Illustraciencia, an ecosystem for scientific illustration

Scientific illustration is a discipline at the service of scientific communication that is based on the graphic representation of concepts specific to the various areas of science. The synthesized, objective and accurate visual information provided by scientific illustration, however, contains aspects inherent to the languages of the visual arts such as composition, te-chnique or aesthetics. This article reviews the professional situation in the field of scientific illustration, to subsequently delve into the Illustraciencia project, from the Catalan Association of Scientific Communication (ACCC) and the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCC-CSIC). Born as a scientific illustration competition, this project has become a ben-chmark of this discipline internationally through the promotion and dissemination of works through digital platforms and has evolved over the years to offer educational activities, conduct roadshows and congresses, and even publish books in both digital and printed media, with scientific illustration always as the protagonist. The analysis of the illustrations selected as finalists in the nine competitions developed between 2009 and 2022, leads to a series of conclusions on the international evolution of scientific illustration in recent years and the topics addressed, which show the heterogeneity of this discipline and the constant evolution of its professionals to adapt to the needs of science and knowledge transfer.