Science communication in times of social media

If we as the transitions community want to make transitions happening (conference theme), it is not only necessary to reach out to policy makers exclusively, but we also need to make knowledge on sustainability transitions available to the larger public in order to help the right governance taking place (also conference theme). Reaching the larger public is key, since it is them who finally decides which party to support and - on a macro level - which policy to be implemented
More than 60% of Germans between 14-29 and 38% of Germans between 30-49 have Facebook (ARD/ZDF Onlinestudie 2018). The numbers in other European countries and beyond are similar. This means that the two generations that currently or in the near future can contribute to implementing sustainability transitions, spend a substantial amount of their time online - often on mobile devices on a limited number of apps (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn).
Due to the ever-increasing usage, social media is arguably the single best communication tool to make sustainability related knowledge available.
Despite its great potential, members of the transitions community are not tapping into this large potential. This is probably due to a number of reasons such as continues work pressure and few incentives for dissemination activities. However, researchers also often do not really know where to start or feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. In the workshop - if accepted by the conference committee - I want to address the two latter obstacles. I want to give the participants the opportunity to get started together and create hands on videos. These could then be directly distributed over the social media channels of the conference.