Identifying, disentangling & reflecting on traditions in science communication
Richard Holliman, The Open University
In early May 2024 I visited the University of Aberdeen. Colleagues and I from the international PCST Network reviewed sites for the biennial conference that's scheduled for 27-29 May 2025.
During the course of the visit I presented in a symposium on the themes of the forthcoming PCST Conference (Traditions, Transitions and Tensions) alongside old friends from the EU-funded project ENSCOT, Melanie Smallman and Declan Fahy.
My contribution to the discussion of the themes of the forthcoming PCST Conference explored traditions in science communication.
I explored the role of traditions in science communication from three perspectives:
- Identifying traditions: How many useful and relevant traditions are ‘hidden in plain sight’? What can we learn from identifying and exploring traditions in the context of science communication?
- Disentangling traditions: What can we learn from exploring science communication as a (multi)cultural phenomenon? Can research into (de)colonialisation, diversity, difference and globalisation drive positive change in science communication?
- Reflecting traditions: Do science communicators share the same traditions? Do traditions in science communication help or hinder research and practice? What can we learn from recognising, reflecting on, and revising traditions?
My argument was that, by identifying traditions science communicators, we can make connections between the past, the present and the future, between science as a culture and other cultures, and between scientists and other communities. I used the Giant’s Causeway as an example that connects the island of Ireland with Scotland through myth, legend and scientific explanation. To draw on the theme of PCST 2023, I argued that by identifying traditions in combination with scientific explanations we can help to ‘co-create common ground’ with wider constituencies in society.
I went on to argue that, when science communicators fail to disentangle traditions, there is a danger that they can exacerbate pre-existing forms of disadvantage and discrimination. Drawing on the work of Rajesh Tanden, I highlighted examples where knowledge within Indigenous cultures is more complex than the Western European versions.
I drew on recent engagement between minoritized community walking groups and environmental scientists in the UK (Holliman et al. 2024) to argue that science communicators and wider constituencies can learn from exploring science communication as a (multi)cultural phenomenon and that research into (de)colonialisation, diversity, difference and globalisation can drive positive change in science communication if equitable principles underpin our work.
In reflecting on traditions, I made the contention that science communicators do not share the same traditions, but that some traditions have dominated our conversations at PCST Conferences because we focus on them at the exclusion of other perspectives. I argued that if we expand our horizons to explore ‘majority-world’ perspectives, our conversations about the roots of science communication will be all the richer.
I finished my contribution by arguing that traditions in science communication can help or hinder research and practice depending on who is engaged and how we engage with wider constituencies and that we can learn much from recognising, reflecting on, and revising traditions.
I hope we can continue to discuss these important issues at #PCST2025.