Public Awareness of Research Infrastructures

A risky business to communicate...

18 Jun 2015, 16:05

20m

Crux Council room

Risk Communication Parallel Session 3

Speakers

Mrs Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke (Head of Communications and Public Engagement)Mrs Saeko OKADA (KEK Japan)

Description

We propose 2 talks and a panel discussion on communicating risks around high containment virus work to radiation safety through to biological issues. This would involve 2 facilities and a floor discussion chaired by former BBC journalist Toby Murcott. We propose to share best practice when doing sensitive media relations exploring the role of embargos versus exclusives, identifying and balancing messages to make science interesting and the best ways to measure success. An accident at the Japanese particle accelerator facility J-PARC exposed 30 people to radiation in 2013 and released a small amount of radiation into the atmosphere. Lack of transparency in the laboratory’s initial communication led to damaged relations with the local public and journalists. Saeko will discuss the steps her laboratory took to re-build trust and establish transparency, and will provide an overview of positive media coverage that has resulted from newly established relationships. Since the start of the operations of the UK’s national synchrotron light source, Diamond has continued to grow its capabilities. In 2012, Diamond became the first and only place in Europe where pathogens requiring Containment Level 3 – including serious viruses such as those responsible for Hepatitis – can be analysed at atomic and molecular level using synchrotron light. Isabelle will take the audience through the importance of good planning, names used for the public, visual information, early engagement with local stakeholders as well as excellent science delivered with a vaccine developed for the foot-and-mouth disease virus – a story which reached in media terms a total audience of 298 million worldwide.