Outreach

All over the world, science is going through a phase of discrediting and distancing itself from the public and decision-makers, which has direct effects on quality of life and public policies. Several economic and social crises share obscurantism regarding the importance of biodiversity, evolution and emergence of new organisms (including those causing diseases and pandemics), of food and drug production technologies, of combating pseudoscience and scientific quackery. In particular, in the case of Botany, there is also the phenomenon known as "botanical blindness", the result of a combination of neurological factors and decades of neglect in the training of teachers, mainly in basic education. In parallel, the increase in the market for "alternative" practices that do not have scientific support, contributes to part of the population promoting "esoteric" beliefs and uses of plants and plant assets. On the part of the scientific community, there are also examples of disconnection between the practice of botany, phytochemistry and agriculture and the massive scientific advance that characterized the biological sciences in the last century, especially about evolutionary theory and the molecular techniques used for the investigation of historical processes and patterns. All these aspects make Botany to be considered a science in extinction. With this project, we intend to coordinate actions and activities aimed at the qualified scientific dissemination of Botany and specifically its evolutionary aspects and its consequences for society. In addition, we will emphasize combating pseudosciences as well as "alternative" techniques based on plants and plant assets, even within the academic environment, where pseudoscientific lines of research have been getting stronger. We intend to emphasize within and outside the academy not only the "amabilis" aspect but above all the "Scientia" involved in the practice of Botany.