‘if we build [create] it, they will come’, i.e. just disseminate

A lot of science communication – perhaps most of it - is ‘make and sell’, a product-oriented approach that packages science in ever more digestible ways for consumption by a public (customers, end users) that haven’t asked for it and may not see the need for it (Stewart & Hurth 2021).

From the science side, it’s driven by the old ‘deficit model’ thinking of ‘if we build [create] it, they will come’, i.e. just disseminate our technical know-how in engaging ways and means, and that will secure social acceptance and motivate public action. It is an approach that all too often perceives the public's 'knowledge deficit' as the fundamental communication problem.

Reaching beyond the immediate, easy and accessible but narrow science-informed and science-aware audiences requires a deep and enduring focus on processes of engagement and partnership rather than dissemination products. It's a mindset switch to seeing the public as the solution to the communication challenge.

In marketing speak (Stewart & Hurth 2021), it’s about moving to ‘sense and respond’ and ‘guide and create’ thinking.

In sci-comm speak, that simply means developing dialogue and promoting participation. Easy to say, but hard to do. Some examples from the disaster risk reduction arena are explored here...
https://lnkd.in/ewH-885R

Stewart, I.S. and Hurth, V., 2021. Selling planet Earth: re-purposing geoscience communications. Geoethics: Status and Future Perspectives, 508, pp.265-283.