Role Perceptions in Climate Science Communication

Abstract

ABSTRACT Climate science communication holds the potential to stimulate a renegotiation of the conventional roles in the science-society interface. As climate science is conducted within a context of uncertainty, disputed values, high-stakes, and urgency it promises to alter the demands placed on scientists, journalists, and citizens in the public discussion of the research. This study reviews the extant literature on the role perceptions among these three actors to examine how they perceive their own and each other's ideal roles. Based on a systematic literature search and a thematic reading, the examination shows that the normative role perceptions of climate scientists and climate journalists are relatively well described, while the ideal role of citizens in the discussion of climate science has received far less scholarly attention. Activism is shown to be a recurring theme in the discussion of the roles of climate scientists and climate journalists. The literature on the role of citizens is preoccupied with what level of scientific competence citizens ought to possess.