The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear to us how much the interrelationships between science, society, media and politics shape our lives, and how important it is to communicate about science . But what does it take to practice quality-based science communication? How can scientists be supported in this regard and what recognition do they get?
With these questions in mind, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) started the #FactoryWisskomm strategy process in fall 2020, to which Dr. Anita Chasiotis from ZPID contributed. Chasiotis heads the project PLan Psy: Plain Language Summaries for psychological meta-analyses. A main goal of the project is to develop evidence-based guidelines for such summaries.
"The collaboration at #Factory Wisskomm was characterized by a very constructive and fruitful exchange," says Chasiotis. "I had the great opportunity to contribute insights and experience from the PLan Psy project. The 'perspectives for action' now formulate the clear claim to base science communication on evidence-based criteria. Overall, this gives evidence-based science communication a great boost."
By April 2021, action perspectives for science communication developed together with over 150 colleagues from science and communication in six working groups. These are now presented to the public. The digital closing event of #FactoryWisskomm on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, 6.30 p.m. until 8.45 pm. with Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek is open to all interested parties.
The live stream can be accessed via the following link: https://www.bmbf.de/factorywisskomm/live (link will only be activated on the evening of the event). Registration is not necessary.
The prospects for action for science communication are presented in a moderated discussion by members of the #FactoryWisskomm:
- Prof. Jutta Allmendinger (Berlin Science Center for Social Research) for the Quality working group
- Dr. Birte Fähnrich (BBAW) for the research group Wisskomm
- Christian Luft, State Secretary in the BMBF and Chairman of #FactoryWisskomm,
- Tatjana König (Körber Foundation) for the Participation working group
- Prof. Stefanie Molthagen-Schnöring (Berlin University of Technology and Science) and Martin Grund (Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Neurosciences) for the Recognition and Reputation working group
- Prof. Ortwin Renn (IASS Potsdam) for the Science Journalism working group
- Rebecca Winkels (Wissenschaft im Dialog) for the Competence Building working group
Under the title "Skunk at the picnic?", Federal Minister Anja Karliczek, Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius (Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research), Prof. Dr. Christian Drosten (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin), Manuel J. Hartung (Head of KNOWLEDGE at ZEIT), Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim (maiLab), and Dr. Ernst Dieter Rossmann will discuss the relationship between science, society, media and politics in times of Corona.
A science slam on "What is science communication" by Prof. Dr. Felix Büsching (Ostfalia - University of Applied Sciences) rounds off the evening.
The full program can be viewed here.
The publication "Perspectives for action for science communication" will also be available for download from June 23, 2021 under the above link.