New trends in science communication fostering evidence-informed policymaking

Abstract

This article aims to assess novel trends in science communication relating to how policymakers in the field of innovation and digitalisation policy consume and use scientific findings. We investigate the mutual influence that science communication and policy have on each other and answer the question how emerging science communication trends in the science-policy nexus might influence the use of scientific findings in the policymaking process. By using Google and the largest scholarly repositories, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu, from 1st March to 31st May 2020, we reviewed policy documents and academic literature containing relevant information on the evolution of characteristics of global, European, and national science communication activities and the interrelated policy responses to identify the most relevant current trends in the evidence-to-policy process alongside three key challenges; trust, translation, and timing. The three identified main trends are (1) a stronger engagement between science and policy, (2) more open, reliable, and accountable science communication practices with policymakers, and (3) the increasing digitalisation and visualisation of science communication. We deepened our investigation by conducting online semi-structured interviews with relevant policy stakeholders at the international and national level between 1st May and 31st July 2020. With the support of the European Commission and building on the existing network of partners, we identified decision-makers and advisors with relevant experience in fields related to innovation and digitalisation policy working in four countries that represent different levels of generalized social trust: Austria, Italy, Hungary, and the Netherlands, and at the international/European Union level. After an online consultation process with a global set of policymakers, these theoretical findings were translated to policy recommendations showcasing possible solutions in science communication that may be initiated, strengthened, or continued by policy stakeholders in order to reach a more effective and efficient uptake of scientific findings in evidence-informed policymaking.

New trends in science communication fostering evidence-informed policymaking

“…These documents are publicly available for researchers interested in understanding the source of our results in more detail. When reaching the pre-determined project deadline for mapping and collecting the required documents (31 May 2020), each partner extracted the key findings of the analysed documents and summarized the identified trends in a project report ( Szüdi et al, 2020 ). The trends identified through secondary research were in the second step reviewed, validated, and extended by semi-structured online interviews conducted with a broader defined group of policymakers dealing with innovation policy and digitalisation at the international and national level in four selected countries, i.e., Austria, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands (see Table 1 ) from 1 May to 31 July 2020.…”

“…The key findings were then checked and cross-referenced between countries to generate more granular categories within the key trends. At the end of the summary process, the most relevant quotations were translated to English to showcase the main trends in the science-policy nexus, which formed another chapter of the same report ( Szüdi et al , 2020 ).…”

“…These conclusions were summarized in an initial policy brief in February 2021, also including short but concise policy recommendations on how to better engage with scientists and communicate scientific findings that can inform key policy decisions in the field of innovation and digitalisation. The initial policy brief was updated and finetuned in February 2022 after a European-level consultation process with policy-maker stakeholders, involving online presentations and other dissemination activities, prominently including an online feedback option to which 37 experts responded from 18 countries (Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States) and the European Union (EU), resulting in a finalised version of the policy brief ( Szüdi et al, 2022a ).…”

Training researchers and planning science communication and dissemination activities: testing the QUEST model in practice and theory

“…The interviews revealed that in the case of RITA and ResTA research applications, in addition to the communication of facts, more expert assessments and interpretations are expected. That would help shape so-called informed decisions -including evidence-informed policymaking [Szüdi et al, 2022] -at different levels of society. This was particularly evident in the view of the scientific advisers of the ministries.…”

“…Nevertheless, the problem may be elsewhere: reluctance to accept scientific knowledge might not be about a 'lack of public understanding' of the science but rather a difference in values or viewpoints and ways of thinking [Hansen, 2016]. Therefore, science communication is moving from deficit models to dialogue-based approaches [Jonsson, Grafström & Klintman, 2022;Szüdi et al, 2022;Trench, 2008]. But this process is prolonged.…”