We are thrilled to hear the news that the bid application to the Volkswagen foundation that we worked on was successful. As a result, the new Science Communication Lab on Planetary Health got established. We worked hard alongside the team from LMU and other partners in the creation of the concept and bid. The project proposal was successful and received 4 million euros of funding for five years.
The lab has chosen the topic “Planetary Health” as a test case for the design of novel communications strategies. This is an issue that is of immediate social relevance globally, as well as being highly complex and interdisciplinary from a scientific point of view. Moreover, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic have demonstrated how closely the degradation of natural habitats is bound up with human health. The Lab will thus consider not only global warming and global health, but also problems such as toxic waste and environmental pollution, food production, changes in land use and depletion of water resources.
As rightly put by Dr. Bernhard Goodwin, Project Coordinator “Munich is the ideal location for the establishment of a Science Communication Lab. As the leading research institution for communications science in Germany, we are coordinating the project. Researchers in a wide range of disciplines will take part in the venture, and well-known centers of science communication will provide experimental expertise and attract public attention.”
