New Advances in Science, Environmental, and Agri-Food Communication for Social Change

Science, environmental, and agri-food communication sit at the crossroads of research, policy, and public life. Between them, they shape how societies understand and respond to climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, agroecological transitions, and the growing influence of digital technology on public discourse. Agri-food and rural extension and advisory services play a particularly important role in this process by connecting scientific knowledge, policy priorities, technological innovation, and the lived realities of farmers and rural communities. As misinformation often spreads faster than evidence, and as communities face increasingly complex environmental risks and pressures for change, there is a pressing need for communication research that is rigorous, participatory, and genuinely useful to the publics it serves.This Research Topic explores the fields’ newest developments and asks where science, environmental, and agri-food communication are heading next. We welcome Original Research, Review, and Perspective articles examining emerging methods, technologies, institutional arrangements, and unresolved challenges in communicating science, environmental, and agri-food issues to diverse audiences, including policymakers, scientific communities, extension and advisory professionals, farmers, rural and urban publics, and young people.We particularly encourage submissions on:• climate change communication and behavior change, including framing, risk perception, engagement strategies, and the management of behavioral and institutional change across different cultural contexts• communication for collective action and social change, including advocacy, campaigning, social movements, and public mobilization around environmental, climate, and food system issues• agricultural extension and advisory communication, examining how advisors, knowledge brokers, producer organizations, and other intermediaries support learning, decision-making, and innovation in agriculture and rural communities• communication and change management for agroecological transitions, including how farmers and organizations interpret, negotiate, adopt, adapt, or resist new practices and system-level changes• communication along food chains and with consumers, examining how labeling, sustainability and health claims, food safety information, and greenwashing shape public debate about diets, production methods, and new food technologies• diffusion and co-production of scientific and technical knowledge, examining how expertise is negotiated and shared among researchers, advisory intermediaries, policymakers, farmers, and the communities they serve• communication for agricultural and environmental innovation, including the role of networks, demonstration, peer learning, facilitation, and trusted intermediaries in supporting responsible innovation• participatory and community-based approaches to science communication, such as citizen science, farmer-led research, living labs, participatory extension, and two-way knowledge exchange between experts and non-experts• communication of environmental and climate risk in resource-dependent and rural settings• the influence of digital and social media on public understanding of science, including misinformation, algorithmic amplification, polarization, and declining trust in science• communicating uncertainty and complexity, including the translation of environmental risk, scientific disagreement, system interactions, and scientific nuance for non-specialist audiences• incorporation of other ways of knowing, including Indigenous, local, experiential, and farmer knowledge systems, in science, environmental, and agri-food communication• professional capacities and competencies for extension, advisory, and communication practitioners, including facilitation, conflict management, trust-building, misinformation response, technology stewardship, and leadership for change• governance and institutional coordination of science communication and advisory systems, including collaboration across government, industry, academia, civil society, and community-based organizations• evaluation and impact measurement, addressing how communication, extension, advisory, and knowledge-mobilization initiatives can be assessed for behavioral, organizational, policy, and wider societal effects• the role of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in communication and advisory practice, weighing opportunities and risks related to access, trust, accountability, inclusion, professional roles, and public engagement with science.By bringing together voices from communication studies, environmental science, extension and advisory services, rural development, innovation studies, and public policy, this Research Topic aims to advance both theory and practice. It will highlight innovative methods for reaching and engaging audiences, strengthen evidence-based and participatory approaches to public communication and advisory practice, and support communication and social change strategies that help societies navigate agroecological transitions, climate change, technological innovation, and today’s most urgent scientific and environmental challenges.Information and Instructions for AuthorsManuscript summaries (Frontiers' name for abstracts) of up to 500 words will be considered until 12 November, 2026. Authors are encouraged to submit a manuscript summary before submitting a full manuscript. Topic editors: Ataharul Chowdhury, Khondokar H. Kabir, Fallys Masambuka-Kanchewa Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84544/new-advances-in-science-environmental-and-agri-food-communication-for-social-change