The importance of clear communication

Written by Isabella Beck Jørgensen, Communications Officer at EFFAB and (MSc) in Business Administration and Organisational Communication with a focus on digital media and EU communication from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. Isabella is Brussels-based and has been working on the website and social media strategy of GEroNIMO in collaboration with the rest of the EFFAB team. In this blog post, Isabella explains why clear communication around Horizon 2020 projects is needed.

The blog post is based on the opinions of the author only.

Everyday, we get exposed to a plethora of information both offline and online. Sometimes, this can be information we are surprised to see due to recent conversations we might have had with friends or through our private searches online. From time to time, it can feel like someone is reading our minds and responding directly to us via ads or articles exposed to us by hidden algorithms.

Look around; communication is everywhere. Everyone wants to inform you of something or take your attention in a new direction. We must constantly evaluate everything we get exposed to. Nowadays, we question whether this is fake news or why does this matter to me? Occasionally we do not even pay attention to it. Most people become faster and faster at skimming through their feeds: I know at least I do.

This dramatic introduction to my blog post leads me to something less dramatic but important for me to address: the importance of clear and engaging communication activities, events, and results related to Horizon 2020 projects, in this case for GEroNIMO. Most citizens of Europe do not understand what  Horizon 2020 projects investigate, present, change or want to change and impact and why public funding is essential.

In article 38 in the model grant agreement (the legal document that must be followed when receiving funding as a partner of a Horizon 2020 project), it is written that the beneficiaries must promote the action and results by providing targeted information to multiple audiences (including the media and the public), strategically and effectively and possibly engaging in a two-way exchange (source: EC, 2022). It sounds more simple than it actually is.

It is not that simple because:

A) we must build all our social media platforms and website from scratch.

B) the results are not there on day 1, so at the beginning of a Horizon 2020 project, we often explain the topic, the research strategies, and the partners involved.

Results will always follow. Building and starting all these channels can feel like talking to a wall because few people are there to listen or respond or, even better, LIKE?

A simple like is a great beginning. Thanks to social media, algorithms, machine learning, AI and all the other cool kids from the Internet, we can target and create communication that people will notice and hopefully take seriously when exposed to it. This most likely on begins social media. I am even trying to expose this content wider right now by using multiple combinations of buzzwords that will make the SEO of this blogpost stronger.

Authenticity is key

Stock pictures. They are everywhere. I hope we can agree that many of them are very unpersonal, but sometimes extremely useful when it comes to “the first contact” attention-wise. At the same time, the pictures are usually boring because most people can spot a generic stock picture from miles away. Hopefully, when Covid-19 is under control and we can start meeting and be together again more often, we can create more pictures and videos of people related to the project to make it stand out. All the pictures in this blog post are pictures we have taken ourselves. It makes it more unique, more valuable, and hopefully something an audience will adore just as much as I do. Authenticity is not only visuals but also the names of people and their opinion raised in public. That is also something we will focus on a lot in this Horizon 2020 project: giving the people behind the project a voice. We want to let them explain what they are doing, what took them there and why. That is literally what I am doing right now. I am sitting behind my screen in my little office in the heart of Europe (yes, I am working in Brussels), informing you about the need for clear communication in Horizon 2020 projects. So, stay tuned for more blog posts over the coming year.

What’s in it for me?

I was born in the 90s, so when someone says “What’s in it for me”, I cannot stop thinking about the song by Amy Diamond. “What’s in it for me” is an important question to ask yourself when creating communication that targets Europe's citizens. Why is it important for them to be informed about sustainable animal breeding, and how will the future of animal breeding impact food security, health, animal welfare and the price of the food they consume? “This ain’t no one-man show”, is also a part of the lyrics of the song by Amy Diamond. The same counts from a Horizon 2020 project. It is not only about informing, but it is also about engaging and inviting citizens to participate in dialogue by hosting events and webinars and sharing UNDERSTANDABLE material they can share and reflect on.

Stop speaking “Bubbly” or in scientific terms all the time

There is nothing worse than reading or speaking with someone that is not adapting to the circumstances or audience. Therefore, it is highly important that those of us working with communications stop using buzz words to sound more diplomatic and high level. I get it. “Resilience, efficiency, holistic approach, a new toolbox and taxonomy” are  all very important terms but writing and speaking in an everyday informal language can from time to time be more efficient. Oh stop, I mean more effective, than speaking, what we call it here in Brussels “Bubbly” which is a vocabulary of diplomatic, scientific and European English words that most people can pronounce in a confident manner.  

Communication is my passion, and I am very happy about the starting base for GEroNIMO so far. (Insert: Fanfare sound), there is of course, more to come. Regardless of whether you are a partner of this project, a breeder, a consumer, or an intern in the European Commission asked to follow up on the communications efforts of different Horizon 2020 projects, I hope you enjoyed this first blogpost.

One thing is for sure, Horizon 2020 projects all have one thing in common. They all must use a disclaimer when publishing something “…and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”. The other thing is, they all work towards a better, more sustainable, and a safer planet for you, me, and the next generation. I feel proud of being a part of that process and working for the GEroNIMO project.

Source: Communicating Your Project, European Commission, 2022