Celebrating one year of Communicating Science for Impact
Sunrise on the one-year anniversary of Communicating Science for Impact. Brendon Bosworth. 2021.
On this day last year, I was preparing to jump into the deep end of online teaching with the launch of Communicating Science for Impact, the science communication course I run with Tali Hoffman (read about how I did this without “freaking out.”).
One year later, we've just finished our fourth instalment of the course with an incredible group of researchers from the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment and Sustainability.
Communicating about climate change and sustainability
In the past year, I've had the fortune of working with nearly 50 researchers from different disciplines and different parts of the world. These are people who are grappling with the major challenges of our time — climate change, water management, food security, natural resources, sustainability, and more. I am grateful to each of them for showing up and sharing their stories, communication challenges, successes, and hopes for the future.
As a facilitator, I have learned so much about what's happening on the ground with different branches of climate and sustainability research.
We've been fortunate to have researchers from the University of Cape Town, University of Ghana, University of Nairobi, and University of Saskatchewan among our participants. We’ve worked with climate change organisations — the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) and ARUA Centre of Excellence in Climate and Development (ARUA-CD) — as well as legal experts at the South African Research Chair: Mineral Law in Africa (MLiA).
The power of empathy
Running the course has cemented my belief in the power of empathy to help us better connect in a largely disconnected world.
By listening, sharing our experiences, and supporting one another we can co-create people-oriented solutions to the climate crisis and make better decisions for a more resilient future. For this communication is key.
Big thanks, as ever, to Tali Hoffman.
I'm looking forward to what this next year will bring!
Are you a scientist who wants to up your science communication skills? Check out the science communication course I run with Dr. Tali Hoffman.
