Numerous experts in the transformation community have made a compelling case for fundamental system change in response to our socio-ecological crisis. Earth4All: A Survival Guide for Humanity (2022), Crises of Inequality: Shifting Power for a New Eco-social Contract (UNRISD 2022), and Flipping the Science Model (International Science Council 2023) are just a few examples. These reports are notable for integrating the technical and the social, outlining the case for transforming economic systems and social inequities in conjunction with environmental interventions and calling for new forms of transdisciplinary knowledge and communication suited to this goal. This panel aims to explore the implications of ambitious system-change thinking for the development of skills in science advice.

Communication skills training for scientists tends to focus on issues such as writing and speaking in ways suitable for non-science audiences, finding ways to connect research to things policymakers or communities care about, and so on. In principle, these skills programs are indifferent to the content of any particular area of science; hence, they could well perpetuate some of the very patterns targeted by systems approaches. So how can the insights gained through long-standing skills initiatives be extended or modified to the system-change communication challenge? What are the difficulties with bringing matters of social inequity or the limits of conventional economic paradigms into forums where science advisors may be expected to stick to biophysical scientific evidence? Are there exemplars or opportunities we can learn from where science advisors, diplomats, and communicators were successful in getting across a systems perspective? What kind of methods could we develop and how and where could they be co-designed and refined in practice?"

Panelists:

• Petra Lundgren: Director, ISC Regional Focal Point for Asia and the Pacific – Australia

• Sujatha Raman: UNESCO Chair in Science Communication for the Public Good, Australian National University – Australia

• Jaakko Kuosmanen: Chief Coordinator, Sofi - Science Advice Initiative of Finland – Finland

• Wee Hoe Tan: Chair, INGSA-Asia - Malaysia

• Agha Rita Oluwadarasimi: Researcher, Australian National University Centre for the Public Awareness of Science – Australia/ Nigeria

• Indigo Strudwicke: Researcher, Australian National University Centre for the Public Awareness of Science - Australia