Research communication: Act now!

Euforic was in Vietnam last week working for the Danish Development Research Network (a member since last year). We were facilitating a workshop on research communications. Euforic was approached because of our work with communication between development actors and our involvement in the research for development project (R4D) for DFID in the UK.

Strengthening communication in N/S research partnerships for development

The workshop was designed to support DANIDA funded research projects and is a continuation of the series begun in Tanzania.

Over 45 participants drawn from all over Vietnam together with research colleagues from Denmark met for 3 days in Hoi An to develop their understanding of developing communication strategies and approaches for their projects. The two projects involved are both examining the impact of climate change, one focussing on physical changes, while the other has a multidisciplinary approach including geographers, natural scientists and socio economists.

The workshop aimed to develop communication skills, build strategies and make practical products.

Group work in project teams ran through the three days, resulting in a draft communications plan for each project and the development of example products such as press releases and leaflets. These working sessions were interspersed with demonstrations, papers and presentations and culminated with a presentation exercise to explain the final results of each project team to the rest of the workshop.

The sessions covered standard methodologies to developing communication strategies, identifying target groups, establishing the aim of the communication, developing messages for that group and chosing the appropriate channel to reach them.

One of the most popular sessions was looking at new opportunities on the web for research communication and ways the projects could work with these systems.

Wiki
A common Wiki platform for the resources and learning from the workshop process has been developed by Euforic for DDRN and provides a resource base for those who have attended the Tanzanian and Vietnamese workshops. The commscorner and web2share sites also provide reference points on Web2 tools and communications advice for researchers respectively.

Learning by acting

The final presentations were a learning exercise in themselves with one project team demonstrating clearly how a theatre exercise could explain the communications plan through role play, a synopsis of
their presentation is given below.

ACT1: The local authority
Set in the office of the local authority, we saw project members explaining their project with the aid of a leaflet they planned to have distributed by various actors in the community and to win the support of the local authority in the process. As this scene was acted out we saw an image of the proposed leaflet they were discussing as a backdrop to the piece of theatre.

ACT2: The donor
The scene set at the Danish embassy showed how the project team planned to communicate with the funder of the project, using their communications strategy to demonstrate they had planned more communication activities than expected, and would seek additional funding for some specific activities. Meanwhile the screen behind them highlighted the relevant part of their communications strategy.

ACT3: The farming community
Here the scene quite clearly illustrated the local community concerns with changes in climate andthe ways the project team had considered explaining their study activity and considering how they could present eventual findings.


Setting the scene: Open meeting
The other project group staged a local open meeting attended by all stakeholders touched by the projects, i.e. local authorities, CSOs, local social organisations as a way to present their strategy.

The take home message
In discussing all the information products and actvities there were three elements the researcher needed to consider.

1)Start by putting yourself in the shoes of your audience, think of what their interests are and what will make them act on information.

2)The inverted pyramid - don't write all your communications like a research paper, most audiences want the conclusions first rather than last.

3)Answer the Who, What,Where,Why,When and How questions in everything you write.

Finally we summed this all up in an active mnemonic.

Make a pyramid with your hands above your head and then invert it 6 times by swinging your arms down to point at the ground and at the same time look at your shoes. Each time you bend down say to yourself each of the six questions...Who, What,Where,Why,When and How.

- Who.... will benefit from the research and who is doing it?
- What... is it all about?
- Where... is it happening?
- Why... does it need to be done?
- When... will the results be ready or events happening
- How... is it all being done?

We all learnt a lot from the workshop, in particular how to communicate across two languages and two cultures. For this we found two solutions. For the first we had a great translation team and for the second............

Good singing voices and a common sense of humour.

DDRN workshop on communication in North/South research partnerships

Increasingly donors who fund development research programs stress the need to communicate about research priorities, programs and outcomes. Researchers themselves as well as intermediaries have an important role to play in this. Examples of donors with a strong interest in research communication are DFID, DGIS/WOTRO and Danida.

On 12 - 14 August 2009 DDRN, the Danish Development Research Network, convened a workshop in Tanzania to promote effective communication during and after the implementation of three new research projects in Tanzania for which Danida granted funding in 2008. The projects look at livestock, dried fruits and climate change and will be carried out in partnership with Danish universities.

The workshop addressed a variety of issues regarding research communication. Euforic and CABI, another Euforic member, developed and co-facilitated the workshop with assistance from staff of DDRN and the Danish Water Forum (DWF). Over 30 researchers and external stakeholders attended the workshop that was held at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania.

Drawing on the experience of the Euforic network and aiming to respond to the needs expressed by the participants, the event was designed tailor-made to cover the formulation of a framework communications strategy for each project and to elaborate some example communications products. Also included was a session on how to use the internet to disseminate and access research results.

The workshop began with an analysis of the various stakeholders of research projects and the aims of communicating with them. The goal of communication can be to change the behaviour of stakeholders, to raise awareness about specific issues, to encourage dialogue, or to collect needs. To reach such goals you need to be clear: What is it you want to achieve with your research communication? Who do you want to address? What is your message for them?

This first module of the workshop was followed by presentation sessions that drew on case studies of messages and channels for different communities and actors. In a variety of hands-on exercises participants worked on different products and media. A specific session on writing press releases was supported by a meeting with local journalists from the Tanzanian newspapers “Business Week” and “The Citizen”.



The workshop culminated in a presentation session entitled “The SuperProjects” in which the participating research projects made presentations based on their press releases and communications plans, illustrating the different impact of various styles of presentation. The peri-ubran livestock project illustrated a selection of target audiences and the messages and channels they would use to reach these audiences. The Dried Fruits project proved to be popular with samples of the product available for the audience to taste. The Climate Change study on Kilimanjaro was enhanced by spectacular images.

The workshop provided key documents, many produced by other Euforic members, and illustrated issues with videos from the euforic.blip.tv and r4d.blip.tv channels.

Earlier, Euforic was involved in launching the DFID Research Strategy works with CABI on R4D, a DFID funded project on research communication. Research communication was also a central theme at the June 2009 EADI IMWG-meeting supported by Euforic.

See also Euforic newsfeeds on information, knowledge, communication, and from the IMWG 2009 workshop

What our members are doing on climate change

Climate change is high on the international agenda these days. During the UN Climate Change Talks in Bonn (1 - 12 June) politicians, experts and activists aim to make progress in the preparation of a Post-2012 Climate Change Agreement. Obviously, the toughest task remains to find a compromise between industrialized countries, emerging economies and the developing world.

Within our diverse Euforic network several of our members are very active in the field of climate change. This is a good opportunity to present an overview of their activities.

Advocacy on climate change aims to influence the ongoing climate change negotiations on the regional and global level. Organisations involved wish to influence policy processes in a strategic way and make sure that the interests of the developing world are heard.






CIDSE is mainly engaged in the campaigning activities towards climate justice and a comprehensive new Climate Change Agreement. During the Bonn Climate Change Talks the network presents its report on the importance of adaptation technology for the Post-2012 Climate Agreement and - amongst other activities - organizes a video conference between Southern experts and conference participants on the issue of disaster risk reduction and adaptation.

APRODEVs Working Group on Climate Change and Concord are focusing on strategically influencing EU policies aiming to ensure that they are coherent with stated poverty eradication and development policies.

Research on climate change focuses on the impact of the phenomenon on the environment and livelihoods as well as on adaptation strategies to cope with these effects.





A research program of IDS is looking at cross-cutting issues between climate change and adaptation, policy, low carbon growth, building of networks and knowledge sharing as well as at training, teaching and mentoring. During the Bonn conference IDS organizes a panel discussion on 'Strengthening knowledge sharing on climate change adaptation in Africa'.

Also the Danish Development Research Network (DDRN) prioritizes climate change in its research. As well as the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) whose research activities focus on the issue of climate change from a number of different perspectives ranging from security and international politics to trade, development, and livelihood.

ISS looks at the effects of climate change on resources, the environment and livelihoods. And ODIs research is trying to identify how increasing knowledge of the science of climate change impacts can be used to understand potential implications for developing countries, particularly in social, economic and political terms. Secondly it looks at how to ensure that emerging climate change mitigation and adaptation policies work for the poor.

Training courses provide services for policy makers to increase their knowledge on climate change and the international policy processes and negotiations.




DIPLO, the training institute for diplomacy, recognizes the importance of climate change negotiations on the global and regional level and developed a training course for diplomats and government officials involved in climate change policy processes.

Latest news, research and policy documents on Climate Change and related topics are provided by several Euforic members:

• EADI - Information portal on climate change and energy
  
• ECDPM - Newsfeed on climate change and development
  
• IPS - News alert on climate change
  
• ILEIA - Dossier on climate change, rural development and agriculture
  

Policy perspectives are given by the public institutions among our membership.




FINNIDA focuses on the Clean Development Mechanism and its political dimension as well as on the nexus between gender and climate change.

The Annual General Meeting which Euforic organizes alongside the meeting of EADIs Information Management Working Group takes place in Copenhagen from the 10 - 12 June. The meeting will shed light on the challenges of climate change and communication. See Mike Shanahan (IIED) talk about this issue:

Click To Play

by Martin Behrens

See also Euforic newsfeeds on climate change; information/knowledge, and from the 2009 annual workshop

Nordic organisations join Euforic

In January, the Euforic Board approved membership applications from the Danish Development Research Network, the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

DDRN is a network linking research-based knowledge and development within the sectors of agriculture, environment, and governance. Members are drawn from the research community, the private sector, NGOs and development organisations. Its objective is to contribute to the inclusion of research and research-based knowledge in development assistance and in partner countries’ development activities.

NIAS is a Nordic research and service institute with an international mandate and a focus on political, economic, business, social and cultural transformations in modern Asia in their historical contexts. It works closely with partner universities in the Nordic region to develop critical mass in and add value to research initiatives on modern Asia and to promote synergy and growth in Asian studies, and it provides a window to the Nordic countries for research-based knowledge and information on Asia.

Norad is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Norad's most important task is to contribute in the international cooperation to fight poverty; it contributes to effective management of development funds and ensures that the Norwegian development cooperation has high quality and is evaluated.

Chris Addison visited Copenhagen and Oslo in December 2008.

See Euforic newsfeeds on research, DDRN, Norad, Norwegian cooperation, and NIAS. Also news from Euforic members