18.12.2024
In December 2024, we held our third annual WSL Biodiversity Symposium. This year, we chose the topic “Communicating Biodiversity (or Why it is so difficult).” We had three speakers with diverse backgrounds and expertise who gave us much food for thought.
Biodiversity communication is urgent amid the global nature crisis. However, it is difficult for researchers and practitioners for several reasons: complex data, competing policy priorities, lack of public awareness, etc. In this context, many questions arise, such as: How do we transform scientific knowledge into compelling stories that drive action among the public, policymakers, and stakeholders? How can we tailor our communication strategies to different audiences? How do we weave biodiversity into sectoral policies and across all levels of government?
On 3 December 2024, we held our third annual biodiversity symposium, “Communicating Biodiversity (or Why It Is So Difficult).” We invited three outstanding speakers—an environmental social scientist, a cantonal scientific associate, and an ecologist—to share their expertise and valuable perspectives on this topic.
Dr. Viktoria Cologna, an environmental social scientist at the Collegium Helveticum, began with her talk, “Communication in a Biodiversity Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities.” She explained how pluralistic ignorance—a phenomenon in which people mistakenly believe that others predominantly hold an opinion different from their own—hinders action and why scientists must raise awareness of the biodiversity crisis. She advocated for messages that mixed negative and positive emotions, blending urgency with hope. It may not always feel like it, but data shows most people trust scientists, care about biodiversity and want them to engage with the public and policymakers.
Our second speaker was Dr. Bianca Saladin, a scientific associate at Kanton Zurich, who leads the ecological infrastructure project and oversees the communication strategy for the Office of Nature Conservation. Her talk, “From Insight to Impact: Communicating Science to Practice," focused on how to turn scientific knowledge into actionable advice. Based on her experience, practitioners appreciate receiving concise, well-supported recommendations from scientists (with clear explanations of the underlying reasoning) and high-quality visualizations. She also encouraged scientists to share their expertise through fact sheets, social media, interviews, etc.
The final speaker, Prof. Bernhard Schmid (University of Zurich and Peking University), addressed the question, “Communicating Biodiversity: Is it so difficult?” Drawing on decades of experience in research and science policy, he encouraged avoiding alarmism or cherry-picking negative data. Instead, he highlighted that we have enough scientific evidence to support optimistic messages and creative solutions (e.g., positive effects of species diversity in agriculture). He also recommended using press releases, interviews, excursions, asking questions, and games to engage people.
Communicating biodiversity is not easy, but these talks gave us some guidelines: reflect on our biases, learn from social sciences, understand practitioners' needs, and use scientific evidence to support creative solutions. A big thank you to our speakers and attendees for their contributions!