Jensen, A. M. & Roche, J. (2019). Section 5: Science Communication in Museums Within Europe. In S. R. Davies (Ed.), Summary report: European Science Communication Today, Deliverable 1.1 (pp. 51-68). The QUEST project.
What does the landscape of public science communication look like across Europe today? What are the pathologies and opportunities of public engagement with research, and what dynamics are shaping how laypeople access and use scientific knowledge?
These questions have been driving recent QUEST research. Within the project, Work Package 1 has sought to describe the landscape of European science communication today. This has resulted in a soon-to-be published report, European Science Communication Today, which assesses the landscape of science communication research, science journalism, science on social media, and science in museums.
One key finding has been that this is a landscape in transition. Science in social media is on the rise; science journalism is undergoing seismic structural shifts relating to the demise of print media and new funding pressures; and science museums are responding to criticism regarding the lack of diversity of their audiences. It is currently unclear where these domains of science communication practice will end up, and whether they will settle and stabilise over the coming years.
Another finding is a repeated emphasis on the need for science communication – and communicators – to embrace a critical, dialogic approach. While science communication scholarship is fragmented, one of the rather few widely referenced central concepts is a move from a ‘deficit model’ of public audiences towards models of engagement and multi-way communication. Similarly, journalists and museums practitioners emphasise the need to go beyond science journalism as translation or promotion to incorporate critical views, investigate scientific practice, or challenge ‘bad science’.
