Selling planet Earth: re-purposing geoscience communications

Abstract

Abstract Earth scientists have a critical role to play in communicating to the public and policy makers what we know about present and future geo-environmental threats and challenges, such as climate change, extreme natural events, resource conflicts and the energy transition. However, whilst geoscientists are being encouraged – and, increasingly, trained – to ‘go public’ with our science, it is less clear to what extent our current geo-communications are effectively addressing the long-term planetary concerns that confront society. In this paper we argue that scientists are the interface between the research organizations that produce knowledge and the wider public who could use that knowledge, and in that regard are akin to marketers in the business world. Drawing from the dominant paradigms that shape business marketing, we re-consider the prevailing models of science communication and their consequent sense of purpose. We identify three dominant approaches of marketing-led science communication: ‘make-and-sell’; ‘sense-and-respond’; and ‘guide-and-co-create’. We judge the first two to be incompatible with delivering long-term sustainability, in contrast to the emergent guide-and-co-create mode – purpose-driven, interdisciplinary, participatory, and reflexive – which we contend is best placed to tackle long-term geo-environmental concerns through having a clear wellbeing-focused objective whilst co-creating the path to achieving it. We conclude with the contention that adopting a guide-and-co-create approach to science communications will require not only re-thinking of communication practice within universities but also radical institutional regime change towards universities becoming purpose-driven organizations.