Alessandra Fornetti

The 2025 edition of the Convegno Nazionale di Comunicazione della Scienza (Italian National Conference on Science Communication) gathered Italy’s growing science-communication community in a four-day event characterised by vibrant discussions, experimental formats, and an atmosphere of collective exploration. Hosted at SISSA (International School of Advanced Studies) and across Trieste’s Porto Vecchio district, the programme combined plenaries, dialogues, hands-on laboratories, and mosaic sessions, covering themes ranging from risk communication and environmental justice to museum mediation, playful science formats, and digital strategies. The conference showcased some of the most advanced research and applied techniques currently shaping the field and was marked by strong participant engagement, culminating in an appreciated social visit to the “Immaginario Scientifico” Science Museum in Magazzino 26 in the old port of Trieste. Overall, the Convegno Nazionale di Comunicazione della Scienza 2025 demonstrated a dynamic, evolving landscape in which science communication in Italy continues to expand, diversify, and renew itself.

Although the need to improve quality of science communication is often mentioned in public discussions, the science communication literature offers few conceptualizations of quality. We used a concept mapping approach, involving representatives of various science communication stakeholder groups working collaboratively, to propose a framework of quality. The framework organizes individual elements of quality into twelve indicators arranged into three dimensions: trustworthiness and scientific rigour, presentation and style, and connection with society. The framework supports science communicators in reflecting on their current practices and designing new activities, potentially improving communication effectiveness.