Challenges
Unfortunately, there are formidable obstacles to closing the gap isolating scientists in our society. Some of these are self-imposed by scientific institutions themselves: although science is part of society, it does not always reflect the diversity of society and therefore may have distinct and even incompatible interests at times. Isolation can be an attractive alternative to engagement when the probability of conflict is high. Others barriers are due to popular misconceptions that stem from specialization and isolation. And many are more emotional than logical, based on deeply held beliefs, stereotypes, mutual mistrust, fear and suspicion.
We must be careful not to oversimplify the situation; it would be a serious mistake to assume that closing this gap is a simple matter of explaining science to the public or correcting these popular misconceptions with a public relations campaign. Even simple communications fail without confidence and mutual respect. And many of the subjects require serious attention, time and resources.
What is missing is not a simple matter of information, knowledge or exposure, but a series of genuine personal experiences that overcome social barriers of isolation on both sides of the divide. When scientists engage the public face to face, they share their experience of science: skepticism, autonomy, integrity, inquiry, adventure, exploration and even beauty and spirituality. At the same time, legitimate public concerns for economic tradeoffs, priorities, values and traditions can also be aired and experienced by scientists.
Sensitive media addressing the more human and spiritual aspects of science are important. But media alone is not the answer. Face to face engagement -- a dialogue based on trust, transparency and clear accountability -- will be critical for our public institutions to engage science and to take advantage of its full potential.
There is no mystery. We know how to design and manage such engagements. The question is, do we have the will? How will we muster the necessary resources? And how can we overcome isolation, create opportunities for engagement for thousands or even millions of people in very small groups? Where should we start? Individual examples of successful science media and engagement are all around us. How can we replicate them and make them scale?
At Science Media and Engagement (SME) Strategies we are looking for partners eager to ask these questions, to collaborate on answers and finally to commit resources and effort to implement what works on a large scale.