Introduction to the special issue

Abstract At the crossroads of fast-paced communication trends and the partnerships EFSA has forged with its peer organisations globally, social sciences evolved to become an integrated part of the organisation’s work - the topic also grew to become a salient part of the scientific programme of EFSA conferences. Organised every three to four years, the latter aim to bring together experts and stakeholders to discuss key food safety topics and share knowledge, data and expertise. Most recently, the ONE Conference held in Brussels 21-24 June 2022, offered the opportunity to do so as part of the session on ‘Putting science into context – the future of social sciences in risk analysis’. In this special issue, we wish to highlight some of the key points discussed and offer the opportunity for conference speakers, coming from organisations that inspired the evolution of social science at EFSA, to further elaborate the evidence-based approaches employed to strengthen communication and engagement in their work. We also welcome commentaries of established experts in this area on key conference takeaways and ways forward to continuously improve the application of humanities and social sciences in regulatory organisations working in the realm of food regulation, food safety and public health and nutrition.

shaping new generation of communication, have further exacerbated the value such disciplines can bring to institutions.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) -the agency of the European Union that provides scientific advice from farm to fork to risk managers and communicates on risks associated with the food chain -has integrated social sciences progressively into its work since its foundation in 2002. Europe-wide consumer surveys (Eurobarometer) that were conducted in 2005 and 2010, work on communicating uncertainties in scientific assessments, together with the revision of the General Food Law following the EU Initiative 'Ban Glyphosate' all contributed to the establishment of a formal social science function at EFSA in 2018. EFSA prepared its first roadmap (EFSA 2018) on how to implement social research and advice, inspired by established functions in organisations across the EU and internationally, including the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES), Hungarian National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih), the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), to name some.
It therefore comes as no surprise that, at the crossroads of fast-paced communication trends and the partnerships EFSA has forged with its peer organisations globally, social sciences evolved to become an integrated part of the organisation's work -the topic also grew to become a salient part of the scientific programme of EFSA conferences. Organised every three to four years, the latter aim to bring together experts and stakeholders to discuss key food safety topics and share knowledge, data and expertise (Devos et al. 2022a). Most recently, the ONE Conference held in Brussels 21-24 June 2022, offered the opportunity to do so as part of the session on 'Putting science into context -the future of social sciences in risk analysis' . In this special issue, we wish to highlight some of the key points discussed and offer the opportunity for conference speakers, coming from organisations that inspired the evolution of social science at EFSA, to further elaborate the evidence-based approaches employed to strengthen communication and engagement in their work. We also welcome commentaries of established experts in this area on key conference takeaways and ways forward to continuously improve the application of humanities and social sciences in regulatory organisations working in the realm of food regulation, food safety and public health and nutrition.

What did we discuss as part of the social science session and ONE Society track?
The ONE conference 2022 consisted of a four-day event with an opening plenary session followed by a series of thematic (break-out) sessions organised around four thematic tracks -One Life, One Planet, One Society and Many Ways (Devos et al. 2022b). The social science thematic break-out session formed part of the One Society Track and was organised around two main topics: i) how social sciences can provide a societal perspective to, and stimulate the participation of diverse population groups in, risk analysis, and (2) what are the implications of technology on communication in the digital age and the underlying social research to help explain complex scientific concepts in a trustworthy manner.
During the first part, speakers from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) presented their work and discussed around understanding citizens and stakeholders, engaging them in research, and implementing tools such as citizen science. Under the overarching umbrella of UNESCO's global recommendation on Open Science (UNESCO 2021), speakers agreed that social research should be institutionalised -lessons from the strategies in response to the pandemic, and the optimisation of risk communication activities (ECDC 2021) particularly stressed the need for behaviour insights to be considered in design of public health interventions.
The second part saw a focus on communication with speakers from the University of Cambridge, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), a global vertical farming company (INFARM) as well as an independent designer (Federica Fragapane). The practitioners showcased best practices to communicate scientific information and conduct social research via technology-supported solutions, in the context of sustainable food production solutions. Discussions considered key rules for successful evidence communication (Blastland et al. 2020) to be complemented with the use of aesthetics and differing visuals -the latter confirming that public organisations, data scientists and designers can jointly be a source of inspirations for new and innovative visualisations (Schwabish 2021).
In summary, the closing panel of the session concluded that, with social research being institutionalised and the communication designed and delivered in ways discussed, science is set to better respond to the needs of the society. As argued by MEP Dolors Montserrat, regulatory science must keep citizens informed and offer pragmatic solutions, facilitated by as simple as possible explanations of complex problems. While arguably a tall order, the COVID experience provided a solid preview of how important the role of social science can be. In addition, the promotion of science in more appealing ways -which has increasingly been a feature of scientific and academic institutions over the past decade (Kuchner 2012) -needs to continue by making good use of technology to expand its digital presence and produce new and engaging communication formats.
The main recommendations of the session were well placed within the overall highlights from the four thematic sessions of the One Society track. These concluded that i) no single actor can master the level of complexity in science and society alone in the context of a 'transdisciplinary' food system; ii) new methods for communication, engagement, and collaboration are needed to integrate emerging technologies and knowledge across relevant sectors; and iii) open science is a prerequisite to accelerate the first two points. (Devos et al. 2022b). Such commitments provide a strong impetus to organisations working in the realm of food regulation, food safety and public health and nutrition to continue the established path of endorsing and evolving audience-first communication and participatory processes as part of their core work.

Which approaches does the special issue highlight?
Society and science relations include a constellation of different actors that both give it shape and change it at a rapid speed (Felt and Fochler 2010). Consequently, the demand for participatory approaches requires not only that interaction takes into account societal concerns and perspectives but that the open dialogue adds value to the scientific process (Smith et al. 2019). In fact, different risk communication models, in constant evolution, are characterised by varying level of consumer involvement; the predictions of a 'technology mediated risk communication era' imply that consumer science will remain central to the evolutionary procedure (Kasza et al. 2022).
At this intersection of communication and engagement, this special issue aims to follow-up to the ONE Conference and present a selection of evidence-based approaches that speak to the recommendations stemming from the event. This includes four contributions closely linked to the proceedings: • Lessons from EFSA with regards to a structured process it developed to assess the societal aspects of topics for potential risk communication -in line with the International Risk Governance Center (IRGC) conceptual framework for understanding risk governance (Florin and Bürkler 2017; Florin and Parker 2020) • A reflection from UK FSA on digital methods of collecting social science data -a deep dive into the various options presented during the conference session • An exploration of the role of social science in institutionalising more participatory regulatory science -a cross-case comparison from the field of biotechnology, led by one of the panellists from the conference session on 'Turning open science into practice' from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) • An overview of the recommendations of the ONE Society track -prepared by the track rapporteur, prof. Lynn Frewer -collated with inputs from the session coordinators.
We hope that, after more than a decade of learning, this issue can bring to light important lessons on how expertise from the field of social sciences has been informing the risk governance process. From EFSA's point of view, such learning remains crucial for a successful implementation of our updated social science roadmap (EFSA 2022), aligned to Strategy 2027.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.