Speaking their language – Development of a multilingual decision-support tool for communicating invasive species risks to decision makers and stakeholders

• Main Authors: Gordon H. Copp, Lorenzo Vilizzi, Hui Wei, Shan Li, Marina Piria, Abbas J. Al-Faisal, David Almeida, Usman Atique, Zainab Al-Wazzan, Rigers Bakiu, Tea Bašić, Thuyet D. Bui, João Canning-Clode, Nuno Castro, Ratcha Chaichana, Tülin Çoker, Dimitriy Dashinov, F. Güler Ekmekçi, Tibor Erős, Árpád Ferincz, Teresa Ferreira, Daniela Giannetto, Allan S. Gilles, Łukasz Głowacki, Philippe Goulletquer, Elena Interesova, Sonia Iqbal, Katarína Jakubčinová, Kamalaporn Kanongdate, Jeong Eun Kim, Oldřich Kopecký, Vasil Kostov, Nicholas Koutsikos, Sebastian Kozic, Petra Kristan, Yoshihisa Kurita, Hwang Goo Lee, Rob S.E.W. Leuven, Tatsiana Lipinskaya, Juliane Lukas, Agnese Marchini, Ana Isabel González Martínez, Laurence Masson, Daniyar Memedemin, Seyed Daryoush Moghaddas, João Monteiro, Levan Mumladze, Rahmat Naddafi, Ion Năvodaru, Karin H. Olsson, Norio Onikura, Daniele Paganelli, Richard Thomas Pavia, Costas Perdikaris, Renanel Pickholtz, Dariusz Pietraszewski, Meta Povž, Cristina Preda, Milica Ristovska, Karin Rosíková, José Maria Santos, Vitaliy Semenchenko, Wansuk Senanan, Predrag Simonović, Evangelia Smeti, Barbora Števove, Kristína Švolíková, Kieu Anh T. Ta, Ali Serhan Tarkan, Nildeniz Top, Elena Tricarico, Eliza Uzunova, Leonidas Vardakas, Hugo Verreycken, Grzegorz Zięba, Roberto Mendoza
• Other Authors: Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment
• Format: Article
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Computer Science; Environmental Science
• Online Access: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/76759
• Institution: Mahidol University

Environmental changes due to non-native species introductions and translocations are a global concern. Whilst understanding the causes of bioinvasions is important, there is need for decision-support tools that facilitate effective communication of the potential risks of invasive non-native species to stakeholders. Decision-support tools have been developed mostly in English language only, which increases linguistic uncertainty associated with risk assessments undertaken by assessors not of English mother tongue and who need to communicate outcomes to local stakeholders. To reduce language-based uncertainty, the ‘ecology-of-language’ paradigm was applied when developing the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK), a decision-support tool that offers 32 languages in which to carry out screenings and communicate outcomes to stakeholders. Topics discussed include uncertainty related to language-specific issues encountered during the AS-ISK translation and the potential benefits of a multilingual decision-support tool for reducing linguistic uncertainty and enhancing communication between scientists, environmental managers, and policy and decision makers.