Science communication continues to develop and change, as a discipline, practice and professional career path, with significant growth in both professional practice and academic study. Changes in the relationships between science and society and its increasing inclusion in official discourses have opened new opportunities for dialogue and collaboration. At the same time, this may have produced challenges for the authority of science, which can be openly contested, negotiated and transformed in public arenas.
This transformation of the relationships between science and society has been fundamentally intensified by the digitalization of the media landscape. New media have increased the diversity of actors using, sharing and generating science content, their communication practices and the strategies they use. Even though we witness a significant rise in the quantity of science communication circulating in all kinds of media – traditional/ new, mediated/ unmediated, we also acknowledge the major challenges the above mentioned developments pose for science communication. Within this background, RETHINK’s overall objective is to contribute to making the European science communication ecosystem more open, inclusive, reflexive and adaptive.
RETHINK Second Special Issue will therefore provide a significant contribution to the project’s overall aim, as it centers on ‘”responsible science communication – challenges for practice”. What does it mean to be a ‘responsible science’ communicator? Are there general criteria used to assess responsible science communication across the globe? What are the commonalities and the differences emerging when defining the characteristics of responsible science communication around the world? What is the contribution of inclusion, reflexivity and co-creation to responsible science communication practices? Can these concepts be considered the pillars of responsible science communication worldwide?
The second Jcom Special Issue entitled Responsible Science Communication across the globe will consist of papers and commentaries tackling three identified subthemes related to the responsible science communication main theme:
Responsible science communication = inclusion
Responsible science communication = reflexivity
Responsible science communication = co creation
Commentary section: responsible science communication around the globe. Contributions from authors across different geographical regions on what responsible science communication looks like in their context.
The RETHINK project has commissioned all papers and commentaries and expects to publish the Special Issue between April and May 2022.