{"id":251,"date":"2018-11-29T10:22:35","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T09:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.p288574.webspaceconfig.de\/?p=251"},"modified":"2020-01-29T12:08:40","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T11:08:40","slug":"lets-talk-about-communication-impressions-from-the-eadi-research-communications-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.developmentresearch.eu\/?p=251","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Talk About Communication! Impressions from the EADI Research Communications Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christiane Kliemann<\/em><\/p>\n

It is no secret that in times of digitalisation and information overload, communicating research plays an increasingly important role \u2013 research institutes employing larger or smaller communication units in order to make their own voice heard in the cacophony of voices, opinions and media outlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to communicate is the key to being relevant\u201d, Anna-Pia Hudtloff, Head of Communication at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)<\/a> said at our recent two-day workshop on research communication<\/a>. Thus, we were caught by surprise to learn that this was the first opportunity for our workshop participants \u2013 \u00a0communicators at EADI member institutes \u2013 to dedicate two days on exactly this: exchanging experience on best practices in development research communication. No wonder that the room was buzzing with excitement, ideas and chatter \u2013 or what else to expect when 23 communication experts come together in one room?<\/p>\n

Why researchers and communicators need each other<\/strong><\/p>\n

A large part of the exchange concentrated on the relationship between communicators and researchers. In times where funders increasingly expect a certain level of visibility of their research projects\u2019 output, researchers who interactively engage in the public conversation \u2013 on social media and elsewhere \u2013 have an advantage. Unfortunately (or luckily, depending on the point of view), not everyone is geared up to promote her or his research that way, which is where communications people come in: \u201cWe are the hype-people for the academics, we create noise around an issue, and it is much easier to boast about someone else\u2019s work than about one\u2019s own\u201d, as Rowena Harding, Research Communications Officer at the Global Development Institute (GDI)<\/a> put it.<\/p>\n

In order to do so, however, a relationship of trust between researcher and communicator is essential. When communicators are on board from early on, they can help create stories around the research and identify aspects of special interest in connection with broader conversations. Moreover, they can edit summaries and briefing papers, making them more attractive for the target audiences. Training researchers on communications has also proven to be a helpful tool \u2013 not only for media communication, which many are uncomfortable with, but for concisely and lively presenting research outcomes in discussions and on panels. In turn, researchers must be able to trust that communicators don\u2019t oversimplify their research, but help explain complex matters in an easily understandable way without dropping the necessary nuances. To walk along this fine line, communicators need to be in a constant dialogue with researchers, and develop an understanding of what they want to bring across.<\/p>\n

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Working with the press: much more than sending out press releases<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nobody would deny that the press is an important target group for boosting public interest in certain pieces of research. However, research communicators with experience in journalism know that press releases, although meant to reach this very target group, usually end up in the bin. This is why the Nordic Africa Institute <\/a>has stopped sending press releases altogether around five years ago. Victoria Engstrand-Neascu, the institute\u2019s Head of Communications, explains why: \u201cJournalists don\u2019t want to be told what to write, but they want to learn about the issues they write about\u201d. Since then, the institute\u2019s message to the press is this: \u201cYou want to write about certain developments in Africa, we have the expert knowledge. Contact us, so that we can connect you with the right experts for your case.\u201d This particularly works well when something happens in or with regard to Africa. In such cases, the institute\u2019s communications team contacts selected journalists offering them science-based expertise.<\/p>\n

For researchers who explicitly want to extend their reach by engaging with and writing for the press, pitching articles to The Conversation<\/a> is seen as a good training opportunity for presenting research in an interesting and more popular way (And, of course, this blog!). With the slogan \u201cAcademic rigour, journalistic flair\u201d, The Conversation describes itself as \u201can independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Policy-makers\u2019 attention \u2013 a rare resource<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anna-Pia Hudtloff is sure that we only have a few seconds to get policy-makers\u2019 attention: they are usually so overwhelmed with emails and papers, that they can only superficially flip through them every day. To have the slightest chance for getting read, our briefing paper needs to be both eye-catching and short, ideally having clear statements in the headline rather than questions. \u201cResearchers love questions, but politicians love statements\u201d.<\/p>\n

What is true for policy-makers in general, applies even more to the \u201cBrussels EU bubble\u201d, as Virginia Mucchi, Head of Communications at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)<\/a> calls the centre of EU policy-making. She compares it to an extremely loud and crowded arena where everyone has the same aim: convincing the EU of doing something. In order to make your voice heard, you need to gain their trust, as an \u201chonest broker\u201d, as opposed to a lobby organisation. At the same time, policy-makers don\u2019t have the time to translate research into politics and prefer concrete policy proposals. This is why ECDPM has taken on both approaches: being the \u201chonest broker\u201d in some projects and giving concrete recommendations in others.<\/p>\n

Challenges, opportunities and open questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The increasing role of video, multimedia and other digital types of communications can be both a challenge and an opportunity, which \u2013 in any case \u2013 science communication can\u2019t afford to ignore. Training researchers in taking good photos or even short videos on field trips is therefore quite high on many communicators\u2019 wish-list, multimedia having become an unavoidable means to reach broader audiences through stories with a human touch. At the same time, the media landscape in general is becoming increasingly simplistic. The desire to go viral rather than transporting substantive topics is a great challenge for science communication. Who would honestly enjoy competing with cat-videos for example?<\/p>\n

Another hot topic at the workshop was how to deal with the fake news epidemic. Do we actively try to rebut obvious rubbish in filter bubbles that depict a different reality, or are there better ways to counter spreading false information? If so, which are they? Is there a strategy out there that tackles this problem? And how to go about the so-called \u201cdeep fake\u201d? – Fake news that are so well made-up that it becomes difficult to distinguish from real evidence-based news. Many open questions on which we would love to publish further insights or opinions on this blog!<\/p>\n

A new \u201cCommunications\u201d working group<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most tangible outcome of the workshop was the decision to establish a permanent EADI Working group on research communication<\/a>, responding to everyone\u2019s wish to set up regular meetings and discussions to continue the exchange after the kick-off. We will be keeping you informed!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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(Workshop participants at their excursion to UN Bonn)<\/em><\/p>\n

Christiane Kliemann<\/strong> does communications at EADI.
\nBesides this she writes on social-ecological transformation, degrowth and postgrowth<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christiane Kliemann It is no secret that in times of digitalisation and information overload, communicating research plays an increasingly important role \u2013 research institutes employing larger or smaller communication units in order to make their own voice heard in the cacophony of voices, opinions and media outlets. \u201cThe ability to communicate is the key … <\/p>\n

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