Visualization of semantic networks in academic publications on environmental risk communication

Abstract

Environmental risk communication has been gaining importance as a strategic research field in the context of growing climate, health, and social crises, both at the levels of public governance, emergency management, and participation in the formation of a more critical citizenry. This study aims to analyze thematic trends in scientific production on environmental risk communication using a bibliometric approach. To this end, a co-occurrence analysis of metadata terms corresponding to articles indexed in Scopus between 2010 and 2023 was performed, with the development of semantic networks using VOSviewer software.
The results show that environmental risk communication has several predominant conceptual cores, such as public health, risk perception, climate change, environmental pollution, and the emergence of approaches focused on public trust, misinformation, and community resilience. Semantic visualization allowed for identifying interconnected clusters that reflect the field's evolution toward greater interdisciplinary complexity. Finally, the implications of the analysis are discussed, highlighting its usefulness in guiding future research, communication policies, and participatory risk management projects.