“Are we just talking to ourselves?”
(Nishai Pillai, facilitator at Planet Under Pressure)
A major stream of discussion at Planet under Pressure (PUP) has been how we communicate science. Many of the challenges facing the planet are not about technical solutions but rather how we communicate and negotiate science into political debates.
The CGIAR Consortium Office and its 15 research centers have been aggressively using social media in the last few years to ‘get the message out’. There has been much debate about the effectiveness of social media to ‘get the messages out’, but maybe we are not using these new tools to their full potential. Maybe we need to reflect further on how we can best use social media to have greater impact. It is not just a matter of making noise. How do we convince our scientists that investing in social media makes a difference to their work, that is not an additional burden, but integral part of their work?
At the session on “The digital age and tipping points in social networks: opportunities for planetary stewardship”, some new ways of thinking about social media were discussed. Dr. Amy Luers of the “Skoll Global Threats Fund”, presented some new ideas of how we should link science to on-going social networks. One point she raised resonated with CGIAR’s current strategy to promote and use social media. She showed the evolution of communication over the last century. On one side were our traditional communication tools: 1) the telephone (one-to-one communication) and 2) the mass-media (one-to-many). These help us tell a story and get our message out.
CGIAR is a scientific organization. With scientific publications we build evidence. With traditional communication tools we tell the story. But is this enough?
On the other side of Luers’ graph there are the new social media tools – they are about moving to many-to-many conversations and even more to many-among-many conversations. These tools are about engaging, joining a conversation and being part of a dialogue.
This is very similar to the Research for Development approach towards communication the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) uses. ‘The focus is not on just transmitting our scientific messages but using that as part of a strategy to engage different groups and ensure that science is part of the policy dialogue at different levels or the development process at the local level’, says Michael Victor, communications coordinator with CPWF.
Dr. Leurs continued and called for ‘network spanning mechanisms’ which linked science to the social discussions going on in different areas. This is not about providing our messages to these groups but collaborating together in such areas such as ‘citizen science’ and resource assessments.
The value of using social media to disseminate ones’ research has been proven before. Hard evidence from the World Bank should be a comfort to all doubting scientists. With other partners under the CIARD movement we documented how to make your knowledge travel using social media
So, while evidence can convince scientists to use social media to promote their work and tools on how to best define social media strategies are available, the question begs: ‘why should I engage’? What is the return on investing my valuable, limited and project-funded time?
Another way of looking at it is: ‘Can we afford the risk of not engaging?’Can we afford to be isolated when we have committed ourselves to engage in meaningful partnerships? When it is our fundamental mandate to deliver on science that is applicable?
We have a number of empirical cases to support our assertion that you are better off engaging in conversations in all stages of a research program. From identifying your research question all the way to delivering your results.
But we need to hear from you… tell us your story, your story of success or frustration alike in regards to using social media to engage with others. These stories will help us refine our strategy and plans to support the work of our scientists.
Posted from the Planet under Pressure conference by:
Enrica Porcari, Director of Communication, CGIAR Consortium Office
Michael Victor, Communication Coordinator, CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food