Twinning Bulgaria “Scientific Research”. Formez Activity of Support in the Field of Communication

The results of Component 3 as regards the activities of diffusion and communication for the purpose of the efficient and transparent implementation of the “scientific visa” and “researcher’s package", were submitted by a Formez expert on 13 July during the final event of the Twinning Light Project Bulgaria “Harmonization of the Acquis in the Field of Science & Research – “Researcher’s Package”. Formez coordination of Component 3 is included in the activity that the Italian partnership (which was established by the Ministry of University and Scientific Research, the University of Tor Vergata-Parco Scientifico and Formez) carried out to the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Research (MES).
Since the beginning of the project, the beneficiary had pointed out the difficulty, encountered in Bulgaria, of communicating science and research to the media, thus requiring assistance in identifying key hindrances. A Formez expert together with an expert from the University of Tor Vergata, drew up two guide-lines on “how to communicate science to journalists” and on “how to communicate EU financed projects in the field of research”.
Subsequently, to better identify the problems related to the strategies to be implemented, two InfoDays were organized on 13 and 14 May for training the Bulgarian MES employees and the directors from the Public Relations sector of universities, museums, scientific magazines and other scientific entities. The GOPP methodology (Goal Oriented Project Planning) was utilized for the classification of problems and the identification of more suitable communication strategies. In this regard, the following questions emerged: The media are interested only in sensational news, whilst the scientific community does not always understand the importance of communication and often uses a language which is difficult to understand; this is a factor which leads civil society to consider the scientific world as a distant reality.
Following, on 22 June representatives from Italy, United Kingdom and Bulgaria met, in order to share experiences for the benefit of Bulgarian journalists. On 23 June two workshops were held: One concerned the innovative instruments for communicating science and the other focussed on how to improve collaboration between research and media. The workgroups underlined the need to organize courses for journalists in the field of science, as well as communication courses aimed at researchers. Furthermore, the relevance of the “communicator” professional profile who is able to translate the research language into a language which is easily understood by the media, cannot be overlooked.