Brazilian Science Communication Research: National and International Contributions
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Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (2018) 90(2 Suppl. 1): 2523-2542 (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences) Printed version ISSN 0001-3765 / Online version ISSN 1678-2690 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201720160822 www.scielo.br/aabc | www.fb.com/aabcjournal Brazilian science communication research: national and international contributions GERMANA BARATA1*, GRAÇA CALDAS1 AND TOSS GASCOIGNE2 1Laboratory of Advanced Studies in Journalism, State University of Campinas/ UNICAMP, Rua Seis de Agosto, 50, 13088-873 Campinas, SP, Brazil 2Visiting Scholar, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University, 56 Vasey Cres, Campbell, Act 2612, Australia Manuscript received on November 25, 2016; accepted for publication on May 1, 2017 ABSTRACT Science communication has emerged as a new field over the last 50 years, and its progress has been marked by a rise in jobs, training courses, research, associations, conferences and publications. This paper describes science communication internationally and the trends and challenges it faces, before looking at the national level. We have documented science communication activities in Brazil, the training courses, research, financial support and associations/societies. By analyzing the publication of papers, dissertations and theses we have tracked the growth of this field, and compared the level of activity in Brazil with other countries. Brazil has boosted its national research publications since 2002, with a bigger contribution from postgraduate programs in education and communication, but compared to its national research activity Brazil has only a small international presence in science communication. The language barrier, the tradition of publishing in national journals and the solid roots in education are some of the reasons for that. Brazil could improve its international participation, first by considering collaborations within Latin America. International publication is dominated by the USA and the UK. There is a need to take science communication to the next level by developing more sophisticated tools for conceptualizing and analyzing science communication, and Brazil can be part of that. Key words: academic training, Brazilian science research, science communication, scientific culture. INTRODUCTION engineering, it shifted from dealing with issues familiar to ordinary citizens into areas quite remote Modern science communication emerged at the end from their everyday lives. And as it became less of World War 2. As science moved from traditional concerns such as agriculture into the new frontiers familiar, science dealt with concepts and ideas far of biochemistry, nuclear physics and genetic beyond normal human experience. All over the world, the scientific community Correspondence to: Germana Barata realized it needed a public face, in order to make E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] *Visiting scholar at Simon Fraser University, Canada. the case for increased government funding and * * Contribution to the centenary of the Brazilian Academy of public support. It needed to alert the public to new Sciences. ideas and better ways of doing things. It recognized An Acad Bras Cienc (2018) 90 (2 Suppl. 1) 2524 GERMANA BARATA, GRAÇA CALDAS AND TOSS GASCOIGNE an obligation to satisfy public curiosity, and for its needs. The third advance was in research related own survival, to persuade people of the value of to communication methods, to measure the effects the public investment in science. It also needed of various activities, analyze media coverage and to counter opposition to some of its products: track public opinion, for example. The pattern of vaccination, genetic modification, nuclear development on these three fronts – jobs, training experimentation and agricultural practices. and research – varied from country to country, Gradually, governments began to move, at depending on their history, culture and current different speeds, to encourage and support science demands. communication activities. They realized that if A recent comparison1 of the development of society is to take full advantage of the discoveries science communication in 17 different countries of scientists, then the public must have a basic collected information on the dates they reached appreciation of science and its significance. People various milestones (1). The surveyed countries need to comprehend the issues involved and the included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, risks and benefits of scientific research because Estonia, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Mexico, the ultimately, citizens make decisions about how Philippines, the USA, the UK, Spain, New Zealand their governments operate. This led to the funding and China. Each study nominated a date when the of national programs aiming to increase public following initiatives took place: first interactive awareness of science and technology. science center; first science festival; first courses Growing awareness of science and the to train science communicators; first postgraduate communication challenge was spurred by research degrees in science communication; and government reports: the 1985 Bodmer Report in the formation of national associations for science UK (Royal Society 1985) urged scientists to make communicators. The pathways and dates varied, but stronger efforts to communicate with the public, the surveyed countries shared a common objective: and resulted in the formation of the Committee for strengthening science communication. A sample the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS). In of data for five countries illustrates the similarities the USA, science communication activities were and variations (Table I): less centralized. They were carried out by federal The results for Brazil were typical, leading government departments and agencies, along with in some areas and trailing in others: a world the American Association for the Advancement of leader in establishing training course for science Science (AAAS) and individual professional or communicators (1972), but lagging other countries learned societies. when it came to establishing master’s courses By the 1990’s, science communication was (2008). advancing on three fronts. First, there were new PROGRESS, TRENDS AND ISSUES IN SCIENCE jobs, typically connected to a research institute COMMUNICATION or museum, and responsible for explaining the work of the institute. Second, staff for these new The progress science communication has made positions could be formally trained. Previously since it emerged after World War 2 is significant. communication staff had been recruited from areas such as journalism, public relations, teaching and 1 Panel presented at the 13th Public Communication of the sciences; and learned on the job through trial Science and Technology Conference (PCST), in May 2014, in Salvador, Brazil. “How did modern Science Communication and error. Now there was a greater demand and emerge in different countries around the world?”, organized by new training courses were established to meet their Gascoigne (2014). An Acad Bras Cienc (2018) 90 (2 Suppl. 1) BRAZILIAN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION RESEARCH 2525 TABLE I A sample of pioneer contributions in science communication in 5 countries. Source: Gascoigne (2014), based on data collected on panel discussions at PCST 2014. First course to train science Year National Science Week was First Master degree course communicators established Brazil 1972 2008 2004 Germany 1979 2011 - Australia 1988 1992 1997 China 1989 1989 2001 UK 1990 1990 1993 At both national and international levels, there 39 authors from 21 countries to report on the status are associations, conferences, active programs of the scientific and technological culture in their in training and research, and a growing literature countries, and the consequent proceedings are devoted to the subject. The term “science a benchmark in science communication (Schiele communicator” is increasingly recognized as an 1994). occupation and job title. Journals devoted to science Both the practice of and research into science communication have improved their visibility and communication have changed since the Montreal are attracting more papers. conference, typically from counting and measuring Both the theory and practice of science media coverage of science to a more sophisticated communication has shifted in the last 30 years, approach of analyzing publics and other players, with a reconsideration of how best to engage and their motivations and attitudes. Evaluation is people in science. Prior to 1990 it was assumed an increasingly important consideration: how do the role of science communicators was to provide science communicators know the activities they enough facts to allow people to make up their promote are having the desired effect, whether it mind on an issue, by filling a “deficit” in their is to garner support for investment in science, or knowledge. But the validity of this “deficit model” stimulate students to study science at higher levels, was questioned, with recognition that people make or enable more sophisticated consideration of decisions on more grounds than scientific facts, issues like vaccination and climate change? including economic, ethical, religious and political International discussions on science considerations. Now “engagement” and “dialogue” communication have widened, and the PCST are part of the discourse of science communicators, network took full advantage of the emerging along