Future and emerging technologies (FET) have great potential to attract the attention of broad audiences, but sometimes, it can be challenging to describe and clarify their precise workings to common public. It is not only a task for science journalism, it is also a question of how to promote research and innovation projects, and how to help them find the spotlight they deserve.
These topics were discussed during one of the discussion panels of the Signals from the Future: Emerging Technologies in Science Journalism, a workshop focused on science journalism and communication organized on the first week of November 2020 by FETFX in partnership with the Quest project.
As a forerunner, Dr. Marta Calderaro, project manager at Italian Agency for the Promotion of European Research and the FETFX coordinator, presented the latter project, which continuously informs about FET research initiatives and engages the communities around the FET and European Innovation Council.
Prof. Helga Nowotny, founding member and former president of the European Research Council, moderated the panel and opened the discussion with naming the main challenge of science communication:
Science communication is easy when it comes to presenting results that are already in a form of a finished project. But it becomes very difficult when we are to convey the uncertainty, which is part of doing research, part of moving towards innovation.
The speakers - including Valeria delle Cave (responsible for communication activities in Italian Institute of Technology), Iordanis Arzimanoglou (programme manager at European Innovation Council), Eva García Muntión (the PREFET project coordinator) and science journalist István Palugyai – discussed their own experience and good strategies for giving outreach to research, innovation and development projects. The full recording of the discussion is available below.
More Information
Recordings from the Signals from the Future are available on FETFX YouTube channel. The full overall report on the workshop is available on FETFX website.
Background information
FET-Open and FET Proactive are now part of the Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) Pilot (specifically the Pathfinder), the new home for deep-tech research and innovation in Horizon 2020, the EU funding programme for research and innovation.