The "biodiversity" of communication and public engagement in ecology: activities and reflections from the LTER-Italy network

Socio-ecological research is conducted in national Long Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) networks worldwide, aiming at collecting and synthesizing both environmental and socio-economic data and to involve a broader stakeholder-community. The LTER networks therefore represent a suitable context where new and different forms of communication and of public participation and engagement could be experimented and where reflections about the way scientists communicate ecology can arose. LTER-Italy realized, since 2015, the informal science communication initiative “Cammini LTER”, a series of trails connecting two or more LTER sites, where researches walked and cycled together with citizens, aiming at providing the public with the opportunity to get familiar with Italian ecosystems, from the sea to alpine tundra. During Cammini, LTER researchers experimented different forms of dialogue and of knowledge exchange with citizens, using a diversity of tools and language. Here we present the most relevant examples of this “biodiversity” of communication and public engagement, analysing the key players, the context, the main results and criticisms. Alongside the classic forms of communication, aiming at informing the public about the LTER activities, others - more participative - were explored and developed: Citizen Science and Bioblitz, where knowledge and experiences are shared, the “Sea Futuring Tours”, partecipatory labs where communication became a chance of comparison among expert and non-expert perspectives and also the communication through social networks used in a non-conventional way