[ecrea] The Communication Researcher¹s Role(s) in Science and Environmental Communication

CALL FOR PAPERS

*The Communication Researcher's Role(s) in Science and Environmental*
*Communication*
*
*
Pre-IECA conference: International workshop organised by the Science and 
Environment
Communication Section, ECREA 
(http://www.ecrea.eu/divisions/section/id/16 and
http://www.scienv-com.eu) and Department of Culture and Media Studies, 
Umeå University,
Sweden (http://www.kultmed.umu.se).

Where: Uppsala, Sweden When: 6 June 2013

The purpose of this workshop is to focus on the role of the 
communication researcher in science
and environmental projects. This type of (self)reflection is a much 
needed, yet on the whole
overlooked or at least not sufficiently acknowledged activity among our 
research community.
And this even if the position(s) of communication researchers often are 
complex and
contradictory. Many science-related projects for example suggest that 
the main problem (for
instance regarding implementation of new technologies), is that the 
public is uninformed and
needs education. The role of the communication researcher therefore 
becomes to tackle the
'deficit'. Such approach can, in turn, be problematic seen from a 
democratic perspective where
everybody's view is equally valid or at least seen as legitimate. In 
environmentally related
projects, on the other hand, communication researchers are themselves 
often motivated by a will
to change or to improve actual situations (for people and the 
environment), if not to solve
practical problems. Sometimes the work involves initiating communication 
campaigns to raise
awareness about an urgent environmental issue or attempts to influence 
people's behaviour, for
example. But how to decide what the best way forward is and how do you 
combine the analytical
task with practical work to solve the very same problem? How can the 
identities of
communication scholars as researchers and as advocates be reconciled? 
What kinds of ethical and
value-related questions do different roles raise? And lastly, to what 
extent can we expect potential
transformative impacts from the specific perspectives, research 
questions and methods we start
from in the framing of our research projects?
In this workshop we want to gather communication researchers with 
different experiences from
the field of science and environmental communication and discuss their 
different role(s) in
projects. We hope to create a space for dialogue, (self)reflection and 
learning among the
participants and to offer an opportunity to deepen the understanding of 
these vital issues.
Please send a 200 word abstract to Annika Egan Sjölander
((annika.egansjolander /at/ kultmed.umu.se) 
<mailto:(annika.egansjolander /at/ kultmed.umu.se)>), Anabela Carvalho 
((carvalho /at/ ics.uminho.pt) <mailto:(carvalho /at/ ics.uminho.pt)>) and
Pieter Maeseele ((Pieter.Maeseele /at/ ua.ac.be) 
<mailto:(Pieter.Maeseele /at/ ua.ac.be)>) by *8 February 2013*. Notification of 
acceptance will
be made by *14* *February 2013.*