in the control group, felt that legislators would indeed be less likely to pay attention to emails, and that emails would be less effective at shaping policymakers’ opinions or decisions. </p>
<p>Strikingly, however, these people still supported the use of generative AI in political communication. One possible explanation for this finding is something called the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288109">“trust paradox”</a> of AI: Sometimes, even when people find AI untrustworthy, they still support its use. They may do so out of a belief that future versions of the technology will be better, or because they lack effective alternatives.</p>
<p>So far, our early research into the implications of generative AI for political communication suggests a few key lessons. </p>
<p>First, even with ostensibly easy-to-use AI tools, politics is still out of reach for many of those who have historically lacked opportunities to share their thoughts with politicians. We even found that survey respondents with higher baseline trust in government or who had had prior contact with government were less likely to support AI use in this context, perhaps to preserve their heightened existing influence in government. Therefore, greater availability of AI tools might not mean more equal access to politicians, unless these tools are carefully designed. </p>
<p>Second, given the importance of human contact and authenticity, a critical challenge is making use of AI’s opportunities while also preserving the human touch in politics. While generative AI could enhance aspects of politics, we shouldn’t be too quick to automate away the relationships that underpin our social fabric.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212664/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kaylyn Jackson Schiff received funding from the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) at Yale University for the research study described in the article and worked as a postdoctoral associate with ISPS for the 2022-2023 academic year.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel S. Schiff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Political scientists have begun to investigate ways AI can help people understand politics better and get more voices into the public sphere.Kaylyn Jackson Schiff, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Purdue UniversityDaniel S. Schiff, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Purdue UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2081442023-07-18T07:34:37Z2023-07-18T07:34:37ZMalnutrition in South Africa: how one community wants resources to be spent<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535329/original/file-20230703-269585-e1naed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Proposed solutions to malnutrition included providing school breakfast. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard van der Spuy/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa has persistently high rates of <a href="https://ci.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/content_migration/health_uct_ac_za/533/files/CG2020_ch1_slow%2520violence%2520of%2520malnutrition.pdf">hunger and malnutrition</a> among mothers and children. More than a quarter – <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR337/FR337.pdf#page=213">27%</a> – of children under five are stunted and <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR337/FR337.pdf#page=219">61%</a> of children are iron-deficient. <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR337/FR337.pdf#page=332">Sixty-nine percent</a> of women of reproductive age are overweight or obese, and 31% are iron-deficient.</p>
<p>These figures paint a worrying picture. They suggest gaps in the country’s <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR337/FR337.pdf">evidence-based</a> nutrition policies and services. </p>
<p>One way to accelerate progress on malnutrition is through engaging with the people who are directly affected by policies. </p>
<p>South Africa’s health system strategy does include <a href="https://www.health.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/depthealthstrategicplanfinal2020-21to2024-25-1.pdf">public consultation</a>. But public participation is mostly limited to public meetings once a policy has already been drafted. This leaves little opportunity for substantial revisions. The lack of meaningful public engagement is also evident in how funds for mother and child nutrition are allocated. <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-95742018000300016">Decisions are left to policy makers</a> and there’s little input from people on the ground. </p>
<p>Only by understanding what communities consider important can policies respond to the actual needs of individuals.</p>
<p>We are a group of social scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand who have been exploring approaches for public engagement. We designed a study that puts communities into the shoes of policy makers. We asked community members which programmes they would prioritise if they were given a limited health budget.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-15761-1#ref-CR14">respondents</a> in Soweto, an urban township in South Africa with constrained resources, didn’t focus much on health system programmes. They put more emphasis on the underlying causes of malnutrition. To help mothers and children be well nourished they proposed: providing school breakfast; paid maternity leave; improved food safety; and establishing community gardens and clubs.</p>
<p>This article presents one approach for public engagement. We suggest policy makers, researchers and funders consider programmes that communities view as essential for improving mother-and-child nutrition.</p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>To engage communities, we modified an exercise called <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-15761-1#ref-CR14">CHAT (Choosing All Together)</a>. CHAT is a simulation exercise, something like a board game. It offers a practical way to involve the public in making healthcare decisions. It seeks to show not only which programmes people prioritise, using a limited budget, but the values (assumptions, beliefs or perspectives) those priorities are based on.</p>
<p>Our research team modified CHAT specifically for the context of Soweto. Members of the community were invited to select a package of programmes they saw as priorities to improve mother-and-child nutrition. Fifty-four adult men and women volunteered to part take in the exercise. As with policy makers in real life, they had to make difficult decisions around what to include in their package of programmes, what to leave out (given a limited budget), and why. The volunteers had to discuss and debate their choices to convince one another why one programme would be better for the community than another.</p>
<p>Participants worked together in small groups and they could select from 14 programmes. Five programmes were “nutrition-specific” (directly influenced the immediate causes of malnutrition) and delivered through the healthcare system (pregnancy supplements). Nine programmes were “nutrition-sensitive” (addressed the underlying causes of nutrition), and accessed in non-health sectors (extended paid maternity leave).</p>
<h2>The outcomes</h2>
<p>Community members’ top three priorities were:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the provision of school breakfast </p></li>
<li><p>extending paid maternity leave to six months and to those in informal employment </p></li>
<li><p>ensuring that food sold by street vendors and served in schools and creches was prepared in a safe and hygienic way. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Affordable healthy food, help in finding jobs, and community gardens were other programmes the participants considered important to improve their community’s mother-and-child nutrition.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think community gardens can help everyone. To be able to, if you want to, grow vegetables and sell them to people, to be able to get money and teach children and other older people to do gardening.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The community’s choices reflect the values of fairness, equity, social justice and children’s well-being. Participants showed a willingness to consider other viewpoints and reflect on the consequences of their choices for the entire community. </p>
<p>Programmes that would interrupt the intergenerational cycle of poverty were important. These included freeing up disposable income by growing more of their own food, enhancing their self-reliance overall – which could also uplift the neediest among them – and reducing their dependence on social welfare.</p>
<p>In the South African context of astronomical rates of unemployment (<a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=15407">more than 60%</a> among young adults), solutions like establishing community gardens represented paths to livelihoods, socio-economic empowerment, and supporting the neediest in the community. </p>
<h2>Translating public engagement into action</h2>
<p>Public engagement is entrenched in the constitution and in various policy documents. But there are gaps. Even where public engagement has occurred it has had very little impact on policy making.</p>
<p>For South Africa to uphold its <a href="https://www.health.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/depthealthstrategicplanfinal2020-21to2024-25-1.pdf">commitment</a> to equity in healthcare, engaging the public on ethical and social values should be part of a systematic process of setting priorities in government.</p>
<p>Addressing malnutrition will also require coordinated actions across many sectors. Our findings show that not all potential solutions (such as community gardens and extended maternity leave) would fall to the already overburdened health system. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nutritionsociety.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/National-Food-and-Nutrition-Security-Plan-2018-2023.pdf">South African National Food and Nutrition Security Plan 2018-2023</a> already has cross-sectoral coordination as an objective, via the establishment of a multisectoral advisory council to oversee alignment of policies, and coordinate and implement programmes. Integrating public engagement, through using tools like CHAT, could complement such efforts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agnes Erzse receives funding from the SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, PRICELESS, University of Witwatersrand School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Johannesburg South Africa (23108).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aviva Tugendhaft receives funding from The SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, PRICELESS, University of Witwatersrand School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Johannesburg South Africa (23108).</span></em></p>Failing to understand what communities consider important greatly diminishes the responsiveness of policies to the actual needs of individuals.Agnes Erzse, Researcher, SAMRC/Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science- PRICELESS SA, University of the WitwatersrandAviva Tugendhaft, Senior Researcher, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, PRICELESS SA, Faculty of Health Sciences, Wits School of Public Health, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2037472023-04-23T12:49:35Z2023-04-23T12:49:35ZThe WHO’s international pandemic treaty: Meaningful public engagement must inform Canada’s negotiations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522303/original/file-20230421-16-l3hcg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C22%2C1000%2C643&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The degree to which Canadians support effective international co-operation, as essential to future pandemic preparedness and response, will shape Canada’s positioning on the draft international pandemic treaty.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the key lessons emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic has been that the <a href="https://www.unsdsn.org/the-lancet-new-report-details-massive-global-failures-of-covid-19response-calls-for-improved-multilateral-cooperation-to-end-pandemic-andeffectively-manage-future-global-health-threats">failure of countries to sufficiently work together</a> worsened and prolonged this deadly public health emergency.</p>
<p>Formal negotiations are underway <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/emergency-preparedness-response/canada-role-international-pandemic-instrument.html">to develop a pandemic treaty</a> under the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/pandemic-prevention--preparedness-and-response-accord">auspices of the World Health Organization</a> (WHO): an international agreement setting out commitments by countries to collective action on future pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.</p>
<p>Governments are now developing their positioning on a so-called <a href="https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb4/A_INB4_3-en.pdf">Zero Draft</a> of this treaty. Around 100 representatives of Canadian provinces and territories, Indigenous peoples, youth, civil society, private sector and academia — plus another 100 virtual participants — gathered in Ottawa in March 2023. The purpose, as stated in the participants’ pre-forum documents, was to “<a href="https://genevahealthfiles.substack.com/p/towards-meaningful-country-level">help inform the development of Canada’s priorities and objectives in the creation of a pandemic instrument</a>.”</p>
<p>Few, if any, governments have so far held consultations, and the Canadian government should be commended for doing so. The need for meaningful engagement is clear. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound but <a href="https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/inequalities-deaths/">inequitable impact</a> on people’s lives, and we need deeper understanding of the diverse individual and shared experiences of this pandemic. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The logo of the World Health Organization: a caduceus superimposed on a globe surrounded by a wreath" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522298/original/file-20230421-16-3n57l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522298/original/file-20230421-16-3n57l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522298/original/file-20230421-16-3n57l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522298/original/file-20230421-16-3n57l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522298/original/file-20230421-16-3n57l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522298/original/file-20230421-16-3n57l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522298/original/file-20230421-16-3n57l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Formal negotiations are underway to develop a pandemic treaty under the auspices of the WHO.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is also an opportunity to better align the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00888-6">rhetoric of solidarity</a>, frequently used by the Canadian government during the pandemic, with real action. Perhaps most importantly, the degree to which Canadians support effective international co-operation, as essential to future pandemic preparedness and response, will shape Canada’s positioning on the draft treaty.</p>
<p>To support meaningful engagement, we offer the following observations as <a href="https://genevahealthfiles.substack.com/p/towards-meaningful-country-level">in-person and virtual attendees</a> of the recent engagement forum. </p>
<h2>Representation</h2>
<p>The quality of any engagement effort depends on who does and does not participate. Organizers declined to circulate a participant list, citing privacy considerations, so it remains difficult to assess how representative of diversity the forum was. </p>
<p>It is important to know how the partner and stakeholder groups were decided upon. Also, did organizers aim to keep the number of representatives for each group roughly the same (implying their moral equivalence) or were numbers weighted? For example, with <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220928/dq220928c-eng.htm">20 per cent of Canada’s population under 30 years of age</a>, would 10-15 youth representatives be sufficient? </p>
<p>Other concerns include: Was there a cap on participant numbers overall or per group? What thought was given to representativeness within each group? The private sector, for example, seemed largely composed of pharmaceutical industry representatives, but what about other industries?</p>
<h2>Perspectives</h2>
<p>The process for gathering perspectives determines how meaningful the engagement is. The process in Ottawa largely consisted of plenary presentations and six one-hour breakout groups. </p>
<p>Each of the breakout groups focused on a broad preset topic. Briefing papers for each topic were provided, but critically absent was a succinct summary of Canada’s current positioning on these issues. Breakout groups were divided into tables of five or six people. </p>
<p>Relationships of trust and shared understandings are central to conducting <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240027794">meaningful exchange</a>. Absent a participant list, table members were given five minutes to introduce themselves before engaging in rapid-fire discussions. This tight timeframe made it difficult to integrate insights from participants with varied levels of content expertise on specific topics. </p>
<p>As one participant put it, “one question potentially contained multiple doctoral dissertations.” </p>
<p>Moreover, the exclusive focus on discussing preset questions strictly bounded what could be discussed. One of us (Joel Lexchin) described this as eliciting what the government wanted to hear rather than what needed to be said. </p>
<p>Further concerns are raised by how the views expressed and notes taken in the breakout groups were not contextualized by the positioning of the speakers, especially given the strong presence of the pharmaceutical industry. It’s unclear how the Canadian government will draw meaning from, and then weigh the validity of different statements put forth including by vested interests. </p>
<p>The opportunity provided to comment chapter-by-chapter on the zero draft through an online system is likely to prove more useful by generating specific insights for negotiators. </p>
<h2>Lessons and opportunities</h2>
<p>Overall, we believe the consultations could have yielded deeper insights by:</p>
<ul>
<li> providing a better briefing for participants on attendees and the engagement process, </li>
<li> offering summaries of available evidence to inform discussions, </li>
<li> allowing more focused and longer conversations guided by content experts.</li>
</ul>
<p>We recognize inclusive governance takes time and effort at the best of times. Emerging from a prolonged pandemic, which has opened fissures <a href="https://ossu.ca/2021/06/pandemic-exposes-glaring-inequities/">across Canadian society</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-01647-6/index.html">globally</a>, the task is now even more challenging. </p>
<p>Yet Canadian and other governments must persist in these laudable efforts as they approach <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/03-03-2023-countries-begin-negotiations-on-global-agreement-to-protect-world-from-future-pandemic-emergencies">treaty negotiations</a>. Meaningful engagement aims to gather insights towards nuanced, responsive and productive solutions to complex problems. In addition to informing government positioning, meaningful engagement will help renew faith, eroded during the pandemic, in democratic processes.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/governments-seen-as-reliable-post-pandemic-but-giving-citizens-greater-voice-is-critical-to-strengthening-trust.htm">rebuilding of trust</a> in government and public health systems will be essential for underpinning public support of a pandemic treaty. Genuinely listening to diverse voices, building authentic relationships of trust, and advancing deeper understanding will be key ingredients to moving global pandemic governance forward. </p>
<p>As the historic pandemic treaty negotiations commence, continued engagement efforts will not only be in the best interests of Canadians, but a timely opportunity for Canada to model participatory democratic processes on the global stage. </p>
<p>A meaningful process of Canadian consultation will encourage similar efforts in other countries where vested interests, rather than the voices of the many, continue to dominate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203747/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelley Lee receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, New Frontiers for Research Fund, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics and Society (PIPPS) receives funding from the BC Ministry of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>In 2019-2022, Joel Lexchin received payments for writing briefs on the role of promotion in generating prescriptions for two legal firms. He is a member of the Foundation Board of Health Action International and the Board of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. He receives royalties from University of Toronto Press and James Lorimer & Co. Ltd. for books he has written.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Plamondon receives funding from Michael Smith Health Research BC, CIHR, SSHRC, and the KGH Foundation. She is an advisor on the National Scientific Advisory Committee for Global Health and co-chairs the University Advisory Council for the Canadian Association for Global Health. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roojin Habibi is a member of the WHO Review Committee regarding amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005). </span></em></p>As negotiations for an international pandemic treaty get underway, public engagement is in the best interests of Canadians. Here is how the federal government is consulting affected populations.Kelley Lee, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance; Scientific Co-Director, Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics and Society, Simon Fraser UniversityJoel Lexchin, Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management, York University, CanadaKatrina Plamondon, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development, University of British ColumbiaRoojin Habibi, Research Fellow & PhD Student, Global Strategy Lab, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1936872022-11-07T19:13:51Z2022-11-07T19:13:51ZPower to the people: How Canada can build a more connected and responsive Parliament<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492999/original/file-20221102-12-jtdye0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3600%2C2177&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Low voter turnout in recent Canadian elections sharply illustrates how the public is disconnected from political institutions and their representatives. How can they be re-engaged?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canadian citizens, like those in many other democratic countries, struggle with a <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/b407f99c-en/1/3/2/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/b407f99c-en&_csp_=c12e05718c887e57d9519eb8c987718b&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book#figure-d1e2356">lack of trust</a> in their federal and provincial legislatures, their major political parties and members of Parliament. </p>
<p>One of the primary reasons is because the public is disconnected from political institutions and their representatives.</p>
<p>While our parliamentary system does offer opportunities for the public to provide some input via <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/consultations/consultingcanadians.html">public consultations</a>, many of those initiatives are limited by the fact that citizens cannot set the agenda, deliberate on issues they believe are important or make binding policy decisions. </p>
<p>One proposed solution to this problem has been to empower the public through <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/339306da-en/1/3/2/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/339306da-en&_csp_=07698b7c924c319dbb92a6500bf563da&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book">institutionalized representative deliberative processes</a> — especially regularly scheduled and revamped town halls. There are also calls for the creation of a permanent structure for citizen deliberation, like the <a href="https://oidp.net/en/practice.php?id=1237">Ostbelgien Model</a> that consists of randomly selected and demographically representative “<a href="https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/docs/researchnotes/2017_May/nDF_RN_20170508_FormsOfMiniPublics.pdf">mini-publics</a>.”</p>
<p>Canadians have pioneered the respected <a href="https://nationalcitizensassembly.ca/">National Citizens’ Assemblies on Electoral Reform</a> and <a href="https://www.commissioncanada.ca/">Democratic Expression</a>, funded in part by the federal government. They also do well in innovating the delivery of certain public services <a href="https://www.metrolinx.com/en/aboutus/inthecommunity/theplan/2017-08-10%20Residents%20Reference%20Panal%20Final%20Report.pdf">like transportation</a>, but the country has yet to explore how it can strengthen democracy through representative and constituency work. </p>
<h2>Rebooting Canada’s political system</h2>
<p>There is evidence from the <a href="https://connectingtocongress.org/">Connecting to Congress</a> and <a href="https://connect2parliament.com/">Connect to Parliament</a>, projects in the United States and Australia respectively, that Canada can transform its political system to be more efficient and responsive.</p>
<p>This could lead to a public that’s more willing to be engaged in politics, learn and converse with their neighbours and have favourable opinions of politicians, even if they’re aligned differently on the political spectrum. It’s achieved by designing meaningful deliberative town halls where members of the public get to have a say in policy.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-anti-poverty-initiative-focuses-on-lived-experiences-to-help-shape-policy-192305">New anti-poverty initiative focuses on lived experiences to help shape policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Australia, Connecting to Parliament hosted a series of deliberative town halls in the district of Fenner, near the capital of Canberra, between residents and their MP, Andrew Leigh. </p>
<p>The topic was about reversing the ban on <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/mitochondrial-donation#:%7E:text=Mitochondrial%20donation%20is%20an%20assisted,passed%20on%20to%20an%20embryo.">mitochondrial donation</a>, a reproductive technology. </p>
<p>In 2020, the Australian government decided to permit a free vote on the topic, and Leigh <a href="https://www.andrewleigh.com/mitochondrial_donation_law_reform_maeve_s_law_bill_2021_speech_house_of_representatives">allowed his constituents to have their say and determine his vote</a> through a series of online and in-person deliberative town halls. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1303970465526947841"}"></div></p>
<p>So far, deliberative town halls have been held with individual elected members of the U.S. Congress and Australian parliament, but not systematically rolled out.</p>
<h2>How Canada can boost civic engagement</h2>
<p>I believe Canadian officials must build on this model on a large scale, consistent with Canada’s pledges on public engagement in the <a href="https://www.opengovpartnership.org/members/canada/commitments/CA0060/">Open Government Partnership</a>, which is already exploring how to establish a permanent forum for public dialogue. The federal government could use a <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6005ceb747a6a51d636af58d/t/6010d0afcf56e50b6225c3cc/1611714741352/DAF2020.pdf">democratic action fund</a> to host the conversations. </p>
<p>Canadian Parliament should hold two rounds of online/offline civic engagement in Canada after every election cycle to introduce publicly informed and determined legislation on any given issue. </p>
<p>It would work like this: A first round of 338 deliberative town halls would consist of every federal MP conducting a riding-based, deliberative mini-public, crowd-sourcing community ideas via a survey in advance, and then choose to submit a collectively agreed-upon idea.</p>
<p>Elected officials in Parliament would then commit to selecting a menu of issues on the basis of a free vote, and these would move forward for further rounds of consideration. </p>
<p>In the second round of this process, MPs would then go back to their community for more discussion on the selected issues, and put forward just one, which the MP would then vote for in a parliamentary ranked-ballot conscience vote. </p>
<p>The top selection would move forward for parliamentary scrutiny. The mechanism could also apply to the Senate, or other levels of government. </p>
<p>Ultimately, there is room for tweaks and improvement, and further public participation via online input during the initial rounds and then at the latter stages of parliamentary reading.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The West Block of Parliament Hill is pictured with orange, yellow and red trees framing it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493002/original/file-20221102-26784-9wqwug.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493002/original/file-20221102-26784-9wqwug.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493002/original/file-20221102-26784-9wqwug.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493002/original/file-20221102-26784-9wqwug.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493002/original/file-20221102-26784-9wqwug.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493002/original/file-20221102-26784-9wqwug.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493002/original/file-20221102-26784-9wqwug.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This place could be a lot more responsive to the public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Power to the people</h2>
<p>Problems with party politics abound, largely driven by the fusion of executive and legislative powers that enforces party discipline to ensure laws are passed.</p>
<p>This process would help solve the issue of backbenchers lacking influence, which by default also undermines local constituents. This also offers a new way for private member’s bills to be developed and gives a level of influence to the public.</p>
<p>If we aim for <a href="https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226588674-015">repeated and open interactions</a> between politicians and the public, it will enhance our arguably very limited parliamentary engagement efforts. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-deliberative-democracy-research-in-nepal-shows-it-could-spur-global-youth-voting-189204">What's 'deliberative' democracy? Research in Nepal shows it could spur global youth voting</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The design of these deliberative town halls would have to involve considerations of inclusion and efficiency.</p>
<p>That means selection procedures would have to ensure that the participants are diverse, that moderation is inclusive of all opinions, information is balanced with the potential use of local experts on the subject, and decision-making is transparent. From there, there must be online and/or in-person opportunities to participate and build connections. </p>
<p>Canadian democracy demands new ways of engaging citizens in Parliament. It’s time to act on this demand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193687/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Vlahos is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra, Australia, and leads the Connecting to Parliament project. </span></em></p>Problems with party politics abound, largely driven by the fusion of executive and legislative powers that enforces party discipline. Here’s how to get the public more involved.Nick Vlahos, Postdoctoral Fellow, Political Science, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1903002022-10-13T16:43:28Z2022-10-13T16:43:28ZTo address climate change, lifestyles must change – but the government’s reluctance to help is holding us back<p>Without changes to people’s behaviour and lifestyles, it will be impossible for the UK to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But the government is failing to put in place the conditions that would enable this to happen – or even recognise its relevance in cutting emissions and meeting climate targets. Its laissez-faire approach of simply “going with the grain of consumer choice”, according to <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/515/environment-and-climate-change-committee/publications/">a recent report</a>, has no chance of bringing about the urgent changes needed.</p>
<p>A House of Lords inquiry assessed the role of public behaviour in meeting climate and environmental goals. The report drew on evidence from leading experts on behavioural science and social change, as well as submissions from a wide range of organisations, including Tesco, Natural England and Cycling UK. </p>
<p>Among the criticisms levelled at the government were accusations that it places too much faith in unproven technologies to fix the climate, and is reluctant to communicate to the public the scale of social change needed to create a low-carbon society. The varying remits of different government departments charged with helping the public change their polluting behaviour were characterised as a “muddle” and “inadequate” to the task. In some instances, government actions have pushed people away from low-carbon choices, like offering a <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/uks-rishi-sunak-cuts-tax-for-domestic-flights-ahead-of-climate-summit/">tax cut for domestic flights</a> just before 2021’s UN climate summit in Glasgow.</p>
<p>Perhaps most uncomfortable for a government that has elevated economic growth as its foremost priority, the report stresses the need for absolute reductions in many of the commonplace activities that are driving the climate crisis. This includes people buying less of the things with sizeable environmental impacts, like long-haul flights, beef and products that use a lot of resources, such as fast-fashion clothing and electronics.</p>
<h2>Low-carbon lifestyles</h2>
<p>The government’s squeamishness around supposedly interfering in people’s lives or restricting personal freedoms is at the heart of a lot of climate policy inertia. Boris Johnson’s government swiftly withdrew <a href="https://www.research-live.com/article/news/climate-change-research-deleted-from-government-website/id/5090762">an earlier report</a> on options for encouraging low-carbon behaviour change that it had itself commissioned, out of fear that its recommendations, which included additional charges on frequent flyers and high-carbon foods, could be interpreted as dictating consumer behaviour.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A shopping trolley filled with vegetables, tinned food and juice." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489575/original/file-20221013-25-yb7kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489575/original/file-20221013-25-yb7kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489575/original/file-20221013-25-yb7kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489575/original/file-20221013-25-yb7kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489575/original/file-20221013-25-yb7kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489575/original/file-20221013-25-yb7kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489575/original/file-20221013-25-yb7kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Government subsidies could make sustainable food cheaper.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/trolley-healthy-food-supermarket-299376506">Wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Reality is more complex. There is little choice involved in lacking the money to insulate an energy-inefficient home. Nor is there much freedom in struggling to cycle on dangerous roads without dedicated bike lanes, or having to pay much more to travel by train compared with flying. </p>
<p>It is for this reason that the House of Lords report urges the government to use taxes, regulations and infrastructure to level the playing field in favour of <a href="https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CAST-briefing-01-Engaging-the-public-on-low-carbon-lifestyle-change-min.pdf">greener lifestyles</a>, especially when it comes to travel, heating, diet and the products we buy. One of the few examples cited in the report of the government being assertive in its approach to behaviour and lifestyle change is the ban on new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 – a clear constraint on people’s choices, but one that now appears to be <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-april-to-june-2022/vehicle-licensing-statistics-april-to-june-2022">accelerating</a> the uptake of electric vehicles.</p>
<p>Measures for promoting sustainable lifestyles would do well to learn from successes and failures in other areas, such as smoking, obesity and the national response to the pandemic. Health experts stressed in the report that efforts to reduce smoking in the UK have worked precisely because they have involved a range of policy interventions, including raising taxes on tobacco, laws restricting smoking in public spaces and a clampdown on advertising, as well as carefully coordinated and well-timed efforts to engage with the public about these changes. The UK’s success in reducing smoking rates would not have happened with voluntary measures alone.</p>
<h2>The importance of fairness</h2>
<p>The government’s advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, found that about a third of all emissions reductions needed up to 2035 require decisions by individuals and households. But the types of action needed varies greatly depending on people’s circumstances. For this reason, it’s important to be honest not only about what needs to change, but who needs to change the most.</p>
<p>People will be more inclined to make changes if they feel <a href="https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CAST-Briefing-09.pdf">policies are applied fairly</a>. The report is blunt in its assessment of what this means, noting that “higher-income households which typically have a larger carbon footprint must take correspondingly larger steps to reduce their emissions”.</p>
<p>Emissions are highly skewed by income: across Europe, the wealthiest 10% of people have footprints of around <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/unequal-distribution-of-household-carbon-footprints-in-europe-and-its-link-to-sustainability/F1ED4F705AF1C6C1FCAD477398353DC2">20 tonnes of CO₂ a year</a>, compared with half that for those in the middle-income bracket. And it’s not just the size that matters: people in the top 1% have a carbon footprint from <a href="https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/CAST-Briefing06.pdf">air travel alone</a> that exceeds the total footprint of middle-income citizens. The government’s failure to intervene in what amounts to a rapid depletion of the remaining carbon budget risks deepening social inequalities further, particularly as the effects of climate change become more severe.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A plane taking off from an airport runway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489574/original/file-20221013-12-eoyy3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489574/original/file-20221013-12-eoyy3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489574/original/file-20221013-12-eoyy3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489574/original/file-20221013-12-eoyy3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489574/original/file-20221013-12-eoyy3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489574/original/file-20221013-12-eoyy3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489574/original/file-20221013-12-eoyy3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frequent flying is most common among the rich.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-2016-october-15-british-airways-487703857">JGolby/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the government dawdles, there is a clear <a href="https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CM_UOB_49-CAST-Report_v5_FINAL_27.9.22.pdf">public appetite for change</a>. Our research found that 70% of people in the UK understand that how we live must change drastically. The report offers encouraging examples of changes already made by businesses, civil society and local authorities, such as community faith groups reducing their waste or city councils improving cycling infrastructure. </p>
<p>This goodwill and enthusiasm must be supported. That means governments providing clear signals to the rest of society, like setting a date for a ban on gas boilers or subsidising energy efficiency improvements in people’s homes. We also need a national conversation on how to reach net zero. A coherent public engagement strategy would not only inform people of the changes that are required but involve them in the process. For example, citizens’ assemblies, representative groups of people brought together to deliberate on issues, can create a shared vision of the future. </p>
<p>Simply waiting for people to make low-carbon choices in a world that doesn’t support those choices, and where people feel no stake in the changes taking place, is unfair and irresponsible.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190300/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Demski works for the University of Bath and as part of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Capstick works for Cardiff University as part of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>A new report suggests the government has less to fear from promoting sustainable lifestyles than it expects.Christina Demski, Reader in Environmental Psychology, University of BathStuart Capstick, Senior Research Fellow in Psychology, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1803832022-04-05T20:27:09Z2022-04-05T20:27:09ZFailure to include Black communities in health policy public engagement perpetuates health disparities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455728/original/file-20220401-27172-hsk71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=243%2C657%2C4304%2C2863&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not engaging Black communities meaningfully in health and other policy-making processes has been a critical failure, reflecting a history of systemic racism, marginalization and political indifference.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Nappy.co)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is time for us to accept that policy failure and lack of community engagement in policy decision-making go hand-in-hand. The fact that the communities with the worst health outcomes are also the communities least likely to be meaningfully engaged in health policy decision-making should not be a surprise.</p>
<p>As it stands, a growing body of evidence suggests that while many decision-making bodies proclaim publicly that they <a href="http://www.engagementinhealthpolicy.ca/">want input from racialized and other marginalized communities</a>, many institutions are not willing to listen to, accept or integrate what those communities have to say.</p>
<p>Broad systemic problems <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/covid-19/impact-covid-19-in-racialized-communities/covid-19-systemic-racism-racialization-and-lives">caused by longstanding exclusion and privilege</a> are increasingly being acknowledged as overdue for correction. However, these complex issues are far too often <a href="https://www.engagementinhealthpolicy.ca/blog/unpacking-the-public-in-public-engagement-in-search-of-black-communities">papered over with helpful-sounding but empty rhetoric and symbolic and performative gestures of inclusion</a>.</p>
<p>Over time, more and more people are coming to acknowledge that proclaiming to be inclusive while not actually doing substantive work is simply another tactic for preserving the status quo.</p>
<h2>Health-care disparities</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.engagementinhealthpolicy.ca/research">Our research</a>, as part of the <a href="https://www.engagementinhealthpolicy.ca/">Public Engagement in Health Policy</a> team, examines two key things: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>How, and to what extent, Black communities have been traditionally engaged in health policymaking; and, </p></li>
<li><p>How, through creating their own health-focused solutions and interventions, Black communities’ self-advocacy and mobilization can provide great insight into persistent health system and policy gaps, and what potential solutions can look like.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In health-care systems, measurable outcomes such as disease prevalence and outcomes and indicators of trust in medical systems show that the system has chronically failed Black communities and is long overdue for systemic change.</p>
<p>The pandemic made these cracks painfully clear and very difficult to ignore.</p>
<p>Black communities in Canada and the United States are at <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43122798/COVID_19_and_the_Black_and_African_Diaspora">higher risk for contracting COVID-19</a>, have been dying at disproportionate and alarming rates, and suffer greater negative economic impacts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A health-care worker in PPE about to swab a patient's throat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455493/original/file-20220331-17-uqp83w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455493/original/file-20220331-17-uqp83w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455493/original/file-20220331-17-uqp83w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455493/original/file-20220331-17-uqp83w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455493/original/file-20220331-17-uqp83w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455493/original/file-20220331-17-uqp83w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455493/original/file-20220331-17-uqp83w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black communities in Canada and the United States are at higher risk for contracting COVID-19 and have been dying at disproportionate and alarming rates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We have known for some time that <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-determinants-of-health#tab=tab_1">social determinants such as race, social class, education and environment</a> influence health outcomes in both everyday and emergency situations.</p>
<p>Resolving the all-too-abundant disparities demands making room to hear from the people who aren’t getting the health care they need, but that isn’t happening enough, and when it does, it clearly isn’t having the necessary effect.</p>
<p>A recent review of <a href="https://www.engagementinhealthpolicy.ca/blog/looking-back-on-20-years-of-public-engagement">government-initiated public and patient engagement activities in health policy from 2001-21</a> showed that only 14 per cent of 132 cases even mentioned prioritizing or engaging with marginalized populations.</p>
<p>All this raises the question, who really is “the public” in public engagement — and how legitimate and effective can such processes be when there are such critical gaps in representation and voice?</p>
<p>In response to this question, some scholars have argued that activities engaging the public in creating health policy are often merely performative “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2016.1213505">spectacles of public participation</a>.”</p>
<p>They are prone to <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/archivee-archived.html?url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/ccs-hcc/H174-33-2006-eng.pdf">political interference, are often inadequately resourced and can result in unfulfilled expectations</a>. They can also be self-selecting and deliberately <a href="https://www.engagementinhealthpolicy.ca/blog/looking-back-on-20-years-of-public-engagement">designed to make inclusive engagement difficult</a>.</p>
<p>Critical scholars have also pointed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00953997211034137">processes that favour amenable, acquiescent perspectives that do not disrupt the status quo</a>, while devaluing, co-opting and delegitimizing dissenting and critical voices.</p>
<h2>Critical questions</h2>
<p>If we are prepared to reckon with why this is happening, there are some critical questions we should be asking as researchers, health-care providers, activists and policy-makers.</p>
<p>What do we think we know about the needs and desires of Black communities in Canada as it relates to their health, and where does this knowledge come from? How have we historically engaged Black communities in health policy-making in Canada? To what extent are Black communities actually represented in the public engagement processes we speak about? Are we even evaluating which communities our public engagement processes actually engage?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three people sitting at a table with laptops; two are watching the third as she speaks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455731/original/file-20220401-25-p69x6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455731/original/file-20220401-25-p69x6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455731/original/file-20220401-25-p69x6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455731/original/file-20220401-25-p69x6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455731/original/file-20220401-25-p69x6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455731/original/file-20220401-25-p69x6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455731/original/file-20220401-25-p69x6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some scholars have argued that activities engaging the public in creating health policy are often merely performative ‘spectacles of public participation.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Nappy.co)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What challenges have we encountered when attempting to engage Black communities in these processes, and to what do we attribute these challenges?</p>
<p>Why are we not more alarmed by the disparities in outcomes for Black and other marginalized communities during COVID-19 and more broadly?</p>
<p>These are not technical issues but existential questions about the efficacy of our health systems and policies, and who these systems are traditionally designed to serve.</p>
<p>Finally, while there is vital “grey” or non-academic data captured by practitioners and community organizations (such as white papers, research reports, governmental publications, and policy, organizational and institutional analyses), it is essential that the health needs and experiences of Black communities in Canada be studied rigorously and ethically and reflected in academic literature.</p>
<p>It is therefore <a href="https://spon.ca/how-canadas-racial-data-gaps-can-be-hazardous-to-your-health/2019/02/07/comment-page-1/">critical that we continue to advocate</a> for the <a href="https://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Tracking-COVID-19-Through-Race-Based-Data_eng.pdf">collection of race-based health data across Canada</a> to strengthen <a href="https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/addressing_economic_racism_in_canada_s_pandemic_response_and_recovery">health-equity discussions and policy reform</a>.</p>
<h2>Veneer of action</h2>
<p>One of the profound impacts of the Black Lives Matter movement, particularly following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, has been growing exasperation with the ways <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/covid-19/covid-19-pandemic-histories-inequities-unveiled-impact-black-communities">politicians and institutions often feign ignorance</a> about the <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/covid-19/impact-covid-19-in-racialized-communities/black-immigrants-oscillating-between-covid-19-and">systemic barriers and forms of violence</a> Black communities have long faced in their daily lives.</p>
<p>Symbolic acts of anti-racism that present a veneer of action rather than substantive structural change only add insult to injury. For example, when engaging marginalized communities, <a href="https://www.engagementinhealthpolicy.ca/blog/unpacking-the-public-in-public-engagement-in-search-of-black-communities">recruiting methods often favoured privileged populations</a>, and one-off methods such as surveys were common, rather than substantively engaging marginalized communities in problem-solving. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man with his hands in the air speaking to others" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455945/original/file-20220403-14-1lkj64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455945/original/file-20220403-14-1lkj64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455945/original/file-20220403-14-1lkj64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455945/original/file-20220403-14-1lkj64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455945/original/file-20220403-14-1lkj64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455945/original/file-20220403-14-1lkj64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455945/original/file-20220403-14-1lkj64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It is essential that the health needs and experiences of Black communities in Canada be studied rigorously and ethically and reflected in academic literature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While we continue to pursue more research, we need simultaneous and courageous conversations at policy tables that begin with a radical new level of honesty.</p>
<p>This means acknowledging that not engaging Black communities meaningfully in health and other policy-making processes has been a critical failure, reflecting a history of systemic racism, marginalization, and political indifference. It needs to be tackled with focus, humility, intentionality, and imagination.</p>
<p>In other words, what got us here won’t get us there.</p>
<p>We also need to understand that Black communities are not sitting by idly in a burning house waiting to be engaged. They are often out there, <a href="https://blackhealthalliance.ca/covid-19/">self-mobilizing</a>, developing <a href="https://www.instagram.com/eriethiocovid/?hl=en">systems of mutual aid</a>, building <a href="https://www.taibuchc.ca/en/">sophisticated community infrastructure</a> and <a href="https://blackhealthmatterscovid19.ca/about/">making their voices and demands heard</a>. This work should be visible, lauded and properly resourced — not sidelined.</p>
<p>All forms of consultation and decision-making require openness to diverse views, which means shifting away from the top-down approaches governments have traditionally employed in forming health policy.</p>
<p>To be truly transformative, public engagement in health policy <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-9248.2006.00612.x">must reflect the agency, diversity, and interconnectivity of all communities</a>.</p>
<p>With that said, if we begin any of this work without Black and other underserved communities leading these discussions, we have missed the point entirely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This essay was prepared by members of the Public Engagement in Health Policy team, which is funded and supported by the Future of Canada Project at McMaster University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rhonda C. George does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While policy organizations publicly claim that they want input from racialized and other marginalized communities, many fail to listen to, accept or integrate what those communities have to say.Alpha Abebe, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Humanities, McMaster UniversityRhonda C. George, Researcher, Faculty of Humanities, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1631782021-06-28T15:01:52Z2021-06-28T15:01:52ZSouth African scientists explain why they make time for science festivals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408238/original/file-20210624-17-1r3z7wo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C627%2C4601%2C2393&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists from the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa at Scifest Africa 2019 engage with visitors. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Science festivals across the world attract millions of visitors every year. They are typically busy, buzzing events: visitors stroll through interactive displays, enjoy science-themed shows and popular science talks and take part in hands-on workshops. </p>
<p>These events appeal to different groups of people for different reasons. For adults, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662512458624">provide</a> rare – and <a href="https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18020202">valued</a> – opportunities to talk directly to scientists while learning in a leisure context. For students visiting with their schools, there is often a focus on science learning, inspiration and sometimes getting advice about science careers.</p>
<p>Science festivals form part of an expanding global range of events designed for public engagement with science. This science engagement format has been adopted in South Africa with support from <a href="http://www.africangong.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/lagos-declaration-and-call-to-action.pdf">pan-African</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201912/white-paper-science-technology-and-innovation.pdf">South African </a> science policies.</p>
<p>But what is the appeal for the scientists whose participation is key to festivals’ success? Some studies have examined <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547018786561">scientists’ willingness to engage</a> with public audiences, but this research was done almost exclusively in the developed world. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662506067660">one study</a> found that scientists who participated in the Madrid Science Fair wanted to improve public interest in and appreciation of science. They also hoped to promote a general culture of science in society. <a href="http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1396178/FULLTEXT01.pdf">A Swedish study</a>, meanwhile, found that scientists participated in science festivals primarily for personal reasons such as improving their communication skills.</p>
<p>We wanted to understand what motivates scientists in South Africa to participate in science festivals – or deters them. This is important for two reasons. First, because science communication of the sort that happens at these festivals benefits society by <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/110/Supplement_3/14102.abstract">bridging the gap</a> between scientists and non-experts. It brings science to people and demonstrates how science can be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-have-much-to-gain-by-sharing-their-research-with-the-public-64129">positive force for change</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-have-much-to-gain-by-sharing-their-research-with-the-public-64129">Scientists have much to gain by sharing their research with the public</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Second, scientists usually participate at festivals as volunteers and have to invest significant time in preparing and contributing. It is vital to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2019.00078">understand the factors that encourage or deter scientists’ participation</a>, as well as the perceived benefits and risks that may affect their future involvement. That’s what <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/BPG5ZPFJHKG9BFT4VEIP/full?target=10.1080/21548455.2021.1905904">our new study</a>, the first of its kind to explore the participation of scientists in an African science festival, set out to do.</p>
<p>We found, among other things, that scientists enjoyed informing, exciting and inspiring the public. They also recognised the value of being role models, getting school children and students interested in science. Some of the barriers they identified included time constraints and a lack of institutional support and recognition for public engagement.</p>
<h2>Driving factors</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/BPG5ZPFJHKG9BFT4VEIP/full?target=10.1080/21548455.2021.1905904">Our study</a> focused on <a href="https://www.scifest.org.za/">Scifest Africa</a>, which has been held annually in South Africa since 1996. In 2020, it <a href="https://www.scifest.org.za/south-africas-national-science-festival-goes-online/">moved online</a>, as did many other science festivals around the world, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Forty scientists who participated in the festival in 2019 took part in an online survey. </p>
<p>One key finding was that scientists are mainly motivated by the objectives of informing, exciting and inspiring the public. As one respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Normally, the public does not know the science that we do. Scifest Africa is a good platform to make your science known to the public.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Scientists also said they were driven by a sense of duty, given that they work with public funding. A respondent suggested that since “research is paid using taxpayers’ money, the public has a right to know how their money is being used”.</p>
<p>Another finding was that South Africa’s <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid legacy</a> inspires a strong moral obligation among scientists to give something back to society. One of the respondents told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Today, science communication can also be done by black people, e.g., we can be the ones who are explaining, teaching and demonstrating science to white people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-personal-journey-sheds-light-on-why-there-are-so-few-black-women-in-science-91165">Black women scientists</a> in particular identified being role models as a key motivating factor for taking part in the festivals. A respondent suggested that “many black girls are afraid of studying science because they think it’s too difficult”, and that her engagement as a role model may help.</p>
<p>Other motivating factors included improving their own communication skills and finding it rewarding to engage with the public. </p>
<h2>Barriers</h2>
<p>When it came to barriers or deterrents, many respondents mentioned time constraints. Others were concerned that their institutions neither recognised nor supported public engagement work. A respondent said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is time-consuming and demanding to man an exhibition, but we are not paid for this and no one accounts for the productive time lost.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some respondents complained that institutions didn’t generally provide training opportunities to equip scientists with effective public dialogue skills.</p>
<p>Our findings offer practical insights to help festival funders and organisers to sustain and expand scientists’ participation. </p>
<p>They highlight the need for universities, research institutions and other science engagement entities to build expertise and provide continuous support to improve scientists’ participation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric A. Jensen receives funding from the European Commission and other funders to conduct research on aspects of the science-society relationship globally.
Jensen delivers training on evaluation and social research methods as part of the Methods for Change professional development programme, run by an education and research charity: methodsforchange.org</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marina Joubert and Mpfareleni Rejoyce Gavhi-Molefe do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientists enjoyed informing, exciting and inspiring the public.Mpfareleni Rejoyce Gavhi-Molefe, Mathematical Scientist & AIMS House of Science Manager, African Institute for Mathematical SciencesEric A. Jensen, Associate Professor in Sociology, University of WarwickMarina Joubert, Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1462672020-09-21T12:16:14Z2020-09-21T12:16:14ZScientists don’t share their findings for fun – they want their research to make a difference<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358725/original/file-20200917-18-b3vrzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=136%2C0%2C4210%2C3132&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists talk about their research because they want their expertise to guide real-world decisions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/caltech-seismologist-egill-hauksson-speaks-to-reporters-at-news-photo/1154154444">Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Scientists don’t take time away from their research to share their expertise with journalists, policymakers and everyone else just to let us know about neat scientific facts.</p>
<p>They share findings from their research because they want leaders and the public to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662520950671">use their hard-won insights to make evidence-based decisions</a> about policy and personal issues. That’s according to two surveys of Canadian and American researchers my colleagues <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0ssM57wAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">and I</a> conducted.</p>
<p>Scientists from both countries reported “ensuring that policymakers use scientific evidence” is at the top of their list of communication goals. Helping their fellow citizens make better personal decisions also scores high. Further, scientists say they’re not communicating just to burnish their own reputation.</p>
<p><iframe id="cXAyd" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/cXAyd/6/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>In just one recent week, American President Donald Trump said top health scientists were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/world/covid-coronavirus.html">making “a mistake” about the value of masks</a> in slowing COVID-19 transmission and that he doesn’t “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/us/politics/trump-biden-climate-change-fires.html">think science knows</a>” whether climate change is part of the reason the American West is beset by wildfires this summer.</p>
<p>The scientific community has come to expect this sort of historically unusual <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe7391">disregard for scientific advice</a> from the current administration. But our new study underscores that scientists prioritize sharing their research so it can have an impact in the real world. They aren’t satisfied just producing knowledge for knowledge’s sake, but rather want it to inform such matters as pandemic response and wildfire management.</p>
<p>We know from other interviews and surveys that many scientists will often initially indicate that their communication “goal” is simply to increase knowledge or correct misinformation. However, if prodded by questions like “But why do you want to increase knowledge?” or “What do you hope will happen if you correct misinformation?” they will often identify their ultimate aim as helping people make better decisions.</p>
<p>Highly trained scientists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547018786561">seem especially willing</a> to share what they’ve learned if they think it can help society make smarter choices. For example, forest scientists I’ve worked with in New England want to help land managers and policymakers find ways to <a href="https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/other-tags/wildlands-woodlands">protect Northeastern forests from urban sprawl and other threats</a>. There also appears to be broad demand among scientists of all types <a href="https://www.aaas.org/programs/science-technology-policy-fellowships">to take part in</a> <a href="https://ritaallen.org/stories/report-calls-for-strengthening-science-engagement-fellowships-through-new-connections-and-inclusion/">policy fellowships</a> that help them connect with policymakers on issues like managing health and environmental risks.</p>
<p>Science isn’t infallible, but the premise of scientific research is that it’s among the best available ways of trying to understand a complicated world. Years of survey research also show that Americans have more <a href="https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20207/public-attitudes-about-s-t-in-general#figureCtr1095">confidence in scientists</a> than in most other groups in society and want scientists to be <a href="https://wayback.archive-it.org/5902/20170708080854/https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/c7/c7s3.htm#s4">involved in a range of different types of decision-making</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman and child look at X-ray with pediatrician" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358726/original/file-20200917-24-1l2plgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists want their research to inform decisions like those made by families and health care providers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/pediatrician-shows-x-ray-to-concerned-parent-royalty-free-image/807902904">SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Our surveys didn’t ask about every possible goal. For example, we did not ask scientists about how much they aim to push policymakers to adopt specific laws or regulations. We also didn’t investigate how much effort scientists put into the goal of learning from those with whom they communicate, which might have implications for what they choose to research.</p>
<p>Another thing that’s missing from our research is direct information about what might lead scientists to prioritize specific goals.</p>
<p>However, we do know from past research that scientists are more likely to say they’re <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547018786561">willing to communicate</a>, as well as to prioritize <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662517728478">specific objectives</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224039">tactics</a>, if they see a choice as ethical, able to make a difference and within their capacity.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I continue to study scientists’ communication goals and overall views about communication. We’re especially interested in understanding how scientists identify their goals and how to encourage them to draw on evidence-based strategies that could help them achieve those goals. This increasingly includes efforts to encourage scientists to collaborate with communication experts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-03-2020-0022">within their organizations</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John C. Besley receives or has received funding from the National Science Foundation (AISL 1421214-1421723), the United States Department of Agriculture (MICL02468), the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Kavli Foundation for research related to this article. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.</span></em></p>A survey of over a thousand scientists reveals that their goal when communicating about their work is to help the rest of us make evidence-based decisions that draw on scientific findings.John C. Besley, Ellis N. Brandt Professor of Public Relations, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1167662019-05-08T13:19:10Z2019-05-08T13:19:10ZPalace of Westminster is falling down – but government’s renewal plans are just as decrepit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273314/original/file-20190508-183089-1osqkbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU1NzM0NzA1NywiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfNDYxNTMxMjY2IiwiayI6InBob3RvLzQ2MTUzMTI2Ni9tZWRpdW0uanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJhR01ySHFZMnBoNmRrUVhWRlRiWDJoaXpLdDQiXQ%2Fshutterstock_461531266.jpg&pi=33421636&m=461531266&src=WiKaYqxo4R3zhqPuvUxWUA-1-25">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s something almost deliciously ironic about the UK government’s decision to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/08/mps-to-vote-on-house-of-commons-temporary-chamber">publish its latest plans</a> for the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster almost exactly ten years to the day since the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004sls">MPs’ expenses scandal</a> exploded.</p>
<p>This was a scandal about money, transparency and a culture of entitlement that brought parliament to its knees. And although the expenses regime at Westminster has undoubtedly been cleaned up, there still remains a lingering culture that smacks of elitism and a “we know best” attitude.</p>
<p>And yet <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-administration-and-constitutional-affairs-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/inquiry1/">the evidence</a> suggests that in project after project the government has not “known best”. The <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/IfG_infrastructure_decision_making_WEB.pdf">evidence</a> also suggests that large and complex infrastructure projects often succeed when public engagement is placed at the core and not banished to the periphery.</p>
<p>Given the fact that any project to renew and refurbish the Palace of Westminster involves a public building – no less than the home of British democracy – and public money, I would have thought that the issue of public engagement might have fostered more than a dim and distant flicker in the minds of the government.</p>
<p>But no. There will be no legal obligation for the sponsor board and independent delivery authority charged with delivering restoration and renewal (R&R) to seek input from the public. And we know this legal duty is absent because a joint committee of both <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jtselect/jtdpbb/1800/180006.htm#_idTextAnchor025">houses recently asked for it</a> – and the government <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/800021/CP90_TheGovernmentResponseRestorationAndRenewalBill.pdf">has just rejected it</a>.</p>
<p>The confusion in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/800021/CP90_TheGovernmentResponseRestorationAndRenewalBill.pdf">government’s response</a> borders on the bizarre. It notes: “We do not consider it appropriate that this [public engagement] should be part of the Sponsor Board’s role given its focus on overseeing and delivering the R&R programme”. And yet, just one sentence later, it states: “Nevertheless, we do agree that this should feature in the Sponsor Board’s considerations when they engage the public on the R&R”. </p>
<p>The risk is that without statutory clarity and legal backing, the issue of public engagement will simply get lost in what is already emerging as a fragmented and complex undertaking. Public engagement may well be undertaken – but by a range of bodies, in different ways, and in a messy and muddled manner, without any clear strategy or coherent masterplan. For some reason, I just can’t get the title of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s classic 1981 novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, out of my mind. It just seems doomed from the start.</p>
<h2>Satire</h2>
<p>The whole way the restoration and renewal programme seems to be being handled is a bit like a cross between the gentle mockery of a Monty Python sketch and the biting satire of The Thick of It. You really couldn’t make it up.</p>
<p>The facts are relatively straightforward.</p>
<p>Fact 1: The Palace of Westminster is in a state of advanced physical decline and the risk of a “catastrophic failure” happening is now very real. In fact, water poured through the roof of the House of Commons <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/04/uk/house-of-commons-water-leak-scli-gbr-intl/index.html">during a recent debate</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1113800223145562114"}"></div></p>
<p>Fact 2: The state of British democracy also appears to be in a state of advanced decline with the chances of a “catastrophic failure” also growing by the day. Anyone who doubts this claim would do well to reflect on the Hansard Society’s recent <a href="https://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/publications/reports/audit-of-political-engagement-16">Audit of Political Engagement</a>. This reveals jaw-droppingly low levels of public confidence in politics, and also the more worrying emergence of public support for a “strong leader” who is “willing to break the rules” when it comes to the normal checks and balances of democratic politics. </p>
<p>Fact 3: The recent fire in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/notre-dame-the-public-and-private-lives-of-frances-spiritual-home-115734">Notre Dame cathedral</a> in Paris not only underlined the need for urgent action to make safe the physical fabric of the building, but also led to a far broader and relatively positive national conversation about how to restore the structure while also renewing it to reflect the France of today and tomorrow, and not just the past. Surely there are lessons here for the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-leaky-roof-and-a-democratic-crisis-within-what-better-time-to-get-serious-about-redesigning-westminster-115050">A leaky roof and a democratic crisis within – what better time to get serious about redesigning Westminster?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Fact 4: As has already been noted, the <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/IfG_infrastructure_decision_making_WEB.pdf">evidence base</a> reveals a positive link between successful major infrastructure projects and public engagement.</p>
<p>Fact 5: Someone, somewhere deep within the bowels of the Palace of Westminster, has looked at Facts 1-4 and decided to ignore the evidence and the world beyond the Westminster bubble and carry on regardless.</p>
<p>The public will ultimately pay the price. Not just financially, but politically, too. For it seems that a truly rare opportunity to reflect upon how “we shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us” – as Churchill noted – will be missed. When will they ever learn?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Flinders receives funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust</span></em></p>Ten years on from the MPs expenses scandal, there remains in Westminster a lingering culture of elitism and a ‘we know best attitude’.Matthew Flinders, Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1161032019-05-02T13:09:10Z2019-05-02T13:09:10ZWhy my fears about climate change made me cross the line that separates academia from activism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271992/original/file-20190501-113852-p5v40z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author as presenter.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Climate Race Film</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Everybody seems to be <a href="https://twitter.com/CarbonBrief/status/1123571071951757312">talking about climate change</a> again. This time, a great deal of the coverage has been sympathetic to the idea that we are facing an emergency that demands drastic action. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/extinction-rebellion-disruption-and-arrests-can-bring-social-change-115741">Extinction Rebellion’s protests</a> caused some outrage, but also some <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/22/time-denial-conservatives-have-take-climate-crisis-seriously/">surprising support</a>. Swedish campaigner Greta Thunburg has been <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48017083">widely admired</a>, David Attenborough has been <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/with-the-netflix-series-our-planet-david-attenborough-delivers-an-urgent-message">spreading the word</a> with urgency, and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00049b1">primetime programming</a> has led to serious discussions about climate change across living rooms, offices and social media. </p>
<p>So is this the fabled tipping point in public opinion which will see widespread support for radical changes? That is a question that can only be answered in hindsight. </p>
<p>Yet despite the significant surge in interest and concern, most people are probably unaware of what climate change really means: that it’s not just about nudging our emissions a bit lower or taking incremental action generally. This is a challenge that is perhaps unprecedented in all of human history. </p>
<h2>Crossing the line</h2>
<p>Given that I teach climate change to university students, I can (and do) talk for hours about the importance of global temperature change, or ecological impacts. </p>
<p>But these are academic concerns in the sense that they are almost completely separated from what climate change means to me, my family, friends and pretty much everything else I care about. It’s taken me some time to realise that I was in a sort of denial about climate change. I was able to compartmentalise it. </p>
<p>Reflecting on this led me to take a step over the line that separates academia from activism. I have colleagues and friends who are strict observers of this separation of states. Some of them have deeply principled concerns that advocating for particular climate related policies could undermine their professional objectivity. </p>
<p>Others have little desire to be the subject of the online abuse which often comes with sticking your head above the parapet and into the public debate. </p>
<p>I had these same reservations. But over time they have been gradually worn down by the steady drum beat of bad news and insufficient action. My personal tipping point was an otherwise unremarkable lecture to one of my undergraduate classes. </p>
<p>I was discussing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over time, and pointed out that this has been increasing ever since they were born. On each one of their birthdays, there was more CO₂ in the atmosphere than on the same day the previous year. Every additional birthday cake candle celebrated another one, two, or even three per cent annual increase. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pVYt9ZDDfBs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrarion Carbon Tracker.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As I spoke, I looked into the faces of a generation that had been completely failed by their predecessors. It is a failure which came despite two decades of the science being perfectly clear that increasing CO₂ concentrations would produce further warming, and that dangerous changes to the global climate were lurking. </p>
<h2>And… Action</h2>
<p>That was when I realised that the positive professional and personal changes I had managed to make were hopelessly inadequate. Yes, I avoided flying where possible, and yes, I had largely eliminated meat and dairy from my diet. </p>
<p>I cycle rather than drive. I had switched to a green energy supplier. All that was good. All that was important. But I keenly felt the need to do more. </p>
<p>So I decided to make a documentary about climate change – about what drives it and what we can do individually, and together, to ensure a stable natural world for our children and future generations. </p>
<p>Why a film? It was a chat with a good friend, film maker Paul Maple of <a href="https://www.globaldocumentary.org">Global Documentary</a>, about our shared frustrations over the lack of climate change programmes being broadcast which led to plans to make our own. </p>
<p>I had no idea what would be involved, and Paul didn’t tell me – perhaps from fear of scaring me off. That was over three years, a thousand miles of travel around the UK, terabytes of data, and countless coffee-fuelled hours in the editing suite, ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271223/original/file-20190426-194616-1wc97xy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271223/original/file-20190426-194616-1wc97xy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271223/original/file-20190426-194616-1wc97xy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271223/original/file-20190426-194616-1wc97xy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271223/original/file-20190426-194616-1wc97xy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271223/original/file-20190426-194616-1wc97xy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271223/original/file-20190426-194616-1wc97xy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Filming in London.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All of that work has now been rendered down to the 39 minutes of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jA8k4YDzlo">The Race Is On: Secrets and Solutions of Climate Change</a>. In making the film, we were extremely fortunate to be able to interview leading figures in climate change science, economics and activism. I wouldn’t be able to name them all here without also naming the 67 people who contributed to the crowdfunding of the project and so help turn our initial sketchy plans into reality. </p>
<h2>A film for a future</h2>
<p>Early on, we agreed that a film, no matter how slick, could only be one part of an engagement strategy. So we planned community screenings, in which the film would be followed by panel discussions and town hall style meetings. We also produced a <a href="https://climateracefilm.org">companion website</a> containing information on practical steps we can all take to reduce our climate impacts. </p>
<p>The journey from academic to film maker activist is not something I can unreservedly recommend. I’ve had to park aspects of my professional and personal life, given how all consuming the project was. And now I seem to have taken up a new role as distributor and promoter, as the film will have no value unless people watch it. </p>
<p>But while I hope that this will be more than offset by generating positive impact, it’s also true that on a personal level it’s been worth it. I’ve met some incredible people, been allowed to go places and do things that otherwise would have been out of bounds (it’s amazing what you can get away with when accompanied by a film crew), and learnt new skills that have helped both my teaching and research. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_jA8k4YDzlo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Race is On.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The film project has been a labour of love. At times, a stress test, and finally a ragged race to deadlines – so something like a microcosm of the civilisation-scale climate challenge we all now face. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1116103">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116103/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Dyke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’re running out of time – so we can’t leave it all to Greta Thunburg and David Attenborough.James Dyke, Senior Lecturer in Global Systems, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1111472019-04-16T10:46:25Z2019-04-16T10:46:25ZWhat it means to ‘know your audience’ when communicating about science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267853/original/file-20190405-180036-19aamqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1625%2C745%2C4365%2C3206&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You have a lot of work to do before you step up to the mic.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/microphone-voice-speaker-seminar-classroom-lecture-534042616">Chinnapong/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Communication experts love to tell people to know their audience, but it is not always clear what they’re meant to know.</p>
<p>Knowing someone’s age, education and gender is nice. So too is knowing context about economic, educational, cultural and ideological background. These are typically what the two of us hear when <a href="http://strategicsciencecommunication.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Landscape-Overview-Website-Discussion-Final.pdf">we’ve asked science communication trainers</a> what they think the expression means. </p>
<p>Knowing such things are helpful, but there’s a lot more a strategic communicator might want to know.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0ssM57wAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Our own</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WHQF1CUAAAAJ&hl=en">ongoing research</a> on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662517728478">strategic science communication objectives</a> suggests some more targeted pieces of information that could help communicators – whether scientists or anyone else – effectively share their message.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266172/original/file-20190327-139356-a7cv19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Choosing to take part in a particular event suggests certain things about attendees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nrcs_south_dakota/8267472111">USDA NRCS South Dakota/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Know your audience by picking your audience</h2>
<p>To start, if you’re being strategic, you should know something about your audience because you should have picked who you’re communicating with based on your goals.</p>
<p>In general, the hope is that experts like the scientists we study would have shifted valuable time or resources from their regular work to communication because there’s some sort of behavior they want to see in some specific group or groups. The behavior could be individual – things such as drinking less, buying greener products, choosing a science career – or civic – behaviors such as supporting, opposing or disregarding an issue.</p>
<p>No communicator – including scientists – should spend limited time, money and opportunity on audiences that aren’t a priority given their goals. It will rarely make sense to spend resources trying to get an arch-liberal to donate to the National Rifle Association or a diehard lover of science to embrace science even more.</p>
<p>Once you know what you want to accomplish and who you want to accomplish it with, you’re a lot closer to figuring out what you need to know about your audience.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267855/original/file-20190405-180036-1xvklaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Audiences aren’t obligated to hang on your every word.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/microphone-voice-speaker-seminar-classroom-lecture-534042616">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What does your audience think and feel?</h2>
<p>The next step is figuring something out about the target audience’s beliefs, feelings or way of framing a topic. It is these beliefs, feelings and frames that can change and it is these changes that will increase the odds an audience will meaningfully consider your hoped-for behavior.</p>
<p>The most common types of beliefs that the scientists we study like to share are those related to the knowledge they’re creating through their research. This might be something about new evidence connecting how rising greenhouse gases are changing the climate, a lack of connection between vaccines and risk, or any other new finding. This preference seems to stem from scientists’ belief that their audience has a crucial gap in its knowledge or way of thinking.</p>
<p>Increasing basic knowledge sometimes gets dismissed in science communication circles; there’s little evidence that <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/23595/chapter/1">information-focused initiatives</a> work very well. More and more facts rarely produce substantial behavioral changes. Worse, although researchers haven’t carefully tested it, anyone who’s sat through a boring lecture can probably attest to the fact that sharing too much technical detail can turn an audience off.</p>
<p>On the other hand, most audiences probably expect to hear about experts’ work and so experts likely need to share some information about what they’re finding or they risk failing to meet people’s expectations.</p>
<p>Just as importantly, there are many other facts beyond those associated with technical knowledge that communicators could ethically want people to come to believe.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266175/original/file-20190327-139349-p135i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Expressing shared values can help build trust and connection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dvids/5447684077">DVIDSHUB/Spc. Tobey White/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the topics we study, it might be helpful to really know, for example, if an audience believes the research team is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119206422.ch21">competent, honest, caring</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2015.1118149">open</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/0272-4332.216173">similar to them</a> when it comes to values. If this is not how the scientists are perceived, it’s important to know so the communicator can make communication choices that give the audience a chance to learn a bit more about the team – assuming they do embody these characteristics.</p>
<p>This might mean sharing a bit about their credentials and the sophisticated effort that went into the pertinent research, the motives that drive the team or what they do to make sure they’re always listening to others’ views.</p>
<p>These trust-related communication objectives may be particularly important for making it more likely that someone <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1952-5_10">will pay attention and think about what you have to say</a>. For example, audience members may lack the motivation to truly listen to someone that they believe is dishonest or incompetent.</p>
<p>Similarly, if the goal is to promote behaviors, it helps to know what the audience thinks about those behaviors. Do they believe in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2016.01.003">risks or benefits</a> of what the research suggests? Which do they think about most? And what do they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.012">think their family and friends think and do</a> – what social psychologists call subjective and descriptive norms? Do they think they even have the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662515595348">ability to do what’s being suggested</a> or believe that doing so will make a difference?</p>
<p>It may also be important to know <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2005.04.006">how the audience feels</a>, what <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13282">emotions are driving behavior</a> and how they <a href="https://doi.org/10.3200/ENVT.51.2.12-23">mentally frame the issue</a>.</p>
<h2>You can’t know everything about your audience</h2>
<p>Of course it’s impossible to know everything about your audience. You can make educated bets – and you can also ask for help from a communication expert or longtime leader in your organization or a group you belong to. In our area of study, these might be the public information officers at universities or scientific societies. They want to help and the good ones are constantly tracking stakeholder views on various issues you might want to address.</p>
<p>There are also many things you probably can’t change about your audience through communication – like an individual’s core values – although these can affect how what you communicate gets interpreted. And that’s why you have to prioritize by being clear on your goals and starting with an understanding of your audience. Communication theory and formative research are meant to <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/public-communication-campaigns/book234975">help with such strategizing</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John C. Besley receives or has received funding from the National Science Foundation (AISL 1421214-1421723), the United States Department of Agriculture (MICL02468), the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Kavli Foundation for research related to this article. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Dudo receives funding or has received funding from the National Science Foundation (AISL 1421214-1421723), the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Kavli Foundation for research related to this article. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations. </span></em></p>Connecting with an audience in a productive way can mean first figuring out what they think, feel and believe before you start sharing your message.John C. Besley, Ellis N. Brandt Professor of Public Relations, Michigan State UniversityAnthony Dudo, Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1148322019-04-07T11:00:34Z2019-04-07T11:00:34ZNew policy commits South Africa’s scientists to public engagement. Are they ready?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267526/original/file-20190404-123437-tws3wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Professor Greta Dreyer, head of the Gynaecological Oncology Unit at the University of Pretoria, being interviewed by SABC TV.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mariki Uitenweerde, Eyescape Photography</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around the world, governments are trying to bridge the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5090700/pdf/EMBR-17-1513.pdf">perceived gap</a> between science – what is being studied and discovered in universities and research laboratories – and the public. </p>
<p>They’re doing this because they see great value in citizens that are scientifically literate and aware. Public support <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/">is vital</a> to sustaining important investments in scientific research and innovation. People who are properly informed are also able to make decisions about scientific issues that affect their everyday lives. And, in our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11077-018-9334-4">post-factual</a> world, policymakers are keen to combat misinformation about science and limit public opposition to new technological advances.</p>
<p>That is why, among other interventions, most modern governments have national strategies to promote the public communication of science. Some places, like <a href="http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/jahagir-scientific-temper.pdf">India</a> and <a href="https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/cn/cn147en.pdf">China</a>, have even introduced laws that deal with this issue.</p>
<p>South Africa’s government is the latest to introduce a new policy that confirms its commitment to public science engagement. The document also spells out how science engagement activities will be mandated in future. The new <a href="https://www.dst.gov.za/index.php/legal-statutory/white-papers/2775-white-paper-on-science-technology-and-innovation">White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation</a> outlines what’s expected of scientists and research organisations. </p>
<p>These guidelines can’t be applied overnight. They must be carefully studied and cautiously implemented. The aim should be to encourage and enable scientists to engage effectively and responsibly in meaningful dialogue with South African society, rather than to force their involvement. Care should also be taken to distinguish science communication for the public good from science communication aimed at institutional promotion. </p>
<p>This White Paper can be an important motivator for scientists who don’t feel equipped to communicate with ordinary audiences, or who worry they don’t have the time to commit to public communication, to develop the necessary skills. It could also help them understand better why public engagement is crucial for good science and an informed, engaged society.</p>
<h2>The White Paper</h2>
<p>The 2019 White Paper was <a href="https://www.gcis.gov.za/newsroom/media-releases/statement-cabinet-meeting-13-march-2019">approved by Cabinet</a> on 13 March 2019. It contains several directives related to science communication. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a fixed percentage of public science funding from all science, technology and innovation-intensive government departments will be allocated to raising science awareness;</p></li>
<li><p>new legislation is in the pipeline to coordinate science engagement activities across the South African science system;</p></li>
<li><p>research training and development grants to science councils and public universities will contain conditions that require grant recipients to communicate their research to the public; and,</p></li>
<li><p>natural scientists will earn so-called “continuing professional development” points from the <a href="http://www.sacnasp.org.za/">South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions</a>, the country’s legislated regulatory body for natural science practitioners. However, these “points” are limited to natural scientists – a strange decision, since surely researchers in other fields should also receive incentives to engage.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The White Paper also emphasises the need for specialised training to develop the engagement and communication skills of journalists, scientists, students, learners, educators and science interpreters. </p>
<p>But are the country’s scientists up to the task? Globally, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4196977/">we know very little</a> about how scientists feel about governments’ growing demands for increased public engagement.</p>
<p>We do know that scientists’ willingness to participate in science engagement depends on <a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/wtp060033_0.pdf">a multitude of factors</a>. These include <a href="https://royalsociety.org/%7E/media/royal_society_content/policy/publications/2006/1111111395.pdf">age</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1075547010378658">gender</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23825262">their research field</a>. </p>
<p>My own research has found there are a number of <a href="https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/17/04/JCOM_1704_2018_C01/JCOM_1704_2018_C04">country-specific factors</a> that motivate South African researchers to engage with public audiences. </p>
<p>South African scientists often feel morally obliged to reach out to communities to help create a more equitable society. Many are keen to show their fellow citizens that money spent on research is delivering good value for society. Black women scientists are particularly aware of the need to be visible in society as role models for future generations of scientists. </p>
<h2>Training and support</h2>
<p>Several factors must be taken into account if the White Paper’s prescriptions about public engagement are to succeed.</p>
<p>First, it’s important to understand what <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0036240">deters</a> scientists from public engagement. This includes concerns about <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23637575">time pressures</a>, and uncertainty about how their <a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/wtp060033_0.pdf">peers will respond</a>.</p>
<p>Second, it’s crucial to support and <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/147603249.pdf">train</a> scientists to communicate their work and findings. Some may be naturally gifted communicators, of course. But others will struggle, especially given that they’re typically taught to write and speak in a formal, structured and technical fashion. This works when they communicate with their peers. But it’s the exact opposite of what is required to engage with lay audiences. </p>
<p>Instead of jargon and precision, effective public communication requires the ability to use simple language and make science relevant to everyday life. </p>
<p>Possibly, scientists may need to, as scholars Ayelet Baram-Tsabari and Bruce Lewenstein put it, “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1075547012440634">unlearn the communication skills</a> they have acquired as scientists” to become better at public communication. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425719/">To communicate effectively</a>, scientists also need to understand their audiences and the factors that influence their views of science. Based on their expertise, scientists may be tempted to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2016/aug/23/scientists-losing-science-communication-skeptic-cox">tell people what to do</a> – but building trust with the public demands listening to their concerns. Added to this, scientists need guidance on ethical and responsible science engagement. They must <a href="https://jcom.sissa.it/sites/default/files/documents/JCOM_1505_2016_C01.pdf">steer clear of science promotion</a> that may be tainted by <a href="http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190497620.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190497620-e-12">hype and exaggeration</a>.</p>
<p>The White Paper highlights science communication training as a priority. But the nature of this training needs to be clarified. At present, South Africa doesn’t have the capacity and platforms to deliver this kind of training across the science system.</p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>South Africa’s 2019 White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation is a welcome step towards creating more connections and interactions between scientists and society.</p>
<p>But if its requirements are imposed from on high, and scientists receive no proper support, public science engagement may become a mere tick-box exercise rather than encouraging meaningful and mutually beneficial interactions between science and society. </p>
<p>With proper training, guidance, and <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1097240.pdf">public recognition and rewards</a> for scientists who excel at public engagement, South Africa will take important steps towards becoming a country in which science is properly communicated, thoroughly understood and championed by its citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marina Joubert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The new White Paper can help scientists understand better why public engagement is crucial.Marina Joubert, Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1107352019-02-03T09:18:29Z2019-02-03T09:18:29ZWhat we learned when our map of southern Africa’s rivers went viral<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256811/original/file-20190201-103164-uuj90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The map that went viral.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sukhmani Mantel</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can you name the river closest to where you live? Have you ever seen that river on a map? How would you react if you saw that river, and others near you, in a map unlike others you have seen before? </p>
<p>We have spent a lot of time considering these questions and others related particularly to maps since a map of southern Africa’s rivers that one of us, Sukhmani, created and posted on Facebook. The post went viral.</p>
<p>And though it didn’t start out strictly as “science” – it was created on a whim after <a href="https://www.livescience.com/56751-visualization-of-united-states-rivers.html">seeing a map of US rivers</a> – the map has provided us with valuable insights into how scientists and researchers can use maps to engage with broad audiences beyond the usual journals and conferences.</p>
<p>The map was shared thousands of times in the months after it was posted on Facebook. A <a href="https://goo.gl/t7zqoU">high-resolution version</a> was accessed more than 2000 times in five months by people from 48 countries, many of them outside southern Africa. </p>
<p>These figures may not sound high in a world of viral online content. But, as researchers who are not necessarily used to such abundant public engagement, we were so surprised by the response that we asked those interested in downloading the map to complete <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/survey-to-figure-out-why-map-of-south-african-rivers-captivates-people-2018-9">a survey</a> so that we could begin to better understand what it was about the map that sparked their interest.</p>
<p>Our initial findings echo those emerging from a growing field of study, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325181270_Elements_of_Viral_Cartography">viral cartography</a>. The rise of open data and mapping platforms like <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/">Google Earth </a>and <a href="https://qgis.org/en/site/">QGIS</a> is turning maps and other spatial information into powerful tools for advancing knowledge. </p>
<p>Essentially, maps can show “the big picture” to a great many people. They can tell people an enormous amount in an engaging and often colourful way, revealing everything from real and <a href="https://brilliantmaps.com/if-only-x-voted/">hypothetical voting patterns</a> to the layout of a region’s rivers.</p>
<p>Our hope is that other researchers who want to share knowledge, source information and engage with the public can learn from – and build on – this story of a river map gone viral.</p>
<h2>Why maps matter</h2>
<p>Maps have fascinated people for centuries. In recent years, research has shown that they can <a href="https://www.gislounge.com/makes-maps-go-viral/">elicit emotional responses</a>. After all, maps are inherently <a href="https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/723">political</a>. What we see on a map either aligns with our view of the world, or doesn’t. When it does, we share the map because it confirms our beliefs. When it doesn’t, we hit “share” because we want others to see what we’re criticising.</p>
<p>Maps are also inherently incorrect, and can be misleading. This is because they depict three-dimensional earth on a two-dimensional space. We cannot (yet) capture all the detail of earth’s surface in a single map.</p>
<p>It’s also important to remember that maps aren’t perfect. They can contain errors, or leave out information that would help people understand what they’re seeing.</p>
<p>So, how did these factors play out in relation to the rivers map? </p>
<h2>Going viral</h2>
<p>Through an initial review of responses to our questionnaire we identified several themes related to why people might have been interested in downloading the rivers map. These also linked to broad characteristics that were previously shown to give particular <a href="https://theconversation.com/memetics-and-the-science-of-going-viral-64416">internet memes a competitive advantage</a>, and to spread. </p>
<p>Broadly speaking, the characteristics of internet content with a competitive advantage are that it: 1) is genuinely useful to people; 2) is aesthetically pleasing or easily imitated by the human brain; and 3) answers a question of interest to a diverse group of people.</p>
<p>Respondents identified the rivers map as being genuinely useful to them. They appreciated that the map was freely accessible and that they could download it to share with family members and friends. </p>
<p>Second, respondents found the river map as aesthetically pleasing. One person noted that, had such a map been available when they were in school, it would have made learning geography more memorable. This is another reminder that art, in many forms, can bring “unseen” elements of science and nature to diverse audiences.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-artists-lens-on-the-wonders-of-the-world-brings-science-to-life-77026">An artist's lens on the wonders of the world brings science to life</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This response also chimes with research that suggests that <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117148">colours in an image can influence how it spreads in social media</a>. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117148">Red, purple and pink</a> have been found to be particularly useful when promoting an image on social media.</p>
<p>Third, respondents indicated that the map helped them understand the distribution of the rivers and the land over which water flows in southern Africa. This group was interested in how the map visualised boundaries and connections between rivers and land and sea. One person wrote: “Correlation between the mountain ranges and watersheds is easily observed on this map, even without the topographic information.” </p>
<p>In this way, the rivers map offered the landscape in a new or interesting perspective. It provided information in a way that seems to have addressed questions held by diverse groups of people.</p>
<p>Finally, people were able to engage with the map and point out errors, which could then be fixed.</p>
<p>Of course, not all content that ticks these boxes will go viral. But, as public engagement becomes <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-can-influence-policy-and-benefit-the-public-heres-how-41668">more and more important to society</a>, it’s useful for scientists to know what <em>can</em> work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sukhmani Mantel receives funding from Water Research Commission, a government funding body. The data I used for the map is from the Department of Water and Sanitation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Januchowski-Hartley receives funding from Welsh European Funding Office and European Regional Development Fund under project no. 80761-SU-140 (West).</span></em></p>Maps can show “the big picture” to lots and lots of people in an engaging and colourful way.Sukhmani Mantel, Senior Research Officer Institute for water research, Rhodes UniversityStephanie Januchowski-Hartley, Sêr Cymru Research Fellow, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1074262019-01-14T11:40:48Z2019-01-14T11:40:48ZChicago, New York discounted most public input in expanding bike systems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253331/original/file-20190110-43541-sdpb5z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Public bikes are meant to complement a city's existing mass transit network, so the location of docking stations is critical.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Entrance_to_Fulton_Center_through_135_William_St.JPG">MusikAnimal/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://nyti.ms/1GLVWVI">New York</a> and <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/ct-red-1113-divvy-headquarters-20131112-story.html">Chicago</a> decided to expand their public bike share systems a few years back, city officials tried to go about it democratically. Using community meetings, workshops and interactive maps, they asked the public where they wanted new bike stations to be built. </p>
<p>“I have consistently found that local neighborhoods know their area better than anyone,” Joseph R. Lentol, a New York State assemblyman from Brooklyn, said after city officials in 2014 <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2014/pr14-087.shtml">announced a major expansion of New York’s year-old Citi Bike system</a>.</p>
<p>The Chicago Department of Transportation also thanked residents for their input in locating the 175 new bike stations it added in 2015.</p>
<p>“Chicagoans gave great suggestions for the locations of new stations, and we look forward to placing them where they were requested,” Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld <a href="https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bike/news/2014/aug/DivvyExpansion.html">said</a>. </p>
<p>Ultimately, though, just a fraction of the docking stations were built in the places recommended by the public, according to our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2018.1476174">new research on participatory bike share planning in Chicago and New York</a>.</p>
<h2>Demands ignored</h2>
<p>New Yorkers suggested 2,000 sites as locations for new bike stations in their city, using <a href="http://nycbikeshare.herokuapp.com/page/about">the transportation department’s interactive online map</a>. But our study, published in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjpa20/current">Journal of the American Planning Association</a>, shows that just 5 percent of bike docks built during the 2014-2015 expansion are located within 100 feet of suggested sites. </p>
<p>Chicago was slightly more responsive. Ten percent of docking stations built through 2015 were located at or near the spots residents identified on the <a href="http://suggest.divvybikes.com/page/about">interactive map</a>. </p>
<p>Our findings don’t imply that city officials weren’t listening. There are practical reasons why they weren’t able to put most bike stations where people asked.</p>
<p>Public bikes – a quick, green way of getting around town – are designed to complement buses and subways. So enlarging bike systems in New York and Chicago meant assessing gaps in each city’s transportation network. The results of that analysis may conflict with people’s desires about where new docks should be installed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253338/original/file-20190110-43514-k339dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New Yorkers can ask for more Citi Bikes using an interactive online map – but they won’t necessarily get their wish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://nycbikeshare.herokuapp.com">NYC Dept. of Transportation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Transit planners would also have disregarded suggested dock locations that lacked sidewalk space, or were too close to fire hydrants or utility services. </p>
<p>Cities often face resistance when building bike stations, too. Docks can take away coveted parking space, <a href="https://www.6sqft.com/nyc-lost-thousands-of-parking-spots-as-daily-bike-ridership-increased-80-percent-in-five-years/">outraging drivers</a>. In some historic districts, residents and planners see bike docks as <a href="https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/39/36/dtg-boerum-hill-surprise-citibike-station-2016-09-02-bk.html">incompatible with the atmosphere</a>. </p>
<p>Despite these challenges, officials tried to ensure equal access to the new bikes. </p>
<p>“What I’m shooting for is uniformity across every neighborhood,” New York’s bike share director, John Frost, <a href="https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2015/05/13/upper-west-siders-worry-about-big-gaps-between-planned-citi-bike-stations/">told residents at a community meeting in 2015</a>. </p>
<h2>Differences between neighborhoods</h2>
<p>Perfect uniformity is impossible, though. In both cities, we found that the government’s responsiveness to public input varied by neighborhood.</p>
<p>New bike stations in and around downtown Chicago were far more likely to be sited where suggested than those in more suburban areas: 12 percent versus 6 percent. This could be because stations on the outskirts of a system generally are used less, and so are not built as densely as cyclists might like.</p>
<p>The National Association of City Transportation Officials guidelines say that residents of a neighborhood served by bike share should live within a <a href="https://nacto.org/publication/bike-share-station-siting-guide/">five-minute walk</a> of a docking station.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253337/original/file-20190110-43510-bngxeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chicago’s Divvy bikes were more likely to be placed where cyclists wanted in downtown than in more suburban areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Closed_Divvy_Bike_Station_%2811809023254%29.jpg">Edward Stojakovic/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In New York, 9 percent of new docks in outerlying boroughs were built where residents asked. In the city’s financial core of Manhattan, just 3 percent of new docks were – likely because people requested more docks in areas of Manhattan already served by bikes, while city officials wanted to expand into new neighborhoods. </p>
<p>Neither city offered much guidance on these issues for people who went online to suggest locations for new bike stations. So residents just dropped their pin where they thought a dock would make most sense.</p>
<p>New York and Chicago are not the only cities to ask people for input in creating or expanding bike share only to end up with final plans that don’t necessarily reflect it. </p>
<p>Cincinnati, Ohio, used an interactive online map as part of a <a href="https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/bikes/linkservid/241025ED-EFF8-8292-8C6AC74C67C3F7FA/showMeta/0/">feasibility study</a> in 2012 to guide the launch of its bike share. Planners got way more information than they could use: People suggested 330 sites for bike docks throughout the city, across the Ohio River and even into Kentucky. </p>
<p>The launch called for <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/up.v2i3.1013">just 29 stations</a>.</p>
<h2>Lessons for democracy</h2>
<p>The implications of our study go well beyond bike sharing. </p>
<p>Cities must frequently decide how to distribute scarce public resources like low-income housing, transit stations and parks. The experiences of New York, Chicago and Cincinnati offer useful lessons for cities hoping to engage residents in decisions that affect their neighborhoods. </p>
<p>All three made great efforts to gather input on locating new bike docks. But it might not appear so, given that just 5 or 10 percent of suggestions were implemented in the end. </p>
<p>With trust in government at <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2017/12/14/public-trust-in-government-1958-2017/">historic lows</a>, that could make people even more cynical. They don’t know whether requests for public input are genuine or just a show of democratic process – and a waste of time.</p>
<p>But our study found some positive results from the consultation process around bike shares in New York and Chicago, too. </p>
<p>The online maps enabled residents to take direct action in planning their cities, rather than just commenting on the ideas of planners – or waking up to discover a docking station had been built outside their door. </p>
<p>As recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0265813515610337">urban planning research</a> confirms, this kind of transparency – the online maps, community meetings, workshops and the like – also gives decisions more legitimacy. </p>
<p>It also leaves a record, allowing researchers like us to measure and evaluate the results. Understanding where and why people’s ideas were disregarded can be a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2015.1104203">learning experience for residents and governments alike</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, our study finds that cities wanting public input on big decisions must not only engage residents effectively – they must also explain the constraints they face. That helps residents make informed recommendations that are more likely to be implemented. </p>
<p>Locals know their neighborhoods best. We believe cities that really listen will find the best solutions to urban problems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Griffin receives funding from the United States Department of Transportation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Junfeng Jiao receives funding from the Cooperative Mobility for Competitive Megaregions (CM2) University Transportation Center funded by USDOT.
</span></em></p>Under 10 percent of new Citi Bike and Divvy bike docks are sited where residents suggested using interactive online maps, a new study shows. But that doesn’t mean city officials weren’t listening.Greg P. Griffin, PhD candidate, The University of Texas at AustinJunfeng Jiao, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning and Director, Urban Information Lab, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1091322018-12-21T21:39:11Z2018-12-21T21:39:11ZStories that made The Conversation unique in 2018<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251913/original/file-20181221-103660-prgcly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An image from the International Space Station captures plumes of smoke from California wildfires on August 4, 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS056&roll=E&frame=126709">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: As we come to the end of the year, Conversation editors take a look back at the stories that – for them – exemplified 2018.</em></p>
<p>As editor-in-chief, it’s been my prerogative and privilege to have a bird’s eye view of The Conversation’s coverage this past year. So for my look back at 2018 I want not just to highlight the range of the journalism we do but also to beat the drum for our scholar-journalist partnership and the unique stories it produces. </p>
<p>And, with five days to go until the New Year, I do hope that you will consider a <a href="https://donate.theconversation.com/us?utm_source=theconversation.com&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=essread">donation to support us</a> continuing to do this important work in 2019. </p>
<h2>Reacting to the news – California’s wildfires</h2>
<p>Every day at The Conversation we ask how the knowledge and research of our academic contributors can help readers get beyond the headlines and understand what’s going on in the news. </p>
<p>As fierce wildfires raged in California, scholars wrote about the history of forest fires in the state, the links between fires and climate change as well as the work of the men and women who fight these fires. But as Richard Peletier, an air pollution scientist from UMass Amherst, pointed out, <a href="https://theconversation.com/wildfire-smoke-is-becoming-a-nationwide-health-threat-107323">these fires affect people way beyond California – through their smoke.</a> </p>
<p>“Many factors,” Peletier warned, “appear to be increasing the number and scale of wildfires. … But the biggest driver is likely to be climate change, which is making ecosystems hotter and drier. This suggests that all Americans, wherever they live, will need to become more aware of wildfires and their long-range health effects.”</p>
<h2>Bridging the partisan divide – with evidence</h2>
<p>As the partisanship of public debate in the U.S. becomes ever more pronounced, it’s not often that you see the same article published in both liberal and conservative media. But Conversation content – all of which is free to republish under our Creative Commons license – does sometimes find itself in that select club. </p>
<p>A case in point is a piece from UC San Francisco professor and homelessness researcher Margot Kushel that appeared in both the right-wing <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2018/06/21/unsheltered-homeless-west-coast/">The Daily Caller</a> and left-wing <a href="https://crooksandliars.com/2018/06/why-there-are-so-many-unsheltered-homeless">Crooks and Liars</a>. The subject was <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-there-are-so-many-unsheltered-homeless-people-on-the-west-coast-96767">the homelessness crisis on the West Coast</a> and the question Kushel tackled was: “What’s to blame for such high numbers of unsheltered homeless on the West Coast?” </p>
<p>“The reason,” she explained drawing on her own research and that of others, “isn’t drug use, mental health problems or weather. Rather, it is due to the extreme shortage of affordable housing.” </p>
<h2>Scholars are human too</h2>
<p>Behind every research topic there’s a story of why this particular person asked this particular question at this particular time. </p>
<p>In his article on why criminal records should not be used to keep people out of college, Stanley Andrisse of Howard and Johns Hopkins universities pointed to his life as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-went-from-prison-to-professor-heres-why-criminal-records-should-not-be-used-to-keep-people-out-of-college-97038">a testament to the fact that today’s incarcerated person could become tomorrow’s professor</a>. A person who once sold illegal drugs on the street could become tomorrow’s medical doctor. But this can only happen if such a person, and the many others in similar situations, are given the chance.”</p>
<p>And Georgia State’s Sarah Cook, a leading scholar of violence against women, described how <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-unimaginable-costs-of-sexual-assault-104769">she herself was assaulted in the middle of her doctoral studies.</a> “Then, and many times later,” she wrote, “I vowed to continue my research. If I changed focus, the man who tried to kill me would have silenced me. I persisted despite concerns I would be perceived as unobjective.” In fact, it’s the #MeToo movement – and the impact it has had on her – that is causing Cook to leave behind the study of sexual assault nearly 30 years later. </p>
<h2>Did you know that … ?</h2>
<p>Many Conversation articles fall into a category of what can only be described as cool facts and ideas. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-can-smell-rain-101507">Why do you smell rain</a>? <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-paper-cuts-hurt-so-much-99557">Why do paper cuts hurt so much</a>? And for a thought-provoking view of why “A Quiet Place” was so popular with moviegoers, Penn State’s Matthew Jordan looked at <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-centuries-long-quest-for-a-quiet-place-94614">humankind’s long history of battling noise</a> and discovered, as he put it, “something of a paradox: The more time and money people spend trying to keep unwanted sound out, the more sensitive to it they become.”</p>
<h2>The power of numbers</h2>
<p>And finally, in a tribute to the sheer powerhouse of knowledge and insight that is American academia, here’s a shout-out to our many series across 2018 – from <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/sleep-series-2018-50630">sleep</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/obesity-series-2018-47507">dieting</a> to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/2018-midterm-elections-46034">2018 midterms</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/plasticseries2018-57270">plastics</a>. </p>
<p>These are opportunities for our newsroom to work across desks and pull together complementary stories on a single topic. Collaboration is at the heart of The Conversation and that collaboration was on clear display Oct. 22 when as a team we unpacked <a href="https://theconversationus.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/r/23B606609F632D4C2540EF23F30FEDED/B81B3EA499745293942A2DF08F503B7C">what climate change means for the U.S.</a> with a special day of interdisciplinary coverage — from warming being the “new normal” in Alaska to how climate science is taught (or not) in high school, based on the research of scholars from 11 universities.</p>
<p>As I hope you will agree, only at The Conversation!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109132/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
From the curious to the serious – a bird’s eye view of the unique ways in which The Conversation covers the world.Maria Balinska, Editor and Co-CEO, The Conversation US Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1024972018-09-13T20:34:01Z2018-09-13T20:34:01ZOnce upon a time … ‘sleeping beauties’ and the importance of storytelling in science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234761/original/file-20180904-45163-44j213.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=928%2C0%2C3065%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’m a regular biomedical scientist, although in one sense I’m perhaps a bit different, in that I really like the process of writing. </p>
<p>From speaking with colleagues and teaching postgraduate students about the process of scientific writing for more than ten years, I estimate that eight or nine of every ten biomedical researchers would say they don’t like writing.</p>
<p>Now, while I do like writing, that’s not to say I find it easy. When I’m in the thick of getting my thoughts onto the page, terms such as “bloodbath” and “fight to the death” flood my mind.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/bored-reading-science-lets-change-how-scientists-write-81688">Bored reading science? Let's change how scientists write</a>
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<p>I have images of fighting a slippery dragon, trying to break its back. I feel as if I’m fighting my own ideas or whatever I’m trying to write, and there’s only one possible outcome: breaking these ideas down, whatever the cost.</p>
<p>And remember, I like writing, so imagine what it’s like for the majority of scientists who don’t.</p>
<p>To illustrate what can go wrong with the writing process, I’m going to refer to an old fairy tale: Sleeping Beauty.</p>
<h2>A fairy tale</h2>
<p>This is the story of a princess who was cursed to fall into a deep sleep, along with her family and everyone else living in the castle. They sleep for 100 years, and during this time a thick thorny forest grows up around the castle, shielding it from view.</p>
<p>One day, a prince who has heard about the sleeping beauty arrives on horseback, with a sword. With great difficulty, he cuts his way through the forest to eventually reach the castle. He finds the princess, wakes her up, and they presumably live happily ever after.</p>
<p>So what has this got to do with scientific writing? Well, scientific results and ideas can be viewed as something valuable, and yet they can be wrapped up in forests of words that lack structure and overuse complex language.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-not-to-write-about-science-52202">How not to write about science</a>
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<p>Sometimes this just reflects a lack of training, but there can also be an assumption that scientific ideas deserve to be discovered by those who are clever enough.</p>
<p>This means readers are expected to hack their way through the word forest, if they’re really committed to understanding the results.</p>
<p>The only problem with this approach is that it doesn’t consider the sheer number of papers that scientists need to read. Most researchers and academics can’t keep up with their fields, so if a paper is hard to understand, or unclear, researchers may simply put it down and pick up the next one in the pile.</p>
<p>Expecting too much of the reader can lead to a paper sinking within the literature and effectively falling asleep.</p>
<h2>The ‘sleeping beauties’ of science</h2>
<p>In fact, a “sleeping beauty” is now a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:SCIE.0000018543.82441.f1">recognised type of academic paper</a>. A sleeping beauty experiences what is also termed “delayed recognition”, sleeping within the literature for up to 100 years until another paper known as the “prince” recognises its value.</p>
<p>The sleeping beauty goes on to be highly cited and influential, sometimes in a different field. Researchers <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/24/7426">now study sleeping beauties</a> and their princes, as a kind of extreme example of how science works – or doesn’t, depending on your perspective.</p>
<p>It’s generally assumed that sleeping beauties describe ideas that were ahead of their time. But I wonder whether some of these papers might have also been asleep in their forests of words.</p>
<p>After all, we only know about these scientific sleeping beauties through their awakening, in the same way that without the prince’s determination, the story of Sleeping Beauty may never have been told. It is very difficult to know how many other ideas may be lying dormant in the literature, wrapped in their forests of words.</p>
<p>What can we do about this? We need to recognise that to avoid the word forest, the research team needs to hack through their ideas and lay these out as clearly as possible.</p>
<p>This is really difficult, and <a href="https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005619">learning</a> how to do this takes years of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02404-4">practice and effort</a>. As researchers and academics, we need to talk about this process and embrace it.</p>
<p>We expect that professional sportspeople will push themselves to the limit, and be supported to do this. Scientists are essentially intellectual athletes, so we need to talk about the virtue of pushing ourselves to the limit when writing, how to do this, and what kind of support we need.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/informed-aussies-less-likely-to-want-a-prostate-cancer-test-36880">Informed Aussies less likely to want a prostate cancer test</a>
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<p>Many features of scientific life, such as crowded work environments, and generally measuring quantity over quality, do not favour the truly difficult process of hacking through our ideas so others can understand them.</p>
<p>It’s important to remember that in the story of Sleeping Beauty, many people fell asleep in the castle. Also, scientific papers are not just about their authors, but also about the public funds and the many supporting resources that make them possible.</p>
<p>We can’t afford the risk that our results and ideas fall asleep. Humanity doesn’t have the next 100 years to wait.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Byrne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientific ideas can get lost in forests of words that lack structure and overuse complex language. Just like Sleeping Beauty, they need rescuing.Jennifer Byrne, Professor of Molecular Oncology, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/969552018-05-27T10:54:55Z2018-05-27T10:54:55ZWhite men’s voices still dominate public science. Here’s how to change this<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220488/original/file-20180525-90281-d7eol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A diversity of voices is important in science communication.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael D Brown/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Visibility in the mass media matters for scientists. It gets funders’ attention. It attracts top students. It can be <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/4681032a">a pathway</a> to policy influence. Media coverage may even boost the number of times a piece of research <a href="https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/building-buzz-scientists-communicating-science-in-new-media-envir">is cited</a> in scientific literature.</p>
<p>There are imbalances all over the world, and white men tend to get the lion’s share of visibility. For example, a study <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1075547010378658">in Switzerland</a> showed that journalists prefer to interview senior, male scientists while a 2015 book about celebrities in science featuring eight scientists who had <a href="https://www.amazon.com/New-Celebrity-Scientists-into-Limelight/dp/1442233427">achieved global fame</a> included only one woman (neuroscientist Susan Greenfield) and one black scientist (Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist).</p>
<p>In South Africa, too, there are major racial, gender and institutional imbalances in terms of which scientists are publicly visible. Although <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022014.pdf">only 8%</a> of South Africans are white, nearly 80% of the country’s visible scientists are white. And 63% of this group of visible scientists are men. Black women made up only 8% of the group. This is according to <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/3873">a 2017 study</a> which I co-authored and which was published in the South African Journal of Science.</p>
<p>Scientists can be powerful influencers and role models. So there’s reason for concern when the same names and faces dominate coverage and visibility. </p>
<p>There are several role players in this situation, including individual journalists or news organisations; universities and research organisations and scientists themselves. </p>
<p>Journalists working under enormous time pressure may often find it easier to reach out to experts they already know rather than developing new relationships. Similarly, young scientists may find it hard to become recognised as experts worthy of being quoted in the media since journalists typically want to speak to research leaders. They may not have media experience or training.</p>
<p>Women may also find it harder than men to become recognised as experts on the public stage. For example researchers have shown that public engagement could <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0036240">hinder female scientists’ academic progress</a>.</p>
<p>To diversify visibility, journalists should seek out fresh perspectives and expert voices that reflect society. Universities and other research organisations need to equip young, black and female scientists with the skills and confidence to engage with the mass media. Scientists must realise the value of being visible – and then make time for journalists and provide easily understandable explanations that demonstrate the relevance of their work. </p>
<h2>Visibility feeds visibility</h2>
<p>I contacted science journalists and science communicators who work as knowledge brokers between science and society in research organisations, asking them to list up to 10 scientists they considered to be visible in the public sphere.</p>
<p>Jointly, the 45 respondents identified 211 visible scientists. This represents less than 1% of the country’s total scientific workforce. According to <a href="http://www.dst.gov.za/images/SA-RD-SURVEY-STATISTICAL-REPORT-201415-WEB-Main.pdf">government statistics</a>, South Africa has 25 300 scientists at higher education institutions, not counting postdoctoral fellows and doctoral students.</p>
<p>The three most visible scientists in South Africa were fossil hunter Lee Berger, banting advocate Tim Noakes and Medical Research Council President Glenda Gray. </p>
<p>The country’s most prominent black scientists were the HIV expert Salim Abdool-Karim at the University of KwaZulu-Natal; dinosaur biology expert at the University of Cape Town, Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan; Wits University population geneticist Himla Soodyal; and health researchers Tebello Nyokong (Rhodes University) and Bongani Mayosi and Kelly Chibale, both at the University of Cape Town.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=636%2C834%2C4667%2C2139&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=636%2C834%2C4667%2C2139&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220429/original/file-20180525-51102-3zg0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Practical experience in front of the camera during media training can help young scientists to build confidence in sharing their work via the mass media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marina Joubert</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is difficult to pin down exactly why these researchers became so prominent but, based on my <a href="http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/103268">PhD research</a>, they have a few things in common. They are all acutely aware of the value of a high public profile, passionate about sharing their science with public audiences, and willing to walk the extra mile for journalists.</p>
<h2>Shifting the narrative</h2>
<p>So whose role is it to improve the visibility of scientists who are not white men?</p>
<p>I found that journalists have different opinions about their role in correcting racial, gender and age-related imbalances in terms of the scientists they feature.</p>
<p>“The journalist in me wants to write about the most newsworthy and credible science, independently of who did the research,” said Elsabe Brits, specialist science journalist at the Afrikaans language multimedia platform ‘Netwerk24’. “It is not my role to be an activist for women in science, but there are top women scientists who are doing incredible work and they are featured in the media.” </p>
<p>Brits believes that it is up to research organisations to promote their research champions, and that scientists themselves need to be more proactive in terms of sharing their work with the public.</p>
<p>Others feel it’s up to them to create more space for different voices. Munyaradzi Makoni, a freelance science writer based in Cape Town, said: “I try to interview at least one woman scientist for every story I write.” </p>
<p>Other role players can help to diversify the public science space. For instance, universities can promote women and black scientists to the media by featuring them in <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2018/2018-05/making-massive-leaps-in-electronics-at-nano-scale-1.html">press releases</a> and ensuring they appear in <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/news/for-the-media/contact-an-expert/">online expert lists</a>.</p>
<p>Young, black women in science can also gain visibility via popular science events such as <a href="http://www.science.uct.ac.za/news/pint-science-uct">Pint of Science</a> and <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org.za/famelab">Famelab</a>. </p>
<p>It is also up to women scientists to become proactive users of social media. Stellenbosch University botanist Nox Makunga, also one of the “visible scientists” in my study, is among those <a href="https://twitter.com/noxthelion">using Twitter</a> to share her research. </p>
<p>Women in science may also find value in networking via organisations such as <a href="http://www.sawise.uct.ac.za/">SA WISE</a> and writing for blogs like <a href="https://womeninsciencehub.wordpress.com/">Women in Science Hub</a>.</p>
<p>In my own experience of researching science communication, most scientists – particularly black women – embrace opportunities to be featured on the public stage. They are aware of the need to change science’s public image. </p>
<p>One of the black women scientists who was named among the “most visible” in our study was Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan of the University of Cape Town. She is a dinosaur palaeobiologist who studies dinosaur bones to understand more about their biology and way of life. Chinsamy-Turan agreed with Makunga’s assessment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Now that we have more black scientists, they must also become more publicly visible. We need to showcase science in communities where people hardly ever see a scientist so that young people can grasp the possibilities of a science career.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marina Joubert receives funding from the South African Research Chair in Science Communication at Stellenbosch University, an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, funded via the National Research Foundation.</span></em></p>Scientists can be powerful influencers and role models. So there’s reason for concern when the same names and faces dominate coverage and visibility.Marina Joubert, Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/957282018-05-02T10:41:13Z2018-05-02T10:41:13ZAre public objections to wind farms overblown?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216705/original/file-20180427-135840-liknw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wind turbines are becoming as American as haybales.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattphipps/3796702403/">MattJP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While most surveys suggest that the public generally supports <a href="https://www.awea.org/MediaCenter/content.aspx?ItemNumber=9071">wind and solar power</a>, <a href="https://www.wind-watch.org/allies.php">opposition from local communities and residents</a> sometimes blocks or delays specific new projects.</p>
<p>Consider the ill-fated <a href="https://www.boem.gov/Massachusetts-Cape-Wind/">Cape Wind offshore project</a>, which was slated to be powering Cape Cod by now. Although Massachusetts has some of the nation’s strongest renewable energy policies, <a href="http://saveoursound.org/">a group of coastal homeowners</a> in that state objected vociferously soon after Cape Wind Associates, the developer, first proposed building it in 2001. They ultimately filed more than a <a href="http://www.offshorewindhub.org/resource/1523">dozen lawsuits</a> over 14 years, creating hassles and delays that along with opposition from other <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/us/offshore-cape-wind-farm.html">parties</a> doomed it. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=UdmJ66YAAAAJ">renewable energy researchers</a> witnessing similar storylines play out across the country, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IMWAynMAAAAJ&hl=en">we wanted to see</a> how much local opposition there is to existing wind farms. <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-energy-technologies-office">With funding from the Energy Department</a> and help from our colleagues, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=831LSZ8AAAAJ&hl=en">we teamed up</a> to undertake the largest scientific study to date on <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/projects/wind-neighbor-survey">how people who live near U.S. wind farms perceive them</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="Rsr5m" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Rsr5m/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Wind rush</h2>
<p>As of the end of 2017, about <a href="https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/">50,000 utility-scale wind turbines</a> were <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/wind-technologies-market-report/">supplying nearly 7 percent of the electricity</a> in the U.S. With experts foreseeing another <a href="https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/">3,000 turbines per year on average</a> coming online in the years ahead, more and more people will be living near wind farms.</p>
<p>Clearly, <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/thirty-years-north-american-wind">community support or opposition</a> could either speed up or slow down the growth of this renewable energy source.</p>
<p>And there’s no doubt that fighting about wind power makes for interesting journalism. It’s a story that highlights the conflicts that can arise among local residents and efforts to reap global benefits. While renewable energy is supposed to save the world, questions have arisen regarding its potential impacts on <a href="https://www.nationalwind.org/">wildlife</a>, public health – in the form of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmental-workplace-health/noise/wind-turbine-noise/wind-turbine-noise-health-study-summary-results.html">ailments allegedly caused by wind farms</a> – and perceived fears of <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/spatial-hedonic-analysis-effects-wind">eroded property values</a> and <a href="https://www.boem.gov/espis/5/5662.pdf">tourism revenue</a>.</p>
<p>In general, we have observed that the media coverage of attitudes toward wind energy tends to be very anecdotal. <a href="http://gatehousenews.com/windfarms/home/">Vivid stories of suffering</a> dominate the discussion, which is often devoid of fundamental or methodical analysis of public opinion, the severity of the associated annoyances or even the extent of discontent among people living next to or near wind farms.</p>
<h2>Facts vs. anecdotes</h2>
<p><a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/projects/wind-neighbor-survey">Our research</a> is meant to help fill that gap. In this <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/">Lawrence Berkeley National Lab</a>-led project, we asked 1,700 people living near 250 wind farms across 34 states to tell us how they really felt about being so close to those turbines. </p>
<p>We found that as of 2015, more than 1.3 million homes are within five miles of a utility-scale wind turbine, a number that is increasing. And despite what you may have read in the media, our survey showed that most people living within five miles, and even within a half-mile, of wind farms <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/do-wind-turbines-make-good-neighbors">don’t mind the turbines</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="5VO3j" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5VO3j/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>We also looked into the most common reactions to wind turbine sounds, shadow flicker, lighting and landscape changes, as well as the perceived fairness of the public planning and siting process. </p>
<p>As it happens, we found that only 16 percent of all residents within five miles of wind farms had ever heard the turbines make any noise. Of those, <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/exploring-prediction-wind-turbine">27 percent found the noise moderately or very annoying</a>. Further, we learned that roughly two-thirds of those who were aware of their local planning process for the wind project perceived it as having been largely “<a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/reconsidering-barriers-wind-power">fair</a>.”</p>
<p>In general, the positive attitudes the survey’s respondents expressed about wind projects followed a few patterns. People hosting turbines on their property, as well as those being compensated for the power they generate were more apt to say the planning process was fair and to view wind power in a positive light.</p>
<p>People who harbored negative attitudes about wind power were more likely to be annoyed by sounds the turbines make, to say that wind turbines clashed with the surrounding landscape and to say that they found the project’s planning process to have been unfair.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217121/original/file-20180501-135844-lbezxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of the communities covered by research regarding whether local residents mind living near wind turbines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/do-wind-turbines-make-good-neighbors">U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Engagement helps</h2>
<p>There is no magical way to resolve siting conflicts that sometimes arise over wind farms.</p>
<p>While turbines may be getting <a href="https://www.siemens.com/press/en/pressrelease/?press=/en/pressrelease/2016/windpower-renewables/pr2016090418wpen.htm&content%5b%5d=WP">quieter due to technology improvements</a>, they are also getting bigger. Taller towers and longer blades are driving down the cost of energy production and allowing <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/downloads/enabling-wind-power-nationwide">production in areas previously considered uneconomical</a> due to low average wind speeds, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.178">Delaware</a>, <a href="http://www.avangridrenewables.us/cs_amazon-wind-farm-us-east.html">North Carolina</a> and <a href="https://everpower.com/new-creek-wind-project-wv/">West Virginia</a>. </p>
<p>Since bigger turbines are harder to miss and can be seen from farther away, this change may create more conflict in the future.</p>
<p>But no matter what, wind project developers clearly must <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/reconsidering-barriers-wind-power">actively engage, coordinate and cooperate</a> with local communities and community members. Inclusive and transparent planning processes can dissipate local residents’ fears. Local ownership and financial benefits may help sway nearby residents who would otherwise object to a new wind farm.</p>
<p>Taking these steps could help prevent future debacles like Cape Wind in the future, as, finally, <a href="https://theconversation.com/wind-energys-swift-growth-explained-94626">offshore wind is poised to take off</a> in the U.S. While there is no silver bullet to ensure a wind farm’s successful completion, developers, planners and other stakeholders should heed the lessons from the <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/thirty-years-north-american-wind">large body of rigorous analysis</a> rather than <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-01/cape-wind-developer-terminates-project-opposed-by-kennedys-koch">unrepresentative anecdotes</a> about public distaste for wind turbines that often garner media coverage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Firestone consults for the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab for which he receives funding. He is also Managing Director of First State Marine Wind, which owns a wind turbine on land adjacent to the University of Delaware’s Lewes Campus. The university is the majority owner. He has no ownership stake and his participation is in service to the university. He also directs the university's Center for Carbon-free Power Integration, which is a member of the American Wind Energy Association. Finally, he serves on the City of Newark, Delaware Planning Commission as a volunteer. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Hoen receives funding from the Wind Energy Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Rand receives funding from the Wind Energy Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy.</span></em></p>While wind energy is often perceived as controversial, that may be due to the tyranny and power of unrepresentative anecdotes.Jeremy Firestone, Professor, and Director of the Center for Carbon-free Power Integration (CCPI), University of DelawareBen Hoen, Research Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryJoseph Rand, Research Affiliate, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/918012018-04-11T10:44:27Z2018-04-11T10:44:27ZStand up for science: More researchers now see engagement as a crucial part of their job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213991/original/file-20180410-114076-1vlrt7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C97%2C715%2C573&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of the authors speaking at the 2017 March for Science.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Emily Darling</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>As the first anniversary of the March for Science approaches, researchers continue to reflect on the relationship between science and society. A recent survey of 2017 marchers indicated that nearly all were also actively <a href="https://www.climatechangecommunication.org/all/march-for-science-2017/">participating in other types of science advocacy</a>. In the past year, inspired by the call to stand up for science, scientists have <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/why-women-drop-out-of-science-careers/">written editorials</a>, contacted members of Congress, <a href="https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-and-march-science-partner-uphold-science">attended public protests</a>, <a href="http://time.com/5134417/scientists-running-for-office/">initiated runs for political office</a>, and <a href="https://500womenscientists.org/">organized new groups</a> to support diversity, inclusion and justice.</em></p>
<p><em>How are today’s scientists rethinking public engagement? Here, four scientists spanning multiple academic career stages – entering Ph.D. student (<a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qlaybZcAAAAJ&hl=en">Shukla</a>), early career (<a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3PgkPboAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Rochman</a>), midcareer (<a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZgoB98kAAAAJ&hl=en">Hill</a>), and senior scientist (<a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h7Na1OoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Williams</a>) – discuss whether society is witnessing a fundamental change in how scientific researchers perceive their interaction with the public and policymakers.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=471%2C0%2C4341%2C2559&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=471%2C0%2C4341%2C2559&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213950/original/file-20180409-114128-1fgud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Priya Shukla presents her work to a general audience at a science festival.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Taste of Science San Francisco Festival</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why should scientists engage?</h2>
<p>Williams: The public deserves to know about our science. Scientific discoveries help people understand our world and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-tess-satellite-launch-habitable-planets-kepler-space-galaxy-cape-canaveral-a8276061.html">galaxies beyond</a>, <a href="https://www.space.com/40066-landslide-prediction-nasa-satellite-model.html">predict the future</a>, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-science-is-important/">fuel economic growth</a> and reconnect all of us back to our childlike wonder. </p>
<p><a href="http://hillbiogeochemistry.squarespace.com">Hill</a>: I’ll add that the majority of science in the U.S. is <a href="https://www.aaas.org/page/federal-rd-budget-dashboard">paid for by taxpayers</a>, thus we work on behalf of the public. Personally, I want to encourage decision-making supported by evidence, both for individuals in their daily lives and for politicians setting official policy. If we don’t provide the evidence, how can people make decisions based upon it?</p>
<p>Rochman: <a href="http://scienceliteracy.ca/">Public engagement also improves science literacy</a>. I was inspired by a scientist. Because of him, I am a scientist. </p>
<h2>How have your perceptions of public engagement changed over time?</h2>
<p>Williams: If scientists had engaged more before now, we as a society might not be in the situation where “alternative facts” exist. Today, I’m more strategic about engagement. I engage when my expertise is core to the issue at hand, and also when I think I can reach a diverse audience. </p>
<p>Rochman: I also prioritize reaching more diverse audiences. More than ever before, I try to connect with people where they are – based upon shared values – to make headway in this time of political differences. I also engage with both sides of the political aisle.</p>
<p>Shukla: As a young scientist, I feel obligated to stand up for the integrity of science in civic decision-making. I also think it’s important to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.288">communicate the benefits of research to non-scientists</a>, so that people can understand, and feel part of, the whole enterprise. For me, public engagement is about embedding ourselves in our communities and helping inform a path forward.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214094/original/file-20180410-566-8qr18z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Tessa Hill presents research findings to legislators and policymakers at the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Forum on Ocean Change, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tessa Hill</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hill: Important progress comes sometimes comes from being in uncomfortable situations. In that sense, the current political climate and concerns for the future of science are an opportunity – we shouldn’t let this pass us by! What worries me is that many scientists are doing engagement work on their own time because academic institutions <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2015/02/public-engagement-balancing-altruism-and-self-interest">primarily value and reward</a> time devoted to research, teaching and institutional service. </p>
<p>Rochman: I am optimistic! I think <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-academics-are-losing-relevance-in-society-and-how-to-stop-it-64579">academic culture</a> is shifting to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-03925-8">embrace public engagement</a>. Some departments and universities now encourage these activities and the <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2010/04/transitioning-researcher-outreacher">next generation is hungry for it</a>. </p>
<p>Williams: When I was a student, engagement was discouraged because it reputedly detracted from scholarship and was perceived to sully the ivory tower objectiveness. We’ve begun to move on from that point of view.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213952/original/file-20180409-114124-1ky7m6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Chelsea Rochman presents her research at the United Nations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">United Nations</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What type of engagement do you think has the most impact?</h2>
<p>Rochman: Putting scientific evidence in the hands of policymakers in a way they can digest. During my postdoc, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB888">bills</a> to ban plastic microbeads were being introduced. In some cases, they were stalled because of a perceived lack of scientific information. I led the development of a policy brief and sent it to state legislators. We also wrote open-access communications in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b03909">Environmental Science & Technology</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiny-beads-big-problem-easy-fix-why-scientific-evidence-supports-a-ban-on-microbeads-42511">The Conversation</a>. This engagement led to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/microbeads-soon-will-be-banned-from-toothpaste-soaps-shampoos/2016/01/07/254166a8-b4c1-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html">media interviews</a>, phone calls with legislators and opportunities to testify. This experience taught me that engagement is valued and without it, scientific evidence may be left out of the policy process. </p>
<p>Williams: My own testimony before U.S. congressional committees provided the background for an expansion of <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/june15/expansion.html">two national marine sanctuaries</a>. Although the process lasted about a decade, the result was tangible. Lines actually changed on maps because of this work.</p>
<p>Shukla: I think about two kinds of “impact”: via a medium that influences many people, and via a mode that reinvigorates me. For example, I can <a href="https://medium.com/the-prosaic-mosaic">write a blog</a> that is viewed by more than 1,000 people. But, public talks, where I can engage one-on-one, remind me why I became a scientist and have taught me that sharing our stories with individuals can be just as important as sharing the ultimate findings of our research.</p>
<p>Hill: Sometimes it is easy to forget how important <em>listening</em> is in advocating for science. Some of the most important engagement opportunities I’ve had were actually conversations with people about their values, and how science fits in. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213990/original/file-20180410-114112-17giy8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Susan Williams on a dive. In order to engage with authority, the research must be solid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Susan Williams</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Williams: I would add that our credibility is ultimately based on establishing our scientific credentials by doing good work. First and foremost, we need to focus on our scientific output. Change does not come overnight – it requires vision and perseverance. Over our careers, there are plenty of opportunities to engage meaningfully. </p>
<p>Shukla: So we’ve come up with these themes around effective engagement:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start with the highest-quality science.</li>
<li>Communicate to diverse audiences to increase scientific literacy, inspire awe and inform evidence-based decision-making.</li>
<li>Be strategic and have fun, trusting that true impact takes time.</li>
</ol><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91801/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Williams has received funding from the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tessa M Hill receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Park Service, and the California Ocean Protection Council for her research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chelsea Rochman and Priya Shukla do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Four scientists talk through the ways they now build outreach into their work as a way to spread their research’s impact – something that wasn’t the norm for past generations of academics.Chelsea Rochman, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of TorontoPriya Shukla, Ocean Acidification Technician, University of California, DavisSusan Williams, Distinguished Professor of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, DavisTessa M. Hill, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/749822018-01-03T20:16:06Z2018-01-03T20:16:06ZListen up! How to get your message across in just 60 seconds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199675/original/file-20171218-27595-1vmvbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Your minute is nearly up.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Mike Flippo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you have something important to say, but find it hard to get people’s attention? </p>
<p>Or have you tried to listen to someone who claims to have something interesting to impart, but they can’t explain it and the idea gets lost? (Or worse, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edx9D2yaOGs">you get bored</a> and lose interest, even if they’re trying to describe their revolutionary new laser shark).</p>
<p>Some people are natural communicators; others … aren’t.</p>
<p>It’s a problem many academics face, particularly with the push we’re all getting to explain our work to the public.</p>
<p>But there are a few tricks you can use that can help you to better communicate your ideas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pilot-study-on-why-academics-should-engage-with-others-in-the-community-76707">Pilot study on why academics should engage with others in the community</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So what do you do?</h2>
<p>The old academic axiom of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/publish-or-perish-23049">publish or perish</a>” – to get as many articles as possible published in peer-reviewed academic journals – has changed.</p>
<p>Academics are still expected to publish and share their work with the world, but now the emphasis is not just on publications in academic journals squirrelled behind paywalls. And rightly so – knowledge should be shared with all. </p>
<p>But the range of information available means that people have access to so many more ideas and opinions than before. This is both a blessing and a curse, as the amount of information can sometimes cause unnecessary confusion or contention. </p>
<p>With so much information out there, how can researchers effectively reach their intended audience? How can they engage them in meaningful dialogue?</p>
<h2>Done in 60 seconds</h2>
<p>There are a few simple steps that anyone can use to get a conversation happening in the right way.</p>
<p>Conversation is a key word. It means an exchange between two people – not a ten-minute monologue in response to the polite question of “so, what do you do?”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/make-em-laugh-the-humorous-path-to-academic-success-39493">Make 'em laugh: the humorous path to academic success</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Imagine this. You have just met someone at a social gathering (work-related or not) and you have a feeling that they are someone you could benefit from getting to know better. You have 60 seconds to make the most of this chance.</p>
<p>What do you do?</p>
<p>Here are some suggested starting points. It doesn’t have to be perfect! Make do with what you have, wherever you are, distractions or otherwise (we filmed our attempt during some renovations on campus).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_UYcBz6oEVA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Just a minute!</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We’ve just taken 60 seconds to explore how you can best use your window of opportunity. Now it’s over to you to see what you can do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merryn McKinnon has worked, and is currently working, on projects which receive funding from the Department of Education and Training; Department of Industry, Innovation and Science; Department of Health; National Health and Medical Research Council; NSW Ministry of Health; ACT Health; and the HCF Research Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will J Grant receives funding from the Department of Industry and Science.</span></em></p>A few tips and tricks on how to make the best use of your one minute chance to get your message across.Merryn McKinnon, Lecturer, Australian National UniversityWill J Grant, Senior Lecturer, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/839192017-11-21T02:27:42Z2017-11-21T02:27:42ZWant to change federal policies? Here’s how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195542/original/file-20171120-18566-1lzf3dp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters carry signs during a march for science Saturday, April 22, 2017, in Denver.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/David Zalubowski</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What can those armed with facts – like scientists, professionals and knowledgeable citizens – do to shape policy?</p>
<p>In April, scientists and their supporters took to the streets. The <a href="http://www.marchforscience.com">March for Science</a> was a public defense of science as an invaluable part of society and policy. We, as academic scientists, were among them. When everyone returned to their labs and offices, we saw our fellow marchers search for ways to build on the momentum.</p>
<p>One of the most accessible options to do so is the federal public comment process.</p>
<h2>What is public comment?</h2>
<p>Public comment subjects federal policies to peer review. Scientists and other professionals can use public comment to ensure that policy is based on the best available evidence, vetting the science behind regulations. </p>
<p>When Congress passes a law, it provides a framework for federal agencies on how to implement it. Figuring out the details of implementation is usually up to the agency by making rules and regulations. Since 1946, the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/administrative-procedure">Administrative Procedures Act</a> has required that each new rule be subject to public comment, giving citizens the chance to comment on and change the proposed rule before it becomes legally enforceable. Proposed and final rules are all published in the <a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">Federal Register</a>, a publicly accessible online government database. </p>
<p>The act also ensures that agencies cannot ignore these comments by requiring the agency to respond to all “material” comments. This qualifier is critical. For an agency to respond to the comment, <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-dc-circuit/1484087.html">it must be unique</a> and fact-based, such that it could “require a change in [the] proposed rule.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190689/original/file-20171017-30441-1xam9bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Snapshot of the number of federal documents open for public comment on Oct. 7, 2017. Only a subset of federal agencies are shown. Data taken from Federal Register API v2.0.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://public.tableau.com/views/PubCommProject_CountByAgency_barplot/Dashboard1?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&publish=yes&:showVizHome=no">Public Comments Project</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You may have already encountered a public comment if anyone has asked you to submit a prewritten letter regarding a proposed rule. These “form letters” are written by organizations – often nonprofits – and then a copy is signed and submitted by a large number of people. While agencies may note the impressive response a proposed regulation triggers, these form letters are legally considered a single material comment.</p>
<p>Yet form letters often make up a large percentage of comments received. For example, in 2004, the EPA was in the process of <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/atw/utility/frnotice_013003.pdf">making a rule</a> that would reduce emissions of mercury from coal-fired utility units. The <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2202/1944-2866.1010/full">majority of comments</a> on this proposed rule submitted through MoveOn.org were duplicates of the same two-sentence form letter or slight variants of a broad claim about the inadequacy of the proposed rule. This meant that the EPA received little real information to which it had to respond.</p>
<p>Form letters are popular because they are easier than writing a unique, fact-based comment. But scientists and other professionals often have the knowledge required to do so. They are trained to read and summarize evidence from a variety of sources. They are also familiar with the general principles of subject fields like ecology, economics or nutrition, which are recurring themes across many regulations.</p>
<p>Federal agencies need the expert information that scientists and professionals can provide. <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/saf/jof/1999/00000097/00000001/art00010">An analysis</a> by the U.S. Forest Service found that the majority of public input was value-based. While these comments provided agency employees with critical information on public opinion, value-based comments were not as helpful to the planning staff as detailed comments that provided technical feedback. Only 9 percent of the comments sampled were classified as having a high level of detail.</p>
<h2>Why should scientists engage?</h2>
<p>Public comment allows for flexibility. With an online submission portal, it doesn’t require participants to be in a certain place to have input. Its consistency across federal agencies avoids the need to reacquaint oneself with agency-specific processes. Perhaps most importantly, it allows for public participation, opening the process to scientists and professionals across sectors and career stages without a personal contact or advisory position at the agency.</p>
<p>This isn’t to say that there are no barriers. For example, proposed regulations are often filled with jargon and organized in unclear ways. But there are sources designed to coach you through the process, including <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">Regulations.gov</a>. Material specifically oriented toward helping scientists and other professionals is available through the Public Comment Project, <a href="https://publiccommentproject.org/">a website</a> that we created with other colleagues and maintain. It includes how-to guides and helps you find rules of interest that are open for comment.</p>
<h2>Has it made a difference?</h2>
<p>Changes to rules as a result of public comment happen often. For example, in a 2016 <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=CMS-2016-0008-0002">proposed rule</a> by the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, the agencies expanded the definition of “patient” in the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/07/07/2016-15708/medicare-program-expanding-uses-of-medicare-data-by-qualified-entities">final rule</a>. The expansion was in response to comments by the Midwest Health Initiative and the American Hospital Association, among others. This effectively changed the scope of data that could be extracted for providers, suppliers, hospital associations and medical societies. </p>
<p>Or, take a National Marine Fisheries Service proposed rule to designate critical habitat for a marine snail, the black abalone. <a href="https://publiccommentproject.org/abalone-comment">A comment</a> written by one of us expanded the critical habitat designation so that all life stages of the species would be covered.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/261812">A formal analysis</a> on a 1992 Environmental Protection Agency proposed rule on certain cancer-causing pesticides found that the agency was was more likely to bar the use of a particular cancer-causing pesticide when faced with evidence of high risk to human health or the environment. Public comment by environmental advocacy groups increased the probability of cancellation. </p>
<h2>Why comment now?</h2>
<p>Experts, from scientists to professionals, have an increasingly important role to quality-check the research that makes its way into policy – see, for example, <a href="https://mcmprodaaas.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/International-Landscape-Analyis-ExecSumm-02162017.pdf">this statement</a> by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the world’s largest scientific societies. Although the devaluation of science in public policy is a long-term issue, it has recently escalated rapidly. A few of the most recent examples include the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/14/donald-trump-climate-change-mentions-government-websites">removal of climate change-related data and research</a> from government websites, proposed reduction in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/grim-budget-day-us-science-analysis-and-reaction-trumps-plan">federal budgets for science</a> including the complete removal of certain programs like NOAA’s Sea Grant, and <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25082017/energy-dept-asked-scientist-remove-climate-change-project-description">the request of agencies</a> for scientists to censor their language.</p>
<p>Responding to a call for public comment is one way to check the facts that make up public policy. We call all scientists, professionals and knowledgeable members of the public to apply their specific expertise to this process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83919/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Fisher is affiliated with The Public Comment Project, a volunteer, graduate student-organized group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Lowell is affiliated with The Public Comment Project, a volunteer, graduate student-organized group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel May is affiliated with The Public Comment Project, a volunteer, graduate student-organized group</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Kelly does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One of the best ways to shape public policy is for experts to submit detailed, technical information through the public comment process.Mary Fisher, M.S. Student, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of WashingtonNatalie Lowell, Ph.D. Candidate in Fisheries Science, University of WashingtonRyan Kelly, Assistant Professor, Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of WashingtonSamuel May, Graduate Student in Fisheries Science, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/868342017-11-09T23:50:29Z2017-11-09T23:50:29ZBrian Cox is a world record holding ‘rockstar scientist’. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193874/original/file-20171109-14205-1cjcodf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2038%2C990&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it his physics, his hair or something else? Brian Cox pulls record audiences around the world. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ntnu-trondheim/35279319641/in/photolist-VKvJBK-UHqehK-m6AhLv-UHqbsB-a6iuvd-achxo4-7TwAag-7TwAzH-7TwAon-NK1Bio-9psgn7-gik3iU-riNBj9-VWX95K-7L64Kg-9BmXh-nZvnZh-nwNrSn-7L64fp-Y7aqN6-pVCjgF-8LBXPU-gjANsB-VWX8ZK-gye99G-VWX8P4-aCJ6Jg-VGUWSZ-4Pukad-Y7aqZt-7VDLyQ-6RzGUp-Y7arj6-VGf3xq-7MvpEq-6To92f-5TkwG9-gmHhEp-fn4Rt2-dVjfSJ-5DEeJe-pY59Pm-5co2uv-eefJ8X-eUbZWp-bvxhpp-7nT7cw-VmKhTE-8i382D-dobrvp">ntnu-trondheim/flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The phrase “sold out stadium shows” is not often synonymous with science. Unless of course you are Professor Brian Cox. </p>
<p>Currently touring Australia, he is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the “<a href="http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2017/5/professor-brian-cox-beaks-own-record-for-science-tour-ticket-sales-470801">Most tickets sold for a science tour</a>”.</p>
<p>This is not a record to scoff at, particularly when you look at the details: one physicist filling the 8,700 seats of Wembley Arena in London.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/alan-alda-on-the-art-of-science-communication-i-want-to-tell-you-a-story-55769">Alan Alda on the art of science communication: 'I want to tell you a story'</a>
</strong>
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<hr>
<p>What is it about Brian Cox that makes people part with their money and go along to hear him speak? Is it his topic? The fact he <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)">used to be in a band</a>? Is it his hair?</p>
<p>Let’s take a look at the characteristics of a rock star scientist. Because you never know; maybe you could be one too.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193902/original/file-20171109-14177-26cnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193902/original/file-20171109-14177-26cnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193902/original/file-20171109-14177-26cnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193902/original/file-20171109-14177-26cnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193902/original/file-20171109-14177-26cnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193902/original/file-20171109-14177-26cnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193902/original/file-20171109-14177-26cnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Opting for a long style at times, Brian Cox sure does have good hair.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/crazybob/2755035844/in/photolist-5cshb1-7VDLyQ-dobHTC-irjmMU-gyfyM9-dobzKr-pLKJao-aNGVie-gmGAuW-5HYTfH-aUn2Ev-hjAZ26-hyDAhC-bnZyfZ-9sSW7B-achxo4-e7LCCZ-VWWX4g-ibqLyj-doc2Xu-72WzUU-8i38mT-hyCZud-gydGJT-8PhWWA-VWX8wk-X6477M-dobf3r-dob5KZ-dhipBt-9nMmrn-9nMmnx-9TwxSr-9Nmczt-8UqspM-bsW6Ey-9w1vuf-9q2QcQ-9NmeiP-9NoMrY-9JorDY-9vXu1H-geZ2eg-b3UphK-7yRXoZ-9Nmncr-8UuSNY-9NoRu9-74uo1h-geZDUP">crazybob/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Battle of the sciences</h2>
<p>Perhaps being a rock star scientist is all about physics. There is a long list of well known physicist communicators: <a href="http://www.briangreene.org/">Brian Greene</a>, <a href="http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/">Neil deGrasse Tyson</a>, <a href="https://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/randall">Lisa Randall</a>, <a href="http://www.astrokatie.com/">Katie Mack</a> just to name a few.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193880/original/file-20171109-14182-owjqro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193880/original/file-20171109-14182-owjqro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193880/original/file-20171109-14182-owjqro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193880/original/file-20171109-14182-owjqro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193880/original/file-20171109-14182-owjqro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193880/original/file-20171109-14182-owjqro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193880/original/file-20171109-14182-owjqro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Physicist Katie Mack has more than 194,000 followers on twitter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/AstroKatie?lang=en">@AstroKatie</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But then equally (or more - depending upon opinion) successful communicators come from other disciplines. </p>
<p><a href="http://drkarl.com/">Dr Karl</a> began in physics but then studied biomedical engineering and medicine. <a href="https://www.adamspencer.com.au/">Adam Spencer</a> is a mathematician. <a href="https://billnye.com/">Bill Nye</a> is a mechanical engineer. <a href="http://www.janegoodall.org/">Jane Goodall</a> is a primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist.</p>
<p>Arguably the most inspiring science communicator, <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/david-attenborough/">David Attenborough</a>, has a degree in the natural sciences. </p>
<p>Sorry physics, seems it is not about you. </p>
<p>And – no offence intended – none of the other communicators listed are known for being in a rock band or having great hair either. </p>
<p>There seems to be some kind of ‘X factor’ which makes these people great communicators. If we can identify the qualities of these science communication stars, can we find - or create - the Next Big Thing?</p>
<p><img width="100%" src="http://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GifBillNye122415MindBlown.gif"></p>
<h2>Telling a good story</h2>
<p>What each of the communicators listed above have in common is their ability to tell a story. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/31/8127.long">recent opinion piece</a> in a science journal challenged scientists to borrow strategies from the arts and humanities and use the power of the narrative. Better yet, employ techniques that create an emotional response in the audience. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stories-of-sex-stars-and-sharks-amongst-the-best-australian-science-writing-in-2017-86949">Stories of sex, stars and sharks amongst the best Australian science writing in 2017</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/gravitational-waves-discovered-top-scientists-respond-53956">two top science stories in 2016</a> were the discovery of <a href="https://theconversation.com/at-last-weve-found-gravitational-waves-from-a-collapsing-pair-of-neutron-stars-85528">gravitational waves</a>, and links between the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-microcephaly-and-what-is-its-relationship-to-zika-virus-54049">Zika virus and brain abnormalities at birth</a>.</p>
<p>The confirmation of gravitational waves is a story spanning decades of hard work, disappointment, setbacks and eventual elation. The triumph of human exertions. In contrast, Zika evokes fear and the desire to protect oneself and others. </p>
<p>For most people, gravitational waves and Zika will have little to no relevance or impact on their everyday lives. However, the stories created an opportunity to engage audiences through the emotional responses they evoked. </p>
<p>Another example is Meerkat Manor. This <a href="http://www.meerkatmanor.co.uk/how-it-all-started.htm">furry soap opera</a>, which captured imaginations for four seasons, was televised in 160 countries and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070830052224/http://www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv/NewsDetails.aspx?niid=1580&d=2">nominated for two Primetime Emmys</a>. The death of Flower, the Whiskers tribe matriarch, created an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/arts/television/10bell.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">outpouring of tributes</a> including numerous YouTube montages set to music.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X_eVEW_Y02o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Meerkat Manor told a story of a community of meerkats - and TV viewers loved it.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Flower was the star of the show, it was the narrative surrounding her that propelled her to icon status. </p>
<p>A successful story meets the needs of its audience. Knowing who you are talking to is <a href="http://blogs.nature.com/naturejobs/2015/08/21/science-communication-know-your-audience/">fundamental to good communication</a>.</p>
<h2>Focus on your audience</h2>
<p>Researcher Bobby Cerini interviewed prominent science communicators from around the world, including some of those listed above. She found <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/110692/1/Cerini%20Thesis%202016.pdf">common themes</a> in how these “scientific superstars” approach their public communication. </p>
<p>They focus on who they are talking to, what language their audience will understand, and what they will find most interesting or inspiring. The most compelling communicators are the ones who can take you on a journey, making the intangible tangible and the complex comprehensible.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bored-reading-science-lets-change-how-scientists-write-81688">Bored reading science? Let's change how scientists write</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The popular Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution UK are based on this approach. They were <a href="http://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/history">introduced by Michael Faraday in 1825</a> as a means of engaging a younger audience with “spectacular demonstrations”. </p>
<p>By capturing the imagination, highly visible scientists can become sources of inspiration and role models, <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/is-the-importance-of-female-role-models-in-science-overstated-1.3008212">irrespective of gender, race or creed</a>. </p>
<h2>Scientists as celebrities</h2>
<p>As the media landscape has changed, so too has <a href="https://www.csicop.org/si/show/a_brief_history_of_scientific_celebrity">the role of visible scientists</a>. Many use their prominence to promote public understanding and engagement with the sciences, like Brian Greene, who <a href="http://www.briangreene.org/world-science-festival/">co-founded the World Science Festival</a>. </p>
<p>So are these celebrity scientists born naturally gifted storytellers who can effortlessly translate their work to meet the needs of multiple audiences? Or do they achieve their status by putting themselves out there, learning from their experiences and simply practising? </p>
<p>Perhaps they recognise the power and potential of communicating their science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/alan-alda-on-the-art-of-science-communication-i-want-to-tell-you-a-story-55769">best expressed by Alan Alda</a>, who said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In my opinion, communication is not something you add onto science like icing on a cake. It’s the cake itself, it’s of the essence of science.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Want to be a scientific super star? Tell stories, meet your audiences’ needs, and be yourself.</p>
<p>And maybe join a band. Just in case.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merryn McKinnon works for the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at the Australian National University.</span></em></p>Packed venues, rock star status. What makes some scientists so damned marketable?Merryn McKinnon, Lecturer, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/826632017-09-20T03:13:50Z2017-09-20T03:13:50ZScience communicators must consider short-term objectives while keeping their eyes on the prize<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186679/original/file-20170919-22701-1ay2gj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Planning a communication strategy isn't unethical.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-manager-putting-his-ideas-writing-466269749">Have a nice day Photo/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most scientists say they got into science to <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2009/07/09/section-6-scientists-and-their-careers/">make the world a better place</a> and recognize this means sharing what they learn with a range of other people. But deciding to engage also means deciding what to communicate, and it’s at this stage that things get complicated.</p>
<p>Scientists’ most important communication decision may be figuring out their goals. Do they want to help shape local, state or national policy discussions? Do they want to influence individual behavior, such as diet choices, medical decisions or career paths?</p>
<p>Big-picture goal choice is, however, relatively simple, as it likely originates from scientists’ research, resources and personal preferences. </p>
<p>As public engagement researchers, we suggest the quality of science communication actually hinges on a second set of decisions. Scientists need to figure out what specific, immediate objectives they want to achieve through their communication efforts. </p>
<p>In our view, objectives are a bit tricky because they’re often left unstated and defy easy metaphors. In planning a dinner, they’re not the specific dishes you choose (we’d call those “tactics” or “activities”) and they’re not the goal of a satisfying meal. Instead, you set objectives in the planning phase when decisions are made to start with something savory and light, move on to something satisfying, and finish with something sweet and fun. </p>
<p>The importance of objectives emerges from the fact that communication doesn’t, for example, directly affect whether someone supports genetically modified food. Instead, increased support might be predicted to come from communication that changes individual and collective beliefs and feelings about things such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.02.006">risks, benefits and decision-makers</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662517728478">Our new study in the journal Public Understanding of Science</a> sought to understand what might lead a scientist to prioritize different objectives, particularly those associated with policy views.</p>
<h2>Focusing on objectives</h2>
<p>For a science communicator, prioritizing specific objectives means deciding where to put effort. </p>
<p>Objectives often include increasing an audience’s knowledge and excitement about science. It could also mean wanting people to recognize a shared identity, or scientists’ competence or desire to make the world a better place. Reframing how someone thinks about a topic might also be a communication objective. </p>
<p>Effectively achieving these types of objectives appears to influence an audience’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.013.380">support of particular policy measures</a> that are informed by science.</p>
<p>Someone interested in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9BQWCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA95&ots=edH57kwRb0&sig=S_qgQgtpp6JISAHSLMM5JUgnHW8#v=onepage&q&f=false">changing behavior</a>, on the other hand, might focus on other objectives. A scientist might want to change someone’s beliefs about what others think or do, or a person’s ability to behave a particular way. Maybe the scientist would like to change how an audience thinks about the likelihood some behavior will have an impact, or their perceived risks or benefits around an activity. </p>
<p>In the case of trying to garner support for GMOs, a focus on objectives might mean prioritizing messages or behaviors that communicate that scientists respect and listen to public concerns alongside messages related to risks and benefits.</p>
<p>But when do actual scientists value these various objectives? <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662517728478">In our survey of scientists</a> from across multiple disciplines, we found the best predictors of how much scientists prioritized an objective are the degree to which they’d previously thought about it and the degree to which they see it as ethical. </p>
<p>The degree to which scientists feel an objective can make a difference also seems to be important, along with beliefs about what colleagues think.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186618/original/file-20170919-22604-dfrj54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There’s more to effective communication than just downloading information in one direction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/2229714614">Nic McPhee</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why focus on objectives?</h2>
<p>While sharing knowledge will always be a primary role of science communicators, <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23595/science-literacy-concepts-contexts-and-consequences">the social scientific consensus</a> is that increasing scientific knowledge is unlikely to substantially increase support for science-related policies or change individual behavior.</p>
<p>On <a href="http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/pgasite/documents/webpage/pga_176867.pdf">politicized issues such as climate change</a>, those with the most scientific knowledge are sometimes the least likely to support science-based policy.</p>
<p>In a study from a few years ago, however, <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23595/science-literacy-concepts-contexts-and-consequences">we interviewed science communication trainers</a> and found that most training rarely broached the topic of objectives. Instead it focused almost exclusively on helping scientists transmit knowledge clearly and in way that was appealing.</p>
<p>Our current study suggests that training might specifically highlight the range of objectives that communication can achieve and how they might be pursued ethically.</p>
<p>And an interesting thing about prioritizing objectives is that doing so can help guide the third step of science communication: the tactical choice of what to actually say and do while sharing knowledge.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=LG-NAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA68&dq=info:ucqpJHmTEeQJ:scholar.google.com&ots=Nqs973GfRV&sig=xQfW2SLqlQfguaWwpls7rNVPXg8#v=onepage&q&f=false">the social psychology literature on fairness</a> shows that people value having a voice in decision-making, even when they don’t get what they want. Science communicators might therefore prioritize ensuring that people with whom they engage believe they have the potential to be heard. </p>
<p>Our sense is that one of the most important roles of <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/12434/chapter/1">dialogue-based public engagement</a> – a key element of any <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/23674/chapter/4?term=%22public+engagement%22#25">contemporary science communication plan</a> – is that they it can facilitate both actual and perceived listening. Much of the improvisation training pioneered by the <a href="http://www.aldakavlilearningcenter.org">Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science</a> emphasizes the importance of listening to one’s audience with empathy. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186669/original/file-20170919-22701-18ci7dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Actor and author Alan Alda advocates training researchers to engage in mutually respectful conversations as they communicate about their work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Conor Harrigan, Stony Brook University, Courtesy of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, we know from <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/111/Supplement_4/13593.full">research on trust</a> that it’s helpful for those seeking support to have a reputation for caring about the needs of others. So if scientists have pursued a topic out of a desire to improve the world, it may help to prioritize communication that conveys that message.</p>
<p>One of the positive things about an emphasis on storytelling in science communication (as in <a href="http://www.randyolsonproductions.com/writing/writing_index.html">the work of Randy Olson</a>) is likely that including a narrative lets scientists talk about their motivation.</p>
<p>Even little choices such as dress and the effort put into designing an attractive and appropriate talk may help shape beliefs about warmth, competence, identity and other potential objectives.</p>
<p>The difficulty is that prioritizing discussion or personal stories means less time for sharing facts. And well-designed, carefully planned communication takes resources. Not everything can be a priority.</p>
<h2>Being strategic isn’t unethical</h2>
<p>In the past, when we’ve written about <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-communication-training-should-be-about-more-than-just-how-to-transmit-knowledge-59643">strategy in science communication</a>, some people have argued that what we suggest amounts to <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-communication-training-should-be-about-more-than-just-how-to-transmit-knowledge-59643#comment_992037">unethical advertising or public relations</a>. Indeed, we teach in those areas so some readers may use this as prima facie evidence of nefarious intent. </p>
<p>But the fact that strategic communication professionals pay attention to the potential effects of their communication choices doesn’t mean the science community should ignore such effects. </p>
<p>It seems obvious that no one should talk about motivations he doesn’t really have, say she is listening when she is not or frame issues in ways that defy logic.</p>
<p>The point is simply that better-quality communication seems likely to occur when communicators make careful choices about objectives that are honest and for which there is <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/110/Supplement_3">social science evidence</a> <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/111/Supplement_4">of effectiveness</a>.</p>
<p>Put differently, our expectation is that scientists are more likely to achieve their goals if they think more deeply about the choices they make along the way and avoid ad hoc communication that isn’t grounded in a careful consideration of the short- and long-term impact of their words and activities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF, Grant AISL 1421214-1421723. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF, Grant AISL 1421214-1421723. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.</span></em></p>Scientists who engage with the public may have goals about influencing policy or behavior. But they also need to think about the short-term objectives that will help get them there.John C. Besley, Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations/Ellis N. Brandt Endowed Chair, Michigan State UniversityAnthony Dudo, Assistant Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, The University of Texas at AustinShupei Yuan, Assistant Professor of Public Relations, Northern Illinois UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/767072017-05-08T19:42:06Z2017-05-08T19:42:06ZPilot study on why academics should engage with others in the community<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167921/original/file-20170504-21620-1gyeitl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dr Ian Moffat explaining ground penetrating radar to community members during a survey of the Innamincka Cemetery.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julia Garnaut</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian academics will soon have a new incentive to get off campus and into the community to engage with the people who ultimately fund their research – the taxpayers.</p>
<p>The Australian Research Council (ARC) is currently <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/ei-pilot-overview">piloting</a> a new scheme to quantify impact and engagement by academics. It’s part of proposed funding changes under the <a href="https://www.innovation.gov.au/">National Innovation and Science Agenda</a>.</p>
<p>Only ten discipline areas are being looked at as part of the pilot. But when the full scheme is launched in 2018, all disciplines at all Australian universities will be measured, not only for research performance but also for how well connected their research is to community and stakeholders.</p>
<p>The results of this assessment will be used, in part, to determine how big a slice of the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/research-block-grants">A$1.89 billion</a> in annual research infrastructure funding will end up at each university. These are high stakes for institutions and researchers alike. </p>
<h2>Defining engagement</h2>
<p>What is engagement, and why is it important?</p>
<p>In the academic context, engagement is about giving non-academic stakeholders the chance to have a say in what research is done, and how and why. This includes dealing with governments, communities and industry.</p>
<p>The ARC has recognised that this is about much more than just telling the public what you are doing. It has put forward a range of criteria that emphasises the need for proper two-way collaboration and conversation.</p>
<p>Handing over the reins on research projects is challenging to most academics. But in doing so, we can ensure that we are responsive to the needs of communities, and make our research inclusive and relevant.</p>
<p>Further, public engagement can actually enhance research projects. It provides access to knowledge, experience and resources that can help us to deliver better outcomes.</p>
<h2>Getting people involved</h2>
<p>One of the discipline areas that’s part of the ARC pilot is my own, archaeology.</p>
<p>Archaeologists are well placed in the engagement context, as we regularly work with non-academic stakeholders who play an important role in guiding, funding and contributing to our research. This includes groups such as indigenous communities, historical societies, governments and local councils.</p>
<p>My own experience working in collaboration with communities to <a href="http://www.flinders.edu.au/ehl/archaeology/research-profile/current-themes-and-projects/environment-and-society/detection-of-unmarked-graves.cfm">map the location of unmarked graves using geophysical techniques</a> has shown the benefits of effective community engagement for my own research outcomes, and also for the communities I have worked with. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168376/original/file-20170508-20732-1ee21gr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Geophysical techniques provide an non-invasive means of mapping unmarked graves and so addressing community driven research questions about the history of local cemeteries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Moffat</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These projects typically involve the community in the design, development and interpretation of research, and evolve as a true collaborative effort. </p>
<p>Together we try and make sense of older cemeteries that contain large numbers of unmarked graves. This helps to fill in the pages of history, protect Aboriginal burial sites from destruction during development, and locate appropriate places for the repatriation of skeletal material on country. </p>
<p>Detecting graves with invasive techniques such as excavation is slow, expensive and distressing when graves are disturbed. So the non-invasive, rapid and inexpensive nature of geophysical techniques (such as ground penetrating radar) makes these an attractive alternative.</p>
<h2>Community benefit</h2>
<p>The community groups I work with on these projects benefit from this type of engagement. They are typically involved from the very start, approaching me with a request to undertake the survey. They also define the extent of the study, and help interpret the results based on their knowledge of the site. </p>
<p>The research also adds significant value to their understanding of local history in a way that would be impossible without the expertise and equipment that we as a university can provide.</p>
<p>I recently worked with Lorraine Pomery, president of the local branch of the National Trust in Port Elliot, South Australia, to locate up to 69 unmarked graves in the Little Glory Cemetery. She told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This work has completely changed our understanding of this important historic site and has generated significant community interest.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Lessons from engagement</h2>
<p>Clearly not all academic disciplines engage as extensively with non-academic stakeholders as archaeologists. There is certainly no “one size fits all” approach that will work for everyone.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, my experience provides some lessons that may be applicable more widely in academia.</p>
<p>Communities are usually far more interested and engaged in the big picture of my research (such as “where are the graves?”) rather than the physics of how radar waves behave in the soil.</p>
<p>Communities can provide important site specific information (“there used to be headstones over there”) without which I would be unable to do this research effectively. This is typical of the “<a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/ei-pilot-overview">mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge</a>” the ARC pilot is looking for in engagement.</p>
<p>Communities can also provide financial support to fund travel expenses, in-kind support such as volunteer field assistance (as well as, on occasion, delicious home baked cakes) and collaborate on the interpretation of the data to ensure an effective outcome. </p>
<p>There are lots of opportunities for other researchers across all disciplines to invite the public in.</p>
<p>Anyone can start this conversation with things like social media engagement or public forums. Greater two-way engagement can be achieved by the co-design and interpretation of research projects. </p>
<p>All contribute to making sure the people who ultimately fund our research have a meaningful say in what we do. Now surely that’s something that should be rewarded by the ARC.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="http://people.unisa.edu.au/Anika.Johnstone">Anika Johnstone</a>, a senior exhibitions manager at <a href="http://www.unisa.edu.au/mod">MOD.</a> at the University of South Australia, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Moffat receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the International Society for Archaeological Prospection, Flinders University and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. </span></em></p>Funding for research in Australia could soon depend on how much researchers engage with others who could benefit from and help out with the work.Ian Moffat, ARC DECRA Research Fellow in Archaeological Science, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.