Using social media as a tool to increase geoscience awareness in Belgium

A social media campaign to increase geoscience awareness was organised as part of the celebrations of 125 years of the Geological Survey of Belgium (GSB). This action was motivated by the perception within the geoscientific community that although our field is key for sustainable societal development, there is a lack of interest in it from the overall public, particularly younger generations. In Belgium, for example, this is evidenced by dropping numbers of geoscience students in universities as reported by regional media over the last 5 years. Our awareness campaign highlights 125 geoscience-related facts that were thought to be curious and/or thought-provoking, aiming to demonstrate that geosciences have been and will be widely present in humanity’s past, present and future. Geo-facts have been produced as short communications in English, Dutch and French, with at least one accompanying illustrative image, and posted on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Set to end in December 2022, the campaign has reached over 200,000 views and greatly increased the number of non-geoscientist followers and their engagement with GSB’s social media. We believe that the multilingual material tagged with #125GSBGeoFacts could be further valorised as a teaching tool and has significant potential to be expanded.

Abstract of an Oral Presentation or a Poster

Geology