In order to design an exhibition on earth and environmental science research, we conducted an online survey on the thematic interests of potential future visitors. The 775 valid responses we received were used to analyse the level of interest in predefined subject areas. In addition, further topics were extracted from open questions that were mentioned by the survey participants as being particularly interesting. The analysis of these interest levels in relation to the socio-demographic distribution of the participants provides an indication of which topics should be discussed in a future exhibition. The data also allows conclusions to be drawn about the development of strategic communication concepts. These will be able to support the processes from initial contact through to a participatory dialog. It is also of particular interest that the data obtained in this survey allows the hypothesis that topics for which the participants indicated a low level of interest may not actually be uninteresting, but rather result from a lack of prior knowledge. The study presented here therefore leads to the conclusion that such topics should be addressed in communication with visitors to an exhibition in order to build up prior knowledge and increase interest in these topics.