MARCH FOR SCIENCE- April 22nd, 2017
MAIN MESSAGES
These are short, sound-bitey versions of our mission and goals. We want to focus on 3 themes:
1)Science plays a vital role in our
lives and our democracy.
2)The relationship between science and democracy is under threat.
3)We’re banding together to stand up for science. These messages are guidelines. They are be jumping of points for the personal, local and illustrative stories
we will tell about our work and why it’s important!
1) Science plays a vital role in our lives and in our democracy.
• Science is the best tool we have for understanding our world and democracy is the best way we have for coming together as people.
• Free speech and free inquiry are pillars of democracy and they’re what makes science work, too. • Done well, science serves the public interest and advances the common good. (Give specific examples!) • We deserve public policies that are based on the best available evidence. Very often that’s why we do science and why we support basic research as a society.
• Science is a partnership between researchers and the public. More research is important, but we need more conversations, more education, more outreach, too. We’re all in this together.
2) The relationship between science and democracy is under threat.
• Too many politicians see science as a threat to their agenda instead of a useful tool for making policy. • New policies threaten to hurt scientists’ ability to do research and communicate their findings to the public that supports that research in the first place. We simply can’t let science be censored.
• What we’re seeing now is worse than politicians simply ignoring scientific evidence; they are trying to undermine our ability to do and share vitally important science.
• We need real facts – not alternative ones – to make e ective decisions. And we need scientific theories – not conspiracy theories – to make sense of our world.
• We have to do more in the scientific community and in the communities in which we work to fight discrimination and inequity. Everyone deserves the opportunity to do science and everyone deserves access to the benefits scientific
research produces.
3) We’re banding together as scientists and community members to stand up for science.
• A growing number of researchers and individuals who value science are making it clear that silence is a luxury we can no longer a ord. The stakes are high and we have a moral responsibility to speak out.
• This is going to be the largest public demonstration in support of science, ever. • It’s not just scientists who are speaking out, either, we’re being joined by people all of the world who share our love for and appreciation for science.
• This is more than a march; it’s a movement comprised of scientists and people passionate about science. • One of the most exciting things about this outpouring of support is seeing how people are getting more involved, from reviewing textbooks for schools to meeting with members of Congress for the first time
• We hold our leaders – both in science and in politics – accountable to the highest standards of honesty, fairness, and integrity. We’re sending a message and we’re doing more than that – we’re pledging to ensure that the scientific
community is making our democracy stronger.
• This is not just a march in Washington, it’s people around the world uniting for a common purpose.
What if someone asks you off-topic or unrelated questions?
• What we’re really focused on here… • Well, what I can say is that… • That’s a sentiment we’ve heard, but the vast majority of researchers we’ve talked to have said… • That’s a concern and it’s something our community absolutely needs to talk through. That’s why one of the goals of the march and all the public engagement around it is…
