Train-the-Trainer: Dealing with hostility towards science in public communication (I)

The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society invites you to the first Train-the-Trainer workshop on the topic of hostility towards science. It is open to researchers at all career stages and from all disciplines who are involved in communicating with a non-academic audience, whether in general public communication, policy advice, citizen science projects or other areas. It will be held in person in English and will take place several times in 2024-2025.

Train-the-Trainer
Dealing with hostility towards science in public communication (I)

Workshop
11 June 2024 • 9.30am – 4pm
Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society

When researchers communicate publicly, they sometimes face unwanted, aggressive reactions. They become the target of rude attacks, trolling campaigns or even physical threats. This can undermine their credibility as experts. How can they reduce the risk of being targeted? When does hostility become a legal issue? How can researchers be supported in responding to hate speech or defamation?

Our one-day workshop format offers institutional representatives the opportunity to develop their own strategy for supporting researchers facing hostility towards science. It is aimed at institutionally embedded science communicators, press officers at universities and research institutions, as well as anyone who is involved in research management or supports researchers in their public communications.

This is the first instance of a course series of train-the-trainer workshop formats on dealing with hostility towards science in public communication. The course is part of the collaborative project Capacities and Competencies in Dealing with Hate Speech and Hostility towards Science (KAPAZ). It explores hostility towards researchers and develops institutional resources to protect them from hostility both online and offline.

Structure

Unit 1

How bad is it?
A reflection on the prevalence and forms of hostility towards science, and its impact on researchers and the science system. The findings are based, among other things, on the results of a recent nationwide representative survey in Germany and the practical work of supporting researchers within the KAPAZ collaborative project.

Unit 2

What does hostility towards science look like?
We present examples of attacks and reflect on different experiences and perspectives in dealing with them.

Unit 3

Develop a support strategy for your own institution
In this section, you will work with a team of science communication experts to develop an institutional support strategy.

Unit 4

Advocate for change!
Final summary of the day’s learnings. Participants will be supported in raising awareness of the issue of hostility and receive guidance on the resources available to counteract it in their own institutions.

The workshop format was developed in close collaboration with leading experts in science communication and public engagement. It was created under the leadership of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), the Berlin School of Public Engagement (BSOPE) at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin (MfN), and Scicomm-Support.

Participation

If you would like to sign up for the workshop, please contact Nataliia Sokolovska (nataliia.sokolovska@hiig.de).