Lars Kristiansen, the executive director of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), leads neuroscience advocacy conversations and initiatives across 33 European countries. Here, he highlights the advocacy culture around Europe as he shares ways all scientists can become stronger advocates — coordinating knowledge to develop a unified message, preparing for your country-specific context, and gaining public support for science through clear and compelling outreach.
Brain disease is a global societal issue. How should that knowledge impact regional advocacy efforts?
As scientists involved in advocacy, it’s important to coordinate messaging and align it to the global agenda.
We don’t have global decision makers, but there are certainly global drivers that impact science funding. It’s not a coincidence you see large scale brain initiatives arise at approximately the same time in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere.
Conversations between these large initiatives drive the agenda of what’s needed on a global scale to understand brain disease. Those drivers lead us to identify the topics that we as a community — within our regional context — will be able to take up and advocate for.
To do that effectively, we need to coordinate knowledge.
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