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Scientists are usually good at teaching, sometimes even to lay audiences. But communicating with journalists, activists, or policymakers can be a different story – hesitancy to make mistakes as well as the temptation to disproportionally promote one’s own case come into play. The multitude of social media and other web-based outlets has diversified and accelerated the communication of science. Real-time reactions, sharing of data, tools and results, increasing invitation of personal opinion, demand for transparency, political correctness, and loss of trust in experts are challenges to researchers in general. The field of alternatives to animal testing is more political and important to lay audiences than many others, so its scientists must be especially aware of these challenges. Public engagement offers the opportunity to form community and create wide support for non-animal research and its implementation. This requires scientists to step out of the ivory tower of higher education and engage with diverse interest groups by outreach activities, interviews, and press releases, etc. by employing tailored communication. published

This Workbook will help community leaders, local organizers, and citizens groups assess environmental health problems in their neighborhoods and assist them in tackling these problems. It outlines an approach to identifying problems, gathering information, and establishing the community’s priorities for improving the environmental health of its residents. The Workbook is divided into four parts. It is written mainly for the citizen organizer, community leader, or other person who will serve as the project manager and take the lead in organizing the assessment. Part One is a brief introduction and discussion of this Workbook. Part Two discusses the reasons why your community should undertake an environmental health assessment, and outlines the assessment process. Part Three explains the community environmental health assessment process step-by-step, and shows citizens in detail how to conduct an assessment. Part Four suggests possible next steps after a community assessment is completed.