Policy influence 2023: Societal impact at Plants, People, Planet

In 2022, we celebrated 5 years of societal impact at Plants, People, Planet in Hiscock et al. (2022). In that article, we reflected on the broader impact of work published in Plants, People, Planet since it was launched in 2017 by detailing articles that had either informed or influenced policy. Showcasing plant-based research with societal impact is at the core of what we do and Plants, People, Planet's key mission is to highlight the important work of scientists and researchers across disciplines to address major global challenges through their work on plants (Hiscock et al., 2018). For example, see Rivers et al. (2022), where the authors call for greater protection of the world's trees and highlight urgent actions needed to avert an ecological, cultural and socio-economic catastrophe caused by the widespread destruction of forests and accompanying extinction of tree species. Plants, People, Planet is also a forum that aims to capture the interest and imagination of the wider public by showcasing the wonder of plants and communicating their importance to humanity and the future of the planet. Indeed, as discussed by Burke et al. (2022), during and since the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a “botanical boom” of awareness and interest in plants and plant-related topics, which poses a real opportunity for the global plant research community. From houseplants, to medicinal plants and plant-based diets and the benefits of plants and greenspaces for mental health and well-being, these growing trends provide an attractive springboard for science outreach and plant-focused conversations. We are keen to feature these types of conversations and discussions in the pages of Plants, People, Planet, for instance, and along related lines, we currently seek proposals for a Special Issue devoted to ‘Methodologies for investigating plant awareness’. In addition, our unique Flora Obscura series, which specifically aims to highlight extraordinary plant biology, continues to support our aspirations to capture the wider interest of the public. Flora Obscura serve as engaging and timely updates and useful resources for teaching purposes—for instance, see Teixeira-Costa and Suetsugu's article on Mitrastemonaceae, which is a bizarre family of parasitic flowering plants, or Thorogood et al.'s article on durian, an edible fruit with a unique odour (Teixeira-Costa & Suetsugu, 2022; Thorogood et al., 2022). We are delighted to offer an update on Plants, People, Planet articles that have informed or impacted policy since the publication of Hiscock et al., 2022 (see Table 1). These works will be added to our evolving Special Collection on ‘Plants and policy: generating societal impact to address global challenges’. From informing and influencing policy work undertaken by individual governments and cities, to impacting the work of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), it is encouraging to see the global reach and relevance of these articles. To provide a snapshot of the types of topics covered by the policy documents listed in Table 1, a word cloud was produced to represent the most frequently repeated key words used in the policy documents. As illustrated by Figure 1, the most repeated key words were ‘biodiversity’ and ‘agriculture’, followed by ‘climate change adaptation’, ‘plant breeding’, ‘nature’ and, rather interestingly, ‘solution’. The appearance of these particular words is telling, especially ‘solution’, given that Plants, People, Planet's key mission is to highlight research that aims to provide solutions to global challenges. Articles published in Plants, People, Planet are informing policy work related to the types of topics—such as biodiversity loss, food security and climate change—that we had aimed to highlight when we launched the journal. We welcome submissions from the community on an ongoing basis for our Special Collection ‘Plants and policy: generating societal impact to address global challenges’, and we will continue to build this evolving Special Collection. We are keen to showcase success stories, share best practice and discuss challenges and opportunities associated with generating policy impact. We envision this Special Collection as a resource for policymakers, think-tanks, non-governmental organizations and anyone with an interest in the impact of plant-based research on society. If you have an idea that you would like to discuss, our friendly and supportive team would be delighted to hear from you ([email protected]). Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study