NOT THE SAME GEOSCIENCE: SOURCES AND IMPACTS OF THE CHANGE IN GEOSCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

While there is an increasing concern about the ongoing change in geoscientific communication, neither the sources of the change, nor its potential implications have been properly clarified. The present paper explores possible links between the new forms of expression in geoscientific communication, on one hand, and processes that take place in the domains of geoscience, on the other hand. The core idea of the paper is that the recent changes in communication are deeply rooted in changes in the processes of signification. The paper also tries to envisage relevant consequences of these changes, especially for the future of geoscientific education.

Evident aspects of the context of today's scientific communication include: (i) increasingly radical attempts to overcome obstacles of a narrow specialization; (ii) a growing awareness with respect to the inevitability of confronting complexity; (iii) a tremendous development of technology, including the technology of communication.

It has been shown that geoscientific communication takes a particular position in this context, mainly due to the specific properties of the subjects it studies: this is probably why the fast developing science of complexity had such a huge impact upon the geoscientific approach.

In fact, the science of complexity is deeply implied in all three aspects cited above: moreover, it seems to have the intrinsic capacity to effectively address them together. Paradoxically, the high variability and the strong irregularity of natural systems that we dare to approach today (ii) proves to have a unifying character with respect to the theoretical framework and the applied methodology (i), which contributes to - and relies heavily on - the evolving technology (iii), information processing and communication technology playing a key role.

The advent of the science of complexity has brought important changes in the processes of signification. The paper analyzes the new signs that are being produced and conveyed in geoscience, as well as their generating mechanisms and the associated new ways of interpretation. It explores their implications for scholarly communication, as well as for a new approach to active learning in geoscientific education.