Roberta Bellini
Science communication to promote actions and results in research projects has become more and more embedded into policy, funding and practice over the past few years with emphasis on reaching multiple audiences using multiple means of communication. Research projects therefore need well designed plans and strategies that, from the beginning to the end of the project lifespan, share clear and meaningful messages to meet funding agencies requirements.
Furthermore, the climate crisis has brought to the fore the necessity for scientific knowledge to be accessible and understandable at all levels in society, to respond to their need to understand better, to deepen their literacy and awareness and to support informed actions. It is the researchers’ responsibility to respond to those needs and to reconfirm the relevance of research to solve those challenges. This scientific knowledge must be conveyed using means that speak and are familiar to different strands of society, in a way that is relevant to them, offers opportunity to reflect and create value.
As a team of researchers involved in an interdisciplinary cross-border initiative on the water-energy nexus, the Dŵr Uisce team members are actively engaged in sharing the knowledge generated, raising awareness of the climate action potential of water-energy efficiency and disseminating our research outputs. Water-energy science communication, outreach and engagement are at the core of one of the project areas, as well as an overarching theme across all areas.
Our communication efforts are structured in a plan that includes a variety of means to broaden the number of people (our reach), the depth and complexity of the message (our richness), the number of communication items (our volume) and level of engagement (our interaction with the message across a spectrum from one -way information channels to a two-way dialogue).
Any member of the community can browse our website, stay up to date with our Twitter feeds, watch some interesting videos on our Youtube channel, connect in LinkedIn. As a member of the Dŵr Uisce Cluster, you receive our newsletter. If what you are looking for is more technical and detailed information, our peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings can help you delve deeper. Did you miss our Sustainability Webinar Series? No worries, you can get in touch and view the recordings in our Members Area.
Science communication is a team effort. All Dŵr Uisce team members have a critical role in providing new knowledge and in contributing to the different activities in various capacities and from different perspectives- engineering, environmental sciences, geography and management. Inputs from additional disciplines such as social sciences, pedagogy and marketing feed into the plan.
Assessing the impacts of our efforts is included in our plan, to demonstrate the value of our project and to support a greater societal recognition of the relevance to climate action potential of water-energy efficiency. What we have achieved so far, and plan to continue, is conveying understandable scientific concepts in formats that allow for reflection on their relevance to different groups in society, and that can influence behaviour towards a more sustainable use of resources within the water-energy nexus.