Delivering Stakeholder Engagement and Dissemination Services for Large Scale EU-funded Research Projects

For another consecutive year Yordas Group is involved in large scale EU funded projects investigating the hazards and risks arising from nanomaterials, acting as a research dissemination partner.

Yordas have been tasked to deliver dissemination and stakeholder engagement activities for several EU funded projects: including the EU FP7 Sustainable Nanotechnologies (SUN) project (running from 2013 to 2017) and the Horizon 2020 GRACIOUS project (ongoing).

As the main objective of disseminating research findings is to maximise their impact, promote collaboration and scientific progress, these activities go far beyond simply complying with funding body requirements. Dissemination activities present a central mechanism through which research output is discussed, enhanced and communicated among a wide range of audiences (e.g. academia, policy makers, industries and civil society).

In addition to disseminating research output, stakeholder engagement forms an integral part of delivering research products by the means of continuous communication with interested parties and end users, and the integration of their needs and feedback in the process of applications development.

The EU Projects

The main objective of the SUN project was to develop a user-friendly, software-based Decision Support System for managing the environmental, economic and social impacts of nanotechnologies. The new GRACIOUS project aims to develop a highly innovative science-based framework to enable practical application of grouping, leading to read-across and classification of nanomaterials and nanoforms.

How We Helped

Yordas worked closely with project partners to develop sound dissemination and communication strategies, encompassing various tools for online and offline communication. Yordas delivered dissemination plans; developed and maintained project websites; prepared and distributed newsletters and press releases via project mailing lists and relevant online and offline channels; organised training and stakeholder events; and developed project promotional material, including flyers, pull up banners, posters, high quality proceedings and booklets containing project results.

Providing Ongoing Support

In addition to dissemination activities, Yordas has also taken a leading role in the stakeholder engagement activities of the newly started GRACIOUS project. As a project that aims to be of practical value and intends to support regulators, industry and decision makers, an effective stakeholder engagement and consultation programme was developed to ensure that “expert practical knowledge” is integrated in the project output.

In collaboration with project partners, Yordas has developed a stakeholder engagement programme featuring a rigorous process comprised of stakeholder identification and mapping — forming a stakeholder panel and a group of internal stakeholder champions who will be tasked to communicate actively with diverse groups to elicit any feedback that can be helpful to refine the framework development.

Drawing on the developed programme, Yordas will use a variety of in-person and online consultation tools in order to maximise results. To facilitate a continuous dialogue, targeted workshops (e.g. face-to-face meetings and webinars) and other forms of in-person consultation, such as focus groups and interviews, will be organised with the objective of gathering useful feedback on the workability of the framework.

To complement these traditional stakeholder engagement methods, Yordas plans to launch an online stakeholder engagement platform featuring a variety of communication tools that provide an instant and cost-effective way of getting feedback throughout the lifetime of the project.

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