What Science Communication Can Learn from the Digital Twin

This presentation explores the concept of a digital twin and examines how it can inspire science communication to embrace interactivity, transparency, systems thinking, empowerment, and dynamic adaptation.

Digital twins are one of the current buzzwords in scientific research and technological development. Originating from Industry 4.0, the concept has gained widespread adoption and is now indispensable in fields such as healthcare, urban planning, aerospace, and particularly Earth system research. We are surrounded by a growing number of digital twins representing environmental compartments, such as soil, plant systems, and groundwater. And one of the most ambitious projects in the history of science is the creation of a digital twin of the entire Earth system (DTE), which is progressing at full speed. This comes as no surprise, given that digital twins (alongside AI) are among the most promising tools for disaster prevention, climate change adaptation, and resource management (e.g., global food security). But what exactly is the secret of the great success of these digital twins, and what is their added value compared to conventional modeling?

On the other hand, science communication has today evolved far beyond the mere dissemination of scientific results. For the natural sciences in particular, this evolution is crucial, as socio-ecological transformation research demonstrates the necessity of individualized, target-group-specific, and dialogical communication to ensure public acceptance. Approaches such as Living Labs and strategic Citizen Science aim to meet these demands.

Inspired by the concept of the digital twin, which serves as a virtual representation of real systems and is used to adapt and improve the outgoing research design through its continuous feedback, the presentation introduces the idea of a "communication twin." This approach encourages the early integration of relevant societal and political target groups, whose dialogical feedback could help optimize research projects. Early integration could strengthen trust in scientific findings and increase the acceptance of innovations by considering the needs and perspectives of the target groups, since they are taken into account in advance. This could also boost the relevance of research and enhance the likelihood of political support and implementation of innovations into concrete measures and actions.

However, this integrative approach also poses challenges, particularly regarding the preservation of academic freedom. The presentation examines how to balance societal and political integration with scientific independence, using a current example of strategic science communication for a new soil-plant climate simulator for the agriculture of the future. Based on the communication twin concept, the presentation showcases best practice examples tailored to various target groups, including leading researchers in the field, policymakers, media and the interested public, and youth education.

Finally, the presentation will invite discussion with a focus on the political target group: How can more activities at the science-policy interface be initiated based on the presented concept to incorporate feedback optimally and dialogically into projects? The talk encourages the audience to collaboratively explore new ways to design effective and sustainable science communication.