Science and Story - Connecting Cultures, with Cecilia Wandiga — Build your community with Storytelling Systems

“ Just two degrees Celsius is a very defined target, but you can’t go to Home Depot and say, I’m here to get my rebate for reducing the planet temperature by two degrees Celsius. Everybody’s going to look at you like, what do you want? So we have a goal. But, we haven’t aligned the stories of how we’re going to get there in our daily lives, and I think we need change.”

— Cecilia Wandiga

The gap between data, targets, and everyday decision-making is real, and it extends far beyond climate issues. For us to have the best chance of building engagement toward meaningful change, we need stories that make big-picture goals tangible, connecting all of us to the choices we make in our daily lives.

Interdisciplinary problem solving

Some of the biggest challenges we face today, in areas like climate change, public health, and economic sustainability, are complex by nature. They don’t belong to just one field, one industry, or one community. And because they impact people in different ways, no single perspective will have all the answers. By definition, our toughest problems are going to require that multiple stakeholders come together, each with their own angle on a shared issue. Developing innovative solutions to these challenges will first require bringing the right stakeholders together in a shared understanding.

That’s the heart of what Cecilia Wandiga works on at the Centre for Science and Technology Innovations (CSTI) in Nairobi. “We were founded and still remain a research trust focused on bridging the gap between community and advanced science and technology,” she explains. In practice, this means translating complex environmental and climate research into something that communities, businesses, and policymakers can actually use. But it also means navigating the frames of reference that different stakeholders bring to the table. Scientists, community members, industry leaders, and government officials don’t necessarily see the problem the same way.

Storytelling as a cultural bridge

Storytelling is more than just a communication tool, it’s a means of cultural translation. It connects disciplines, communities, and lived experiences, making complex concepts accessible and actionable.

“People don’t always respond to data,” Cecilia explains. Different people tend to frame problems and solutions in different ways. For example, where one person sees a need for wind energy, another focuses on solar, another looks to hydro, another thinks we should plant more trees. None of these stakeholders are wrong, but without a shared narrative, moving forward is difficult. Storytelling helps unify those perspectives into a more aligned framework.

Effective storytelling also means understanding cultural context. Cecilia shares how environmental metaphors resonate differently in different communities. "We talk about trees like they’re superheroes saving the world," she says. "But some neighborhoods have never even seen a tree, so that metaphor doesn’t work for them." Similarly, she points out that assumptions about water quality or air pollution can vary dramatically depending on local experience. "There are people who have never seen a clean river, so if you tell them we need to restore rivers to their natural state, they may not even know what that means." If a message assumes a cultural understanding that isn’t there, it won’t connect, making it essential to ground storytelling in the lived realities of the audience.

Participation and trust

One of the biggest mistakes we can make in any field is assuming we already know what people need. We can’t walk in and dictate solutions - we have to understand other perspectives first. Cecilia emphasizes that a crucial part of her work is recognizing how different groups define impact and success. When engineering environmental solutions, “we have to respect the fact that the community space is their house,” she says. That means listening before speaking and allowing communities to define the problem from their own lived experience.

Building trust requires participation. One of the best ways Cecilia has found to engage communities in scientific solutions is through citizen science, where people take part in data collection and research. “People become curious,” Cecilia says, describing a project where residents started tracking local bird populations. “At first, they asked, ‘How do I know it’s not the same dove I saw yesterday?’ But then they started wondering, ‘What if it’s not?’ and looking for ways to find out.”

This curiosity leads to deeper engagement, and engagement builds trust. The same principle applies beyond science, whether working in policy, business, or community development, people need to see their own experiences reflected in the process. Cecilia explains that acknowledging local knowledge and involving people in solutions isn’t just a way to gain trust; it’s essential for meaningful and lasting change. When a community takes part in gathering and interpreting data, they develop a sense of ownership, which increases the likelihood of long-term commitment to solutions.

Working toward impact

Science alone doesn’t change minds, and a single story won’t generally either. We crave an integrated understanding. Facts provide clarity, but stories give them contextual relevance. When data and narrative work together, they make complex issues easier to grasp and act on.

Cecilia suggests that meaningful progress depends on optimism, collaboration, and an openness to learning. Every challenge is an opportunity to rethink how we connect science to people’s lived experiences. Rather than just delivering information, we can engage our communities collaboratively and develop solutions together.

In our conversation Cecilia underscored the difference with a simple but powerful example: soap suds. Many sustainable dishwashing liquids don’t foam the same way as traditional detergents, but people associate bubbles with cleanliness. "If there are no suds, it doesn’t feel like it’s working," Cecilia explains. Chemists know that foam isn’t necessary for cleaning, but if people don’t trust the product, they won’t use it. The same applies to science and policy: without understanding how people interpret and interact with information, even the best solutions may fail to gain traction.

"We will get there," Cecilia says, emphasizing that change happens when people believe in it and work together to make it real. The key is aligning solutions with cultural and emotional realities, ensuring that people see themselves reflected in the process.

Connecting science, story, and people

How are you using both science and story in your work? Do they complement each other, or are they disconnected? What would it take to align them with the cultural context of your community, making your message clearer, more engaging, and more actionable?

Stories are more than just communication; they’re an outward expression of our knowledge, experiences and understanding. If we can bring our stories together, we have the opportunity to bridge cultural gaps and rally our broader communities toward collective action.

Listen to the full episode above, or subscribe to Storylinking on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform for more conversations that explore the power of storytelling to build community.