What exactly does the European Commission mean by communication, dissemination and exploitation? How can I make sure that my grant proposal addresses these requirements? These are some of the questions that we are going to respond to in this article.
The differences between communication, dissemination and exploitation in EU funded projects
Communications, dissemination and exploitation are areas that are often overlooked by researchers, but they are vitally important to one of the core requirements of EU funding grants – that the research carried out within Europe has IMPACT.
Impact might be a publication submitted to a peer-reviewed journal (an example of dissemination), or a video that you create to explain your results to children (communication) or it might be that you managed to create a start-up and monetise the results of your project (exploitation). Basically, the impact of your research project is the effect that it will have on the world.
Communication: raising awareness to a wide audience
Communication in the context of EU funding refers to the promotion of project results to a wider, generalised public – a non-specialist audience. Since these projects are funded by public money, it’s essential that we let the public know what we are doing. Citizens should be able to find out what national and European institutions are doing with their taxes.
There’s a variety of ways we can communicate with the public. One of the most impactful might be targeting local, national and/or international media. Creating a website is indeed a form of communication, though now this is almost a basic requirement for every project and is not likely to bring any extra point.
Communication comes before dissemination and exploitation because you can communicate even before the project start showing results. Start by sharing your project’s objectives with others. Engage in outreach activities, such as beach cleanups (an example if the project is related to marine environments), essentially hosting events to inform people about your research goals. Consider contributing an article to a magazine or perhaps even launching a TikTok account! The possibilities are endless and the communication part of EU funding grants is an opportunity for you to be creative.
A communication plan, clearly mapping out what communications activities you plan to do over the lifetime of your project, is essential for a winning proposal. With proper organisation and foresight, you will be able to define, monitor and fulfil a variety of communications objectives successfully. A few elements to consider within your communication plan are:
- Audience: who do we want to reach,
- Message: which are the key message we need to transfer,
- Channels: where are we going to communicate our messages.
Once those aspects are identified, it is time to start developing the communication plan!
What is dissemination?
The goal of dissemination is to inform stakeholders, including peer researchers, policymakers, potential users, and industry, about the results of your project.
Most of the time, these activities include organising events to present your results to your peers, writing scientific articles, taking part in conferences within your field or preparing a public report. This type of outreach is, by its nature, more technical and goes into more detail.
By reaching out to this specific audience, you ensure that changemakers know about the latest developments you’ve made. That, in turn, can spur impact. For example, if a policymaker reads your report and acts on it, then you’ve had a real-world effect. Similarly, if another researcher uses your research to take their project to the next level, that’s also a real-world effect. As soon as a project has its first results, dissemination efforts can begin.
“The results produced by research often do not translate into concrete benefits for the economy and society. To improve the return on these investments, with Horizon Europe the focus shifted to ensuring that scientific excellence generates a tangible and recognisable change in a target group: impact.”
– Andrea Di Anselmo, President of META Group
What is exploitation?
When talking about exploitation regarding EU projects, we are referring to using research results. Very often, when we think about exploitation, we think about commercialisation of research results – but that’s not all that exploitation is. Commercialisation is a very important aspect of exploitation, but exploitation can also be the development of a NGO for instance, or a position paper, or otherwise using research results in a real-world context. It is a way for researchers to demonstrate that their work had a real impact on the society that funded their project. A business or exploitation plan can be a great tool to achieve your goals and take the results of your research further. Free support services, like the Horizon Results Booster, can help you develop an exploitation plan.
Horizon Results Booster offers, among other services, support to projects in exploiting their research results and increasing researchers’ capacity to improve their exploitation strategy.
How META Group can help you achieve impact
With almost 30 years of experience, META Group is a reliable partner to help you with your dissemination, communication and result exploitation activities. During the last three years, we have been managing Horizon Results Booster (HRB), a programme that helps EU-funded research projects understand how to achieve impact with their results. This initiative by the European Commission, has successfully delivered more than 600 services for researchers aiming to take their projects further. Horizon Results Booster offers three different services regarding dissemination and exploitation activities.
META Group has an extensive experience in supporting EU funded projects towards exploitation and use of results gained providing services to FP7 and H2020 projects within three important framework contracts. Moreover, META Group has the know-how to support the definition of viable business models for the adoption of results stemming from R&D projects.
Don’t miss out on our related articles:
- Dos and don’ts when drafting an exploitation plan
- Horizon Europe projects: new knowledge and benefits for citizens
FAQs
- What are the most common pitfalls or mistakes made when creating a communication, dissemination, and exploitation plan for an EU project?
Common pitfalls in creating a communication, dissemination, and exploitation plan for an EU project include vague objectives, lack of stakeholder analysis, and insufficient focus on sustainability.
- How can smaller organizations or first-time applicants effectively compete against more experienced institutions in developing a winning plan?
Smaller organizations or first-time applicants can compete effectively by leveraging unique perspectives, building strong partnerships, and demonstrating a clear understanding of the project’s broader impact.
- Are there specific tools or templates recommended for drafting these plans that align with EU expectations?
To align with EU expectations, using tools like logic models, SWOT analysis, and specific templates provided by the European Commission can be highly beneficial in drafting these plans.