Developing a society based on moderation, intelligence, sharing, and healthy environments without compromising the future, requires rising awareness about how our collective and individual behavior impacts Nature and why it is important to reduce our society’s dependence on unsustainable resources to tackle issues such as climate change and pollution. Making valuable scientific information accessible to all is a must in achieving the goal of raising awareness about the need for substituting non-renewable resources with sustainably efficient ones, like wood.
As sustainability becomes mainstream there is an urgent need for more scientists to be aware of how important it is sharing their work with society and helping journalists and influencers who are willing to understand and report scientific information, facts, and data.
As we make scientific knowledge available and accessible, people become aware, commits and engage with the sustainability challenge we all face. To help scientists and journalist find ways to accomplish the task of making hard data, facts and scientific evidence comprehensible to all, The European Forest Institute, through its initiative Lookout Station, has developed the free downloadable Handbook for Scientists: Driving Scientific Research into Journalistic Reporting on Forests, Environment, and Climate Change.
The author of this valuable tool, Elisabetta Tola, a science communication expert and data journalist, explains that: “In the handbook we provide examples and showcases in a hope to inspire scientists to dedicate time and effort to communicate better with journalists, so that they can write about the issue with a balanced, broader perspectives. We also give tools and suggestions on how to better deal with the media to make the exchange more effective”.
As communication plays an important role in engaging society, the future poses many challenges both for journalism and science in reporting about sustainability and climate change issues. The handbook published by the Lookout Station aims to make it easier for both and in the way help democratize scientific information.