One of the key features of modern knowledge society and economy is efficient and productive communication of science with society. This has become much more important than ever before, and, unfortunately, only a few countries around the globe have fully understood this, and enjoy important benefits in many domains.

Which are the most important among the reasons for inviting societies to pay adequate attention to science communication? Let us single out the three most important ones:

  1. With the changed nature of the innovation process (recognised and well defined by Prof. Charles Edquist, from Lundt University), science and research have to be much more integrated into society than in the period of the evolutionary innovation model. But is it really sufficiently integrated?

  2. In most countries, not yet, as this requires a broad public awareness of this new reality, as well as the full commitment of the government to support it by, inter alia, creating a good innovation ecosystem, and by devoting to R&D at least 2.5% of the country's GDP.

  3. However, all this can be achieved only if most of the important societal actors have fully understood the critical importance of science and innovation for the progress of society, are actively engaged in supporting these efforts, and contribute to a broader public understanding of the role of science.

However, the above-described conditions have so far, unfortunately, been created only in a handful of countries. Not surprisingly, these are at the same time the most advanced and richest countries in the world, and this coincidence should motivate countries to look at these role models and try to learn from them.

In order to be effectively communicated, science is not to be just presented, but its objectives, efforts, and results achieved have to be made understandable to the broader public. This is not an easy task, as the key objectives of science communication are the following:

  • Presenting in an understandable way the results of scientific discovery, but equally alerting the public about the relevant dilemmas—stimulating critical thinking, encouraging scientific literacy, and public debate, including on issues of important public decisions. This contributes to the popularisation of science, which is particularly important in knowledge society.
  • Science communicators are responsible for the accuracy, complexity and relevance of presented information – having in mind the potential impact of presented information on public opinion, as well as on important political decision-makers..
  • Results and dilemmas of scientific research have to be properly presented within academia, as well as to the broader society, by the institutes and universities as part of their broader social responsibility.
  • Science journalists have therefore an important role in educating the public and providing it with facts and new discoveries, which should be taken into account in addressing and properly solving important public issues.
  • Popular science is extremely important for communicating science, as it operates in commonly undestood language, and can reach many members of society.

For a number of reasons, in many countries—unfortunately—science is not optimally communicated to most sectors of society. In most countries, science and academia are regarded as "ivory towers"—an alienated elite of society, sometimes even not really interested in productive interaction with the rest of society.

According to a study of Eurobarometer from 2021 in most of the less developed EU countries, the public has expressed rather critical views about their science communities, qualifying them even as »narrow-minded, immoral, arrogant, and criticizing them for poor communication”.

In 1919, the University of Maribor in Slovenia made a study on the social image of researchers and the importance of communicating science in Slovenia. The conclusions were rather critical about the quality of science communication, holding the academic community responsible for not doing enough to be properly accepted by society at large.

In Britain, this problem was detected already several decades ago, and the Royal Society has created a commission to address these issues already back in 1983. Twelve years later, Prof. Richard Dawkins was appointed as the first professor of public understanding of science at Oxford University, later followed by many British universities. An important role in addressing these issues has also been played by UK Research and Innovation, an organisation connecting many relevant institutions and associations, contributing to better understanding, and indeed creating public support for science. In the UK, France, and now several other countries around the world, science is properly integrated into the government and parliamentary activities via Scientific Advisors, making sure that their decisions are supported by available scientific research.

A few years ago, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science funded a large project entitled Science Communication by Scientists: Rewarded! which identified numerous problems in this domain, and produced very practical proposals and recommendations, published in 2022. With almost a hundred research teams, the project has identified all issues to be addressed, and elaborated solutions, with the potential to bring about the desired change.

On this basis, science communication has been recognized as an essential effort in knowledge society, and it has presented to the scientific community what and how they can and should in their own, and in the interest of society at large, improve things essentially, and enjoy the positive results.

An important question is: where to start the effort to upgrade science communication? There is little doubt that introducing this subject into university curricula is an important element. This means that all students will become aware of the problem, even before experiencing it, and before they will have the opportunity to contribute to its reduction.

When the distinguished graduates will be joining the university staff, they will already understand the nature of the problem, and will gladly join the efforts to address it. Also, those graduates who will find employment in government services, will be aware of what benefits can be produced if decision-makers are covered by science communication and check their proposals with available findings of scientific research. This will become part of their decision-making culture—being very important for quality decisions and productive legislation.

Actually, the desired results can only be achieved if there is a consistent and genuine interest in the public for discoveries produced by science. This interest is a constituent part of the innovation culture, which is essential for a modern, highly productive society. And here we need to be reminded about the difference between invention and innovation—the latter being an applied invention accepted as a new product or service by the market.

Communication should be part of any new research project proposal—demonstrating to the funding agency that researchers intend to present and disseminate the results of their projects to the broader society. This is important, as it will be evaluated by experts and should contribute to a positive decision by the respective funding agency to support the project proposal. At the same time, being aware of this approach, researchers are reminded about the importance of communication for society to be informed about the research results and their implications for relevant social actors to operate in line with new scientific discoveries.

One of the key distinctions of the modern knowledge society and innovative economy is the position of science and research, acting as—and being recognized—as the prime movers of progress. And, this is hardly possible if science pays insufficient attention to communication with society.

It would be unfair to claim that all responsibility falls on the shoulders of scientists. Besides governments, who must help create the conducive environment and atmosphere, many social actors can contribute to science communication, including stimulating active public interest for discoveries and innovations. It goes without saying that companies cannot expect to be competitive in the market without proper attention being paid to news from scientific research.

If interesting inventions and innovations are being properly communicated, the banks will undoubtedly show interest in investing in promising projects, and this is where researchers are often facing big barriers, preventing them to achieve their final objectives and become successful at the market.

Based on the reasoning developed above, it should be concluded: paying proper attention to appropriate science communication is an essential element in building a successful, innovative, and competitive society and economy! No responsible social actor should ignore this well-established fact!