ScienceFlows participates in the XVII International Conference on Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST2023)
CAROLINA MORENO CASTRO and PAULA VON POLHEIM// In this edition of PCST2023, the central theme of the conference has been Creating common ground, intending to foster a collaborative network of researchers and professionals in science communication that includes areas such as science journalism, citizen participation, citizen science, informal science education and innovation. It is an opportunity to create, engage and collaborate with scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and the general public in building partnerships between researchers and stakeholders.
The city of Rotterdam (The Netherlands) hosted this 17th edition of the International Conference on Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) from 11 to 14 April 2023. This conference is the most important international conference in the science communication sector. It brings together professionals worldwide, including journalists specialising in STEM (science and technology), representatives of scientific institutions, such as museums, and the entire academic and research community. Nearly 700 participants shared their experiences and knowledge in this edition in an academic, collaborative, dynamic environment.
The complete conference program is available at Program – Public Communications of Science and Technology (pcst2023.nl). The opening gala was opened by Anne Dijkstra, PCST23 Scientific Committee member from the University of Twente (The Netherlands) and was attended by PCST23 Programme Committee Chair Marina Joubert from the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa); the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Robbert Dijkgraaf and PCST Network Chair, Jenni Metcalfe.
One more year, the ScienceFlows research team of the University of Valencia has presented its research results. On this occasion, the researchers Carolina Moreno, Isabel Mendoza and Paula von Polheim travelled to the city of Rotterdam to participate in the conference with two papers developed in the framework of the national project ESMODA-ECO, with two communications and a poster.
On 14 April, from 14:15 to 15:30 pm, Carolina Moreno, principal investigator of the ScienceFlows group, presented the paper The Role that People that seek trust information about food-related myths play as Fact-checkers. In this session, the results of a survey on fact-checking food and nutrition information launched to student associations and disseminated via social media and the ScienceFlows research group’s blog were presented. The survey was aimed at people interested in verifying the veracity of information on food and nutrition topics with data sources. The questionnaire reached 124 responses from University of Madrid, Valencia and Malaga students.
In the same period, Isabel Mendoza presented the paper and poster Exploratory Study of Diets in the Spanish Newspapers’ headlines. This study dealt with the results of research that analysed diets in the Spanish press from 1996 to 2021, inclusive. 6,362 news items were collected and studied, showing that the Mediterranean diet has been the most cited, representing 58% of the total. The Mediterranean diet was followed by gluten-free and low-calorie diets, representing 9% each.
This research has also counted on the collaboration of ScienceFlows group members and trainee researchers Ana Serra Perales and Paula von Polheim, who have actively participated in the launch of the surveys and data collection carried out in the ESMODA-ECO project (Study of food fads through the communication ecosystem -RTI2018-099663-B-I00), financed by MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF funds. A way of making Europe.
