Introduction

The chapters in this book have shown that science communication and public engagement practices, initiatives, and research take place in highly different contexts, scenarios, and settings around the globe. Yet, much of the discourse, practice, and research in the field is still predominantly about and conducted in the Global North. Together, these chapters have elaborated on what a truly globally representative, multidimensional, and inclusive dialogue on the state of the field of science communication and public engagement would entail. They have also highlighted the challenges, opportunities, and strengths in the scenarios, contexts, and settings that are underrepresented, excluded, and marginalised from the science communication ‘mainstream’, both in the Global North and the Global South.

These globally inclusive discourses are highly pertinent given systemic global inequalities and the differential science education and science communication systems in many parts of the globe. We need a broader framework for science communication that will transcend the Global North–South divide to explain the challenges in different contexts and proffer transformative solutions globally. This interconnected network enhanced by the mutual learning it facilitates across this Global North–South divide would further advance the transformation of science communication, rather than the limited ‘globalised’ framework predicated on Eurocentric dominance that has become normalised across the field. In this context, the imperatives of sociocultural and language plurality and diversity in the practices of science communication also come to the fore. In their interrogation of the presumed universality of science, African scholars Olukoshi and Nyamnjoh state that

This profound assertion can similarly be attributed to science communication as well.

There is still a long way to go before we can even begin to realise a critical level playing field of a truly globally inclusive craft and footprint of science communication – meaning science communication practices, methodologies, and reference points that are radically framed and informed by the very diverse indigeneity and cultural heritage of their localised populations and contexts.