Welcome & introductions by the meeting organizers Liesbeth Aerts, Ingrid van Marion & Bart Vanhaelewyn.
From research to practice and education: how can we boost science communication in Belgium?

Four PhD researchers share their journey that led them to embark on a PhD on science communication and their experience navigating this field. Elisa Nelissen studies the circulation of science news in pandemic times. Carlo Gubitosa is a writer and journalist who embarked on a PhD on trust in science communication. Bart Vanhaelewyn studies reporting on climate change. Sofie Verkest explores the interaction between science, media and politics in a collaborative citizen science project.

International experts Alexander Gerber (DE), Ini Vanwesembeeck (NL) and Marina Joubert (SA) share their expertise on science communication education, practice or research. Their story can serve as an inspiration for the growth and development of science communication in Belgium.

Our panel of professional science communicators shares what they do, and what path has led them to their current role as science communicators. With boots on the ground, how they perceive the current and future local scicomm landscape?
Reinout Verbeke works as a science communicator at the Royal National Institute of Natural Sciences, Lise Van der Haegen is science communicator at Artevelde Hogeschool, and Annelies Duerinckx is coordinator citizen science at SciVil and RVO Society.

How do we train scientists, researchers and professionals in science communication? What should be our targets and are we on track? Do we need more dedicated science communication training in Belgium? We ask Katrien Kolenberg, who teaches science communication and outreach to MSc students, and Arnaud Zonderman, who coordinates SciMingo, an organization that has launched a sci comm academy for researchers. Ingrid van Marion, a scicomm researcher who went to the Netherlands to pursue a master's degree in science communication, completes the panel.

We close the day with a panel discussion wrapping up new insights from the earlier sessions. Marc Vanholsbeeck is PhD lecturer and trainer in science communication at ULB, but also serves as Deputy Director General Higher Education and Scientific Research at the Ministry of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Kim Barbé is communication advisor at the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).