The SciDip & SciComm playbook: field insights and tools for the science diplomacy and science communication interface
The SciDip & SciComm playbook proposes an emerging interface between science diplomacy and science communication, bringing their complementary expertise into the design, development, and sustained practice of international scientific cooperation. Written by Dr. Anna Przybyło-Józefowicz, it connects experience in diplomatic service with science communication practice within a research-performing institution. It draws on field insights, institutional work, original analysis, and cited literature, including the author’s articles in the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Impact Blog, University World News, Este País, and Wissenschaftskommunikation.de.
The playbook advances a reciprocal proposition: science communicators can become active stakeholders in the science diplomacy ecosystem, while diplomatic thinking and practice can strengthen their international work. The framework centers on understanding, strategic alignment, and collaboration, with boundary spanners connecting professional perspectives, institutional interests, and capabilities.
The chapters address reading institutional cultures and stakeholder constellations; translating scientific value into public relevance; understanding talent as a geopolitical and communication question; working with trust, integrity, uncertainty, and artificial intelligence; treating mobility and professional exchanges as diplomatic practice; activating ecosystems; and negotiating across professional worlds. Diplomatic briefs, stakeholder grids, impact bridges, relationship ledgers, negotiation prompts, and institutional readiness checks translate these ideas into actionable approaches (tools).