Status of Science Communication in Rwanda by Tharcisse MUSABYIMANA

7/31/2019 Status of Science Communication in Rwanda by Tharcisse MUSABYIMANA

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STATUS OF SCI ENCE

COMMUNI CATI ON I NRWANDA:

A present at ion made at t heI nt ernat ional Cent re for Theoret ical

Physics ( I CTP) , Tr ieste, I t aly in aScience Communicat ion Workshop

17-21 October 2011By

Tharcisse MUSABYI MANA


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The Concept Science Communication

- Scholars exhibit a variety of views about

Science Communication. Brian Trench,Massimiano Bucchi (2010) expressed thatthough several publications have sought to

define the field of science communication,the status of science communicationremains uncertain in disciplinary terms.

- For the sake of this presentation, I haveused a definition from a variety of sources,which is simplified and summarised in

Wikipedia (2011)


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- Science communication generally refers topublic media aiming to talk about sciencewith non-scientists. This often involvesprofessional scientists (called 'outreach' or

'popularization') but has evolved into aprofessional field in its own right. Itincludes science exhibitions, science

journalism, science policy and sciencemedia production, among other things.


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- Science communication can also simplydescribe communication between scientists(e.g. through scientific journals) as well asbetween non-scientists.

- Partly due to a market for professionaltraining, science communication is also anacademic discipline. The two key journals

are the Public Understanding of Science(PUS) and Science Communication.


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- Researchers in this field are often closelylinked to Science and Technology Studies,but they may also come from the history ofscience as well as mainstream media

studies, psychology, sociology or literaturestudies.

- Agricultural communication, environmental

communication, health communication, etc.are considered subsets of sciencecommunication from an academic and

professional standpoint.


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Science as a mystified concept

- Many African countries are

encouraging science as a panaceathat can help them quickly attainsustainable development. In the

understanding of many policy makers,science is restricted to what iscommonly known as pure/hardsciences.


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- For these countries, people doing

social/soft sciences likecommunication, arts, sociology,education etc. are not doing sciences

and therefore should not take priority.This understanding is reflected inscholarship provision and setting thepass mark/grade for furtheringstudies.


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- It is very easy for one to get a scholarship

if he/she says that he/she is going to domathematics, biology, physics, chemistry,etc.

- However, it becomes almost impossible forone to get scholarship or funds if he/shesays that he/she is going to do

environmental communication, agriculturalcommunication, etc. because for funders, itseems that adding communication makes itnot science and therefore not a priority


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Rwandan Context

- Rwanda is amongst the poorestcountries in the world, with about60% of the adult population living in

poverty (cant afford basic goods andservices), and 42% living in extremepoverty (cant afford even basic food).

In terms of households, 57% arebelow the poverty line.


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Rwandan Context

- There is a higher incidence of poverty

in rural areas (66% below povertyline) than in urban areas (12% inKigali and 19% in other urban areas).

Access to a safe water supply isgenerally low (41%), and while mosturban households have safe drinkingwater (73%), the figure for ruralhouseholds is low 16%. (SustainableEnergy Africa 2006).


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Rwandan Context

- Much as many poverty analysts posit

that developing countries are poorbecause there is not enough research,experience shows that even the little

research that is carried out in thosecountries seldom reach the needypeople who need it for developmentalpurposes.


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Rwandan Context

- Higher learning and research

institutions are multiplying in Rwanda.These are producing a lot of well-packaged pieces of research. Many of

those institutions have high rankedprofessors and researchers whopromote their academic careers bycontributing research activities bothnationally and internationally.


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Rwandan Context

- Those institutions also train scholars

who also contribute research pieceseither by contributing to the existingbody of knowledge in research

assignments or as a requirement toget degrees. Consequently, theseinstitutions have libraries and book

banks full of useful pieces of researchand dissertations.


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Rwandan Context

- Many of those documents comprise

research results that ordinary andrural people can use in their everydaydevelopmental endeavours but they

remain a property of a few learntpeople who can access them andunderstand the enigmatic language in

which they are written and who, inmost cases, do not need them forpractical and developmental activities.


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Rwandan Context

- They remain a communication

from a scient ist t o anotherscientist leaving behind the non-scientist who constitute the majority.

However, if sustainable developmentis to be a reality in Rwanda and poorcountries in general, lay people, rural

people, illiterate people, the needypeople are supposed to be engaged inscience discussions.


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Rwandan Context

- Many researchers are adored and

highly paid for coming up withresearch results which only pile upand rote in the shelves of libraries and

book banks without reaching thepeople who need them in theirdevelopmental activities.


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Rwandan Context

- Media people have been swallowed up

by political and sensational issues.They are playing around with peoplesemotions in somewhat trivial matters

instead of accompanying lay people intheir long journey towards sustainabledevelopment.

- When a President or any politicalfigure visits and/or addresses people,

there is news


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Rwandan Context- When a political conflict crops up, there is

news.- When an accident happens there is news

- Etc.

- When there is no accidentally and freelygot event, news suffers

- There is a need to transcend opportunistic

reporting and think of media content thatcan drive towards sustainable development

- There is a need to reach a point where

science is also news


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Rwandan Context- For a few media people who try to think

about science, they simply and naivelyreproduce verbatim the language ofscientists

- This package makes the needy/ordinarypeople fail to access the content, whichthey desperately need. They need thecontent, not the package

- The communication then remains as goodor even worse than nothing for ordinarypeople

LETS MAKE SCIENCE A SHARED


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LETS MAKE SCIENCE A SHARED

PROPERTY FOR SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT TO BE A REALITY


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THANK YOU VERY MUCH FORYOUR KI ND ATTENTI ON

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Status of Science Communication in Rwanda by Tharcisse MUSABYIMANA