Effective science communication in the face of water crises: a community perspective on challenges and best practice in HELPING
Christina Orieschnig, Soham Adla, Kwok Pan Chun, Saumya Srivastava, Khosro Morovati, Ben C. Howard, Thanti Octavianti, José Gescilam Uchôa, Zheng Duan, Paola Mazzoglio, Anandharuban Panchanathan, Borbála Széles, Gerbrand Koren, Georgia A. Papacharalampous, Dhiraj Pradhananga, Konstantinos Soulis, Hajar Choukrani, Hamouda Dakhlaoui, Alper Elçi, Xinyang Fan, Sina Khatami, Eduardo Mario Mendiondo, Tarryn Payne,Mehdi Rahmati, Tirthankar Roy, Christopher Skinner, Claudia Teutschbein, Roland Yonaba,Tanveer Mehedi Adyel, Ignacio Aguirre, Hasnat Aslam, Abinesh Ganapathy, Jagriti Jain, Albert Nkwasa, Fiachra O’Loughlin, Ilias Pechlivanidis, Alonso Pizarro, Ashutosh Sharma, Hristos Tyralis, Shuchi Vora, Satwiki Adla, Miriam Bertola, Vinicius Boico, Natalie Ceperley, Benjamin Dewals, Moritz Heinle, Soren Jessen, Florian Kaiselgruber,Neha Lakhwan, Mayowa Benjamen Lateef, Ashish Mishra, Pamba Ojera, Valeriya Ovcharuk, Apoorva Singh, Abhinav Wadhwa, Suwash Chandra Acharya, Sotiria Alexandri, Eduardo Rico Carranza, Yonca Cavus, Nilay Dogulu, Abdoulaye Faty, Joaquin Jorquera, Viraj Rane, Massimiliano Zappa | 6 March 2026
Abstract
Addressing global water crises demands effective communication across diverse audiences, especially in initiatives such as the scientific decade HELPING by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS). This study synthesizes insights from the hydrological community, gathered through interviews, workshops and a digital survey. We identify key challenges and best practices across three inter-related domains of communication: science–society interactions, policy–science interfaces and transdisciplinary research communication. Effective science–society interaction depends on community trust-building, transparent communication of uncertainty and inclusive engagement strategies. Strong policy–science interfaces benefit from bridging institutions and dedicated knowledge brokers. Transdisciplinary work improves when disciplinary siloing is reduced through common language and co-production. We summarize our findings in the FUSS framework, which promotes messages that are few, unambiguous, short and well-structured. We argue that advancing hydrological science in the face of water crises requires moving beyond one-way communication towards more dialogic, inclusive and context-sensitive approaches.