Environmental Science Communication at Swedish Universities Beate Mahl Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap Sociologiska institutionen Magisteruppsats, 15 hp Handledare: Rickard Danell Höstterminen 2020 Abstract Given the severe environmental problems we are facing, it is crucial to communicate environmental knowledge to society in order to facilitate a trajectory towards sustainability. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how departments at Swedish universities, whose research revolves around environmental topics, communicate their research. At four departments at two universities, I examine based on semi-structured interviews (I) with whom and in what ways these departments communicate their research, (II) what the motivations are to do so, and (III) if there are challenges in communicating environmental science. For examining the departments’ communication strategies, I apply the theory of a multi-model framework of expert-public interaction. This multi-model framework, however, proved to be too simplistic for the complexity of reality, as the models underlying this framework are too intertwined, and not competing descriptions of reality. They rather describe specific aspects of communication practices. The results show that even though there are two-way communication practices with both the government, specific stakeholders, and the general public, the mere dissemination of environmental knowledge seems to be the default practice of science communication at the examined departments - especially concerning the general public. The motivation to communicate environmental knowledge is of intrinsic nature, to give something back to society and to increase awareness about sustainability practices. Discovered challenges in science communication include a general lack of time to effectively communicate research results, as well as deficient education in science communication for researchers. For transforming into sustainable societies communication strategies need to be improved. Keywords: Environmental communication, science communication, communication models, ​ communication strategies, Swedish universities, society 2 Contents 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Research Questions 5 ​ 2. Environmental Problems 6 3. Science Communication 7 3.1 Definitions 7 3.2 Science Communication in Europe 7 3.3 The Scientists’ Abilities to Communicate 9 3.4 The Scientists’ Motivation to Communicate 10 3.5 From Dissemination to Participation 11 3.5.1 The Deficit Model 12 3.5.2 The Dialogue Model 13 3.5.3 The Participation Model 14 4. Method 15 4.1 Study Design 15 4.2 Selection of Departments 15 4.3 Data Collection 16 4.4 Data Analysis 17 5. Results 18 5.1 The Reasons for Communicating Environmental Science 19 5.2 Target Groups and Means of Communication 20 5.3 The Responsibility to Communicate 23 5.4 Communication on Department-level 24 5.5 The Researchers’ Abilities and Encouragement to Communicate 25 5.6 The Issue of Trust 26 5.7 The Lack of Resources and Other Challenges in Science Communication 28 6. Discussion 30 6.1 Applicability of the Multi-Model Framework 30 6.2 Target Groups and Means of Communication (RQ 1) 31 6.3 The Motivation to Communicate (RQ 2) 32 6.4 Challenges in Science Communication (RQ 3) 33 6.5 Heads of Departments and Communicators 35 7. Conclusions 36 References 37 3 1. Introduction For the first time in history a conviction has developed among those who can actually think more than a decade ahead that we are playing a global endgame (Wilson 2016, 1). This quotation by Edward O. Wilson, a well-known American biologist, shows the seriousness of the world's environmental situation. Humanity's chase for economic growth, unrestricted consumption, and a rather unhealthy pursuit for personal happiness leads to losing sight of the fact that we are a part of nature, and that we depend on our natural environment. For ensuring a long-term existence of the human race and other species, a rethinking and concomitant behavioral change within society is unavoidable. Environmental scientists are a crucial source of information about environmental knowledge, as they investigate natural processes and phenomena, but also warn us about the impacts and consequences our behaviour entails. Therefore, it is essential that environmental scientists inform the public about their findings. Also in the scientific world, the importance of environmental scientists communicating with the public is emphasized in numerous publications (e.g. Burivalova, Butler and Wilcove 2018; Nutile, Simpson and Solan 2020; Legagneux et al. 2018; Brunet et al. 2020). Though it is not the duty of environmental scientists to evoke sustainable behavior within society, disseminating their research and research results is the first step to arouse awareness, so that behavioral change can occur. A number of scientists do seek communication with the public to inform about environmental developments, but also to give advice on what we can do to move towards a more sustainable trajectory, such as articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations 2020). Sir David Attenborough, known for his innumerable nature documentaries, stated recently that “saving our planet is now a communication challenge” (Attenborough quoted in The Independent 2020). In other words, it is not primarily a gap in knowledge in how to reduce the detrimental impacts on ecosystems, but rather a question of how to communicate findings and possible solutions. However, not only the public in general should be approached. For transforming into sustainable societies, it is also important to communicate with a variety of different stakeholders, including policy makers, government agencies, and nongovernmental agencies (Suldovsky 2017). 4 1.1 Research Questions According to the Law on Higher Education, Swedish universities are obliged to “interact with the surrounding community and to inform about their activities” which also includes to make sure that research results “benefit society” (SFS 1992: 1434, 1 kap. 2 §; translated by the author). Given the importance of spreading environmental scientific knowledge, my thesis aims at examining how departments at Swedish universities, whose research revolves around environmental topics, communicate environmental knowledge in order to raise awareness of environmental problems. I will, therefore, explore the following research questions: ● RQ 1: With whom and how do the departments communicate their research? ● RQ 2: What motivates environmental science communication? ● RQ 3: What challenges do the departments meet in communicating environmental knowledge? 5 2. Environmental Problems Until very recently in Earth history, the impact of humans on Earth and the Earth’s Systems had been rather insignificant. This changed, however, in the 18th century with the Industrial Revolution and its mechanization. The new technologies invented and improved during this era resulted in unprecedented capacities to extract, produce, and consume, leading to a sharp increase in global population (Steffen et al. 2005, 81-82), which today exceeds 7.8 billion (worldometer 2020). This, in turn, entails even graver environmental consequences, as all people have basic human needs like water, food, and housing. A big problem is, though, the ways society meets these and additional demands, especially because of increased lifestyle expectations around the world (Steffen et al. 2005, 83-84). This development, however, changed even more drastically in the second half of the twentieth century, also called the Great Acceleration, which shows an exponential growth rate across a variety of measures of human activity, including population growth, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, water use, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, and ocean acidification (Steffen et al. 2015; Steffen et al. 2005, 132-133). What exactly caused the Great Acceleration seems yet to be unclear. Clear is, however, the global character of the problem. Whereas in the past environmental changes mainly affected specific locations, the environmental changes of today affect, in their magnitude and pace, globalscale biogeochemical flows, significantly impacting and changing the fundamental function and processes of the Earth’s Systems. The complexity and interactions within and between these systems are, yet, not clearly understood, and with it the possible magnitude of our impact on the Earth and the Earth’s Systems, which have implications for the wellbeing of many life forms - including humans (Steffen et al. 2005, 131). Therefore, research is important not only to better understand the Earth’s Systems, but also to examine the consequences of the transformations we inflict on the Earth. These findings and new understandings then need to be communicated both within the scientific community and with the non-scientific community, i.e. governments and other stakeholders, as well as the public in general, so that appropriate measures can be taken or behaviors influenced to prevent further alterations of the Earth and the Earth’s Systems to enable a sustainable future. 6 3. Science Communication Science communication in general is a very complex area, wherefore it is necessary to narrow down some aspects important for this thesis. First, science can, of course, be communicated by different actors. For this thesis, however, I focus on professionals communicating it, namely scientists themselves, or professional communicators working closely together with scientists. Another essential aspect is to whom science is communicated: