Scientific communication’s challenge in the midst of the pandemic crisis and on the eve of the final steps of Underground4value has imposed on WG5 an analytical evaluation of the interventions put in place so far.
During the Meeting of Murcia the discussion had as theme the strategies to perform an effective communication activity oriented on three levels: into the CA; among stake holders and specific groups of addressees (professionals, associations, interested people); forward to Scientific Community (disciplinary and cross disciplinary).
The Working Group 5 analyzed in particular the activity of sharing and empowering knowledge by: sharing info, disseminating results, introducing achievements, using basic tools (Dropbox, drive, etc.), organizing and attending Meetings (incubators of contents for publishing and editing).
The Group is increasing its commitment and activities at this central stage of the Action: managed activities and achievements multiplied in relation to the progress of the research and the results of the surveys. The Website (updating, , improvement, pages for different activities) remain the official fulcrum of the Communication as well as the actions of follow up on Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), that have been fostered.
Publishing activities focused on the first Handbook of Underground4Value, just published and described at the following pages. Papers, works on case studies and methodological contributes have been set and scheduled for this year.
Difficulties due to Covid-19 pandemics have slowed down the issue’s time, but the Newsletter has been enhanced and assumes a dual function: on the one hand, it informs on the developments of the action inside and outside the research group and, on the other, documents the official steps, the scientific discussions and the decisions of the meetings, constituting a sort of memory in progress of the researches. Several dissemination events have been organized within the Action by the individual participants, also thanks to the sup-port of Universities and Research Institutions in the different Member States. The contents have been relaunched and disseminated also in the national languages thanks to institutional websites, pages, press offices; this has created a multiplication effect that contributes to keep high attention around UBH.
National and regional media play an important role in this perspective: activities on field and local events are confirmed as occasions encouraging the communication of the entire research project.
Dealing with the central and final phase of the Action, the WG 5 discussed in deep the aspects to be improved and enhanced.
Some operational strategies have been identified:
- Creating a network of institutional web pages linking the CA website;
- Plug in between CA website and CA social media pages;
- Establishing the Newsletter editorial board and drafting committee;
- Creating a network of institutional events and sessions in disciplinary congresses to introduce the CA;
- Preparing a list of events and meetings to be participated in order to present U4Value;
- Creating pills video – stories about contents ;
Collecting footage and photos about sites/case studies (to be edited, on the basis of given standards).
The WG5 itself will have to be implemented to meet the challenge of properly communicating the results of the action, at the stage when they will be fully defined. Dissemination sup-port is also essential for the activities that most directly involve the stake holders and that in the CA are configured as testing of theories and methodologies. Thus case studies will be the subject of targeted interventions both on social networks and within the newsletter and the official website.
