The soul of Latin-American science communication

Author: Ana Nepote – UNAM, Mexico

Co-authors:
Dominique Brossard – University of Wisconsin – Madison
Luisa Massarani – Museu da Vida, Fiocruz and SciDev.Net
Sandra Murriello – Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro
Elaine Reynoso – UNAM

This session is organized by RedPOP, the Latin American Network for Science Communication in Latin America and the Caribbean, as part of a partnership with the PCST Network.

Latin America and the Caribbean has started having initiatives in the academic field of Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) of at least 30 years in countries such as Mexico and Brazil. Lately, the field has been consolidating and taking shape, in diverse biological areas, while facing different challenges, such as political and economic instability, unstable democracies and cultural complexity.

In the last five years, there has been a major effort to systematize the vast experience that exists in PCST in the region. As result of an effort led by RedPOP in collaboration with organizations in the region, there is a greater knowledge of available training programs in science communication. Additionally, a diagnosis of the current situation of the practical activities in science communication has been performed, which constitutes the first record of the academic production in PCST in the region and map of the related public policies implemented and in some cases, forgotten.

In this roundtable, members of the PCST scientific committee who work in Latin American institutions and REDPOP members will participate: Luisa Massarani, Ana Claudia Nepote, Luz Helena Oviedo, Elaine Reynoso and Sandra Murriello; will present the scope and challenges that the public communication of science faces in the region. In a conversation moderated by Dominique Brossard, they will talk about the status of PCST in the region and some of the challenges that need to be addressed. This roundtable will present a “snapshot” of the multiplicity of experiences in the region while presenting some possibilities for opening up opportunities for senior and young Latin American science communicators to engage with other regions of the world.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Roundtable discussion
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Comparing science communication across cultures