This is a Springer Open blog and the original post can be read这里。

Environmental issues such as climate change, food security and resource management, are global concerns witheveryone– whether they are scientists, government officials or the general public – playing key roles in contributing to the problem and, we hope, in providing solutions. It is therefore important thateveryoneis accurately informed of the science behind these issues.

It is not enough for scientists to simply publish their research in a scientific journal and hope that the general public, or even fellow scientists, will stumble across it, read it and understand the importance of the results. The science needs to be distributed globally to reach everyone, and in such a way that it can be digested by people with varying degrees of understanding of scientific concepts. Open access does help in making research available to everyone, but this is no good if people cannot understand the impact of the research. If people do not understand something, they mistrust it, and this leaves them open to people who can eloquently misrepresent the science.

That is why I would encourage scientists working on environmental issues (although this can apply to all sciences) to make their research results ‘accessible’ both in terms of open access and in language. This would entail community engagement via writing in popular media (such as blogs), talking to science reporters either via radio or TV interviews and going out there to talk to public groups, schools etc.

Engagingthe community is a big step ineducatingthe community on environmental issues, and would prevent scientific research from being misrepresented.

Earth Week 2017Springeropen和Biomed Central正在与社区互动，以帮助他们了解我们在环境科学中发表的一些最新和重要的研究。本周，我们将展示一些在一系列期刊上发表的文章，并托管由我们领域专家的一些编辑撰写的博客文章。

地球周2017年将遵循四个主要主题:计划ts, Trees and Forests; Sustainability and Sustainable Energy; Pollution; and Environmental and Climate Literacy. These themes cover a breadth of published environmental research and are key to tackling some of the biggest environmental issues facing modern society. The last theme, Environmental and Climate Literacy, in particular is very important as it involves information and education of environmental issues which is representative of this very campaign. It is also the theme of this year’sEarth Day, an annual drive for environmental awareness, and the inspiration behind Earth Week 2017.

The open nature of Earth Week 2017 can only be fully realised if the information shared here is also shared by those who read it, whether that be through blogs, Facebook or Twitter, or simply by word of mouth. If you read something this week that you find interesting, or that teaches you something you didn’t know before, then be sure to pass it on in the spirit of true open access.