How stakeholder engagement makes our communication more effective
Through our experience in multi-partner projects and international consortiums, we have come to the conclusion that while stakeholder engagement is critical to ensure that project progress is in line with stakeholders’ needs, it is also crucial for communicating the research findings effectively.
In fact, working with a core community of people that can be impacted by or can have an influence on the implementation of the projects findings and key outputs strengthens our ability to identify and reach a wider relevant audience when disseminating project results. Stakeholder engagement therefore critically supports our effort to transform innovation into sustainable impact.
INSPEC2T and ResiStand, two EC funded projects of which Trilateral is the Dissemination Manager, are clear examples of the central role stakeholder engagement plays in our communication strategy.
INSPEC2T – Inspiring citizens’ participation for enhanced community policing actions
The EC funded INSPEC2T project aims to enhance collaboration between Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and citizens and develop innovative technical solutions to counter security risks. The solution will innovate community policing practices facilitating new ways of collaborating between communities and the police.
The project design included stakeholder engagement from the beginning. On the one hand, the creation and participation of the Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) and External Experts Group (EEG) in regular meetings and workshops has ensured that their feedback and views has had a direct impact on the development of the INSPEC2T solution.On the other hand, by engaging with stakeholders throughout the projects progress, INSPEC2T has identified and built an audience to disseminate the project’s results to. Partners have been able to reach a wide-range of stakeholders (e.g., Law Enforcement Agencies, policy makers, the public, and representatives from industry and research) by organising and participating in events and during INSPEC2T’s five test cases in Belfast, Cyprus, Valencia, Groningen, and Preston.
If you would like to find out more and receive updates about the project, please subscribe to the INSPEC2T mailing list.
ResiStand – Increasing disaster resilience by establishing a sustainable process to support standardisation of technologies and services
Similarly, the EC funded ResiStand project was also designed with stakeholder engagement throughout the project in mind. ResiStand is a two-year EC funded project that aims to identify new ways to improve the crisis management and disaster resilience capabilities of the European Union and individual Member States through standardisation.
The project design includes three Stakeholder Communities: the Standards Advisory Group, the End-User Community, and the Supplier Community.
Partners have engaged with these Stakeholder Communities from the beginning of the project through questionnaires, interviews, workshops and events to gain their feedback and input. Having stakeholder engagement at the core of ResiStand’s dissemination and communication strategy means that stakeholders already know about the project approach and the work undertaken. Alongside their current participation in the projects activities, all stakeholders will be invited to participate in the ResiStand final conference taking place in Berlin on 22 March 2018.
If you would like to find out more and receive updates on the Resistand project, please subscribe here.
It comes as no surprise that the European Commission (EC) encourages communication and dissemination, highlighting the close relationship between dissemination and being able to exploit the results of a research project. We believe that while it is essential to dedicate time to effectively communicate the results of our research, embedding stakeholder engagement from the beginning allows us to reach the most pertinent audience and therefore to communicate the research findings in the most effective way.
For more information on this research area please contact our team.
