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Strategic Plan 2004-2010

7. Communication

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A key SCAR objective is to communicate scientific information about the Antarctic region to the public. This will be achieved through the following strategic approach:

  1. improve knowledge of the benefits of Antarctic science in terms of outcomes which affect the wider community in Member countries;
  2. promote better coordination between government, the media, academia and others in relation to Antarctic scientific issues; and
  3. improve communication with funding institutions to encourage funding for key applications of science.

To meet these requirements, SCAR will begin by developing a communication strategy, in consultation with COMNAP.

7.1 A SCAR Communications Plan

Communication in the information age is vital for the success of any organization. As identified by the SCAR Review, SCAR needs to develop effective communications with the public so as to explain its mission and its relevance. Effective communications will help:

  • to raise the visibility of SCAR and its activities;
  • to promote concepts that inspire its agenda;
  • to implement programmes;
  • to develop cooperation with partners;
  • to mobilise resources;
  • to link Secretariat staff more effectively with SCAR’s Executive, scientific activities, and partners;
  • to link SCAR more effectively with other Antarctic organisations; and
  • to build the capacity of new Members to participate in and benefit from SCAR activities.

The Communications Plan should be developed by the Secretariat, in consultation with Delegates, Officers and the Executive. A Vice President will be made responsible for Communication, to work with the Secretariat to keep communications under review, and to advise on ways in which communications can be improved.

The Plan will be designed to ensure that communication is focused on helping SCAR to achieve its mission and its 5 main objectives. The long-term goals of the Communications Plan should be to:

  • Establish SCAR as the premier agency where policy makers, scientists and journalists look for information with respect to scientific issues in the Antarctic region;
  • Increase awareness of SCAR activities within the SCAR community (Members, and the Antarctic science community), and the wider global scientific community including ICSU and its constituent organisations;
  • Increase the awareness, support and cooperation of governments and the general public to the issues that inspire SCAR’s programmes and priorities;
  • Establish SCAR programmes as preferred targets for the international donor community, to increase funding for SCAR’s science;
  • Achieve a culture of communication throughout the organisation.

The Communications Plan will identify a range of potential target audiences, the desired outcomes from each of audience, and the most appropriate mechanisms for communication with each audience. Consideration will be given to developing a variety of methods of communication. One key goal will be to provide information tailored for public consumption, on the SCR web site, about Antarctica and its surrounding oceans, about the key scientific issues in the region - and their importance, and about SCAR.

In developing the plan, SCAR should consult with other ICSU, and non-ICSU, organisations that are developing plans for Public Outreach. A concerted effort in areas where overlap of interests is present may be mutually beneficial (e.g. the outreach efforts of SCOSTEP (CAWSES), and the EC COST724 action (space weather), may be complementary to the SCAR Communication Plan).

Some of the activities that might form part of a Communications Plan are already in place, for instance:

  1. the SCAR web site was significantly improved in July 2004, since when it has been receiving 30,000 hits per month;
  2. the first of a series of biennial Open Science Conferences that will take place in association with the biennial SCAR SSG meetings, and will advertise Antarctic science to the wider community, was held in July 2004 in Bremen;, Germany. It was attended by over 1000 people.
  3. the SSGs are organising a series of conferences on major topics (for example the SCAR International Biology Symposium, in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2005).
  4. the Geosciences SSG has a specific Action Group devoted to Communication and Outreach (other SSGs should follow suit);
  5. SCAR provides the annual SCAR/COMNAP Lecture to the ATCM. Copies of past SCAR lectures to ATCM can be downloaded from the SCAR web site;
  6. A SCAR poster can be downloaded from the SCAR web site;
  7. A SCAR power point presentation can be downloaded from the SCAR web site.

To improve communications internally, Chief Officers of SSGs are invited to attend Executive Committee meetings, as ex officio members. SCAR is making effective use of e-mail as a primary means of communication, and will utilise a system of List Servers to facilitate the passing of information to the different elements of the SCAR community.
SCAR urges National Committees to raise awareness of the importance of Antarctic science by organizing Conferences or Symposia on Antarctic science, and drawing attention to the relevance of that science to major issues of public concern.

Recognising that English is the language of communication in SCAR, SCAR papers should be presented in Plain English, using simple direct language. At Delegates meetings key working documents should be projected from a computer onto a screen at the time the document is being discussed. To facilitate understanding documents should be made available well in advance.
Given the limitation on resources available to the SCAR Secretariat, where Members feel that translations would be desirable it would be helpful if individual Members would offer to translate documents on behalf of others where they share a common language (e.g. such as Spanish).

SSG Action Groups and Expert Groups and Scientific Research Programmes Groups are encouraged to publish the results of their activities, with scientific results preferably in the peer-reviewed literature. Where results are published in technical reports, digests should be published in the peer-reviewed literature. Publications should acknowledge the contribution of SCAR and where appropriate include the SCAR logo. Publications should be listed in the biennial reports of the SSGs.

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