By Rachel Kakraba
A four-day capacity-building training on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) has opened in Accra for selected journalists and content creators, with a call for stronger partnerships between researchers, journalists, and digital content creators to improve science communication in the country.
The workshop, which is organized by the British High Commission in Accra in partnership with the Responsible AI Lab (RAIL) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Ministry of Environment, Science, and Technology, and the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, aims to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the media by encouraging collaboration that will make scientific information more accessible and relatable to the public.
Project overview
Presenting an overview of the programme, Johnson Masagotin Singir, Science and Innovation Officer at the British High Commission, mentioned that the project forms part of a five-year UK-Ghana Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy which spans 2023–2028. He said the media training, which commenced in 2024, has so far trained more than seventy journalists nationwide who are advancing the field.
“We identified the media as a very critical tool and key stakeholder when it comes to science and technology advancements. So, we started this to ensure that you are brought along when it comes to implementation. You are also exposed to the Ghanaian science and technology ecosystem in terms of how the policy ecosystem is, the innovation ecosystem, and the research ecosystem.”
He said the training incorporates field trips to give journalists direct engagement in laboratories both in Ghana and the UK.
“The training is designed to give you concepts around science and technology, the ethics, as well as also have some industry engagements where you can engage directly with researchers and scientists to have a feel for how the laboratory looks like and what goes in.”
He encouraged beneficiary journalists and content creators to take the training seriously as it has a lot to offer.
Effective science and innovation communication for development
Prof. Jerry John Kponyo, Science Director at RAIL-KNUST, Kumasi, stressed that effective communication of science and innovation is critical to national development. He noted that research findings would only make a transformative impact on society when communicated effectively.
“Irrespective of how good your research is, if people cannot benefit from your research, if the man on the streets doesn’t have his life transformed by your research, then it is of no use. It is always important that we are able to effectively communicate the work that we have done. That is the reason why we consider a capacity-building workshop like this very, very important.”
Adding on, “Normally, the people who do the best research always shy away from the camera. It is always important that we build that capacity so that at the end of the day, we can effectively communicate our research.”
Prof. Kponyo called for the use of indigenous languages in research findings and communication to ensure wider public understanding and benefit.
“We should not just be communicating in English, but we also need to be able to break it down in our local languages so that the man on the street can understand that when I apply this man’s research to my cocoa farm, my productivity will increase by this measure.”
He noted that strengthening partnerships between the media and the research community is critical to improving public understanding of science and innovation and expressed optimism that the collaboration will be sustained.
Research communication failure
The Acting Administrator of the Ghana National Research Fund, Prof. Abigail Opoku, lamented what she described as a communication failure that has created gaps between research and its benefits to society.
“I think the gap between what science knows and what the public understands is not primarily a scientific failure; it is, to a significant measure, a communication failure.”
She added, “Research ends when its findings reach the people who need them. When it gets to our grandfathers, our farmers, those in the rural areas that need them the most to solve problems or the challenges that we have, it’s precisely where the media comes in strongly.”
Prof. Opoku expressed appreciation to the UK government for the commitment to improving STI reporting in Ghana, emphasizing that the platform would be leveraged for knowledge transfer.
Topics covered included effective communication of scientific concepts, research and sources; ethics in STI reporting; ethics and innovation; and reporting on emerging technologies for the public good.
