Work package number

 8

Lead Beneficiary

UoG

Work package title

Dissemination and exploitation

Participant number

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Short name of participant

WU

UBERN

FiBL-CH

UTH

UL

UCSC

FiBL-AT

Person/months per participant

2

3

2

2

2

2

3

Participant number

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Short name of participant

UoG

FUB

INRAE

POLITO

CHQ

DTU

AGES

Person/months per participant

31

2

2

2

2

2

3

Participant number

15

16

17

18

19

20

Short name of participant

NVM

WR

EQY

CAMPO

SPOT

EMU

Person/months per participant

6

2

4

2

0

0

Start month

1

 End month

60

Objectives of the work package:

WP8 will be dedicated to the dissemination, communication and exploitation of the project results (SO8, SO9). The specific objectives of WP8 will be: (i) to develop an advanced and easily accessible project website (Task 8.1) (ii) to develop a good understanding of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) to inform the Dissemination and Communication (D&C) Strategy building on the MAA (Task 8.2) (iii) to develop and implement a D&C Strategy based on specified goals maximizing project’s visibility and ensuring that project results reach the intended audience (Tasks 8.3 & 8.4) and (iv) to develop a suite of dissemination products from the research outputs suited to different categories of audience (at local, national and European levels) (Task 8.5). WP8 establishes and coordinates HLMAN.

Task 8.1 Development of a project website, visual identity and intranet portal for information

Task leader: WU | Participant(s): UoG, EQY | Timing: M1-M6

We will establish a project website to a) communicate information about the project aims and news (newsworthy facts and a bi-annual newsletter) b) to act as a platform for disseminating information developed within the project, deliverables and other outputs. It will be designed to suit all relevant audiences including researchers, policy makers, stakeholders and general public. We will also set up and maintain a secure intranet section which will be accessible only by the partners and restricted users. This will facilitate protected dissemination of information (e.g., scientific data, announcements and registration for meetings and workshops, management plan, meeting agendas/minutes, tools for writing and/or downloading project reports, training materials). The site will also provide a platform for CSS knowledge exchange. Specific mailing lists will enable targeted communication between the partners of the project and within WP Teams. The project manager will maintain this website and intranet portal. At the same time a project visual identity will be established to be used on all project communications and dissemination outputs. A professional designer from EQY will work with members of WU to provide a logo with a complete graphical charter.

Task 8.2 Assessment of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) for plastic use in agriculture

Task leader: UoG | Participant(s): All | Timing: M3-M9

Drawing on existing literature, workshops with case study stakeholders, and expert interviews with the HLMAN, an assessment will be undertaken of the AKIS with respect to plastic use in soil. The assessment will consider the current sources of knowledge, the key influencers and intermediaries of knowledge, and dissemination and advisory activities, with respect to plastic use; identify how farmers are supported and currently obtain information about potential soil contamination and alternative or best practice techniques; and identify/assess their knowledge needs, and user demands generally. This assessment will inform the development of the D&C Strategy (Task 8.3) by identifying current gaps in knowledge, advice and dissemination, examples of best practice, and key principles for effective knowledge exchange in the community of plastic users. Critically it will ensure that project’s outputs are integrated into existing activities and speed up translation into practice, in line with the aims of EIP-AGRI. The review will take place at the EU, national and regional study site level. This task links closely with WP2 and WP7.

Task 8.3 Development of the Project Dissemination and Communication Strategy

Task leader: UoG | Participant(s): All | Timing: M3-12

The strategy will identify target audiences, and ways to provide messages at different levels of complexity and in the right format. Firstly, it will set out plans and a timetable to raise the visibility of the project through communication of generic project information using websites, social media and other channels. Secondly it will also set out a plan to optimise dissemination to potential beneficiaries. The strategy will be developed at a project wide level, and at partner country and CSS local level. At the project-wide level the strategy will comprise a set of specified goals and objectives with respect to what knowledge will be disseminated, to whom, how and when. WP leaders and the HLMAN will help to co-design the strategy: to identify the planned project-wide and WP specific outputs to reveal what knowledge will be available for dissemination, the target audiences (EU, national and regional level) and their specific knowledge requirements. Effective means of communication will be identified to reach these audiences, ensuring that messages are provided at different levels of complexity, in different languages, and by the appropriate channels. The AKIS assessment (T8.2) will inform the strategy, as will the WP7 assessment of social and economic impacts of plastic use, as this determines user needs. At CSS level individual CSS dissemination and communications plans will be co-designed with stakeholders to tailor them to the agronomic, political and cultural situations of the CSS country and region. CSS stakeholders will contribute into plans, identifying the most suitable formats and channels to disseminate project results within the local area and beyond the CSS. These plans will also ensure dissemination activities link into existing local, regional and national networks and will incorporate best practice and key principles of knowledge exchange identified in T8.3. A timetable will be scheduled to enable planning of dissemination activities and engagement with target audiences throughout the lifetime of the project. A full strategy will be prepared by M12, however, this will be continuously refined incorporating inputs from other WPs. The efficacy of the project’s dissemination and communication strategy will be evaluated during the course of the project using standardized indicators and targeted monitoring activities (see Table 10 table MINAGRIS communication tools and measure of effectiveness).

Task 8.4: Operationalising the Dissemination and Communication strategy

Task leader: UoG | Participant(s): All | Timing: M12-60

To operationalise the strategy the following four steps or sets of activities are proposed:

1. Communication of generic project information - to a wide audience:

·    A project leaflet in English and the national language of the partner and CSS countries will be prepared

·    A newsletter/bulletin will be compiled and disseminated at 6-month intervals to subscribers and partner´s networks.

·    Multimedia (podcasts/video, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, press releases - multi-lingual) hosted on the website

These will commence as early as possible (pre M12) as they relate to communicating the project’s aims and establishing a visual identity. Section 2.2.1 provides details of numbers, monitoring and analytics.

2. Information for practitioners, land managers, consultants and industry practitioner stakeholders– co-designed with users (in line with the HLMAN) and available in CSS and partner country language

The project scientific outputs will be synthesised and translated into easily accessible formats for all stakeholders involved in using plastic in agriculture. The results will be clearly conveyed setting out the impacts of plastics on soil, the environment, and wider society as well as providing economic analysis of these impacts. Formats and channels will include:

·    A farm level App developed in WP3 for practitioners’ visual assessment of plastic in the soil.

·    Operational farm-level DST including documentation

·    BREF document for plastic use in agriculture- guidelines (from WP7), disseminated using: Video stories from farmers in CSS; Infographics – 1-2 page visual formatted for stakeholders and Practice Abstracts for the EIP-AGRI portal using the common format

Channels for dissemination (informed by T8.3) will include

·    demonstration events in CSS for stakeholders outside of the project to facilitate learning and knowledge exchange of project results in collaboration with WP2

·    website and social media, webinars

3. Scientist, regulators, EU and member state authorities, industry

·    A suite of new Standardized Soil Laboratory Ecotoxicity Tests for MNP (Protocols, WP4)

·    Guidelines for agri-environmental risk assessment of plastics in soils (WP4,5,6)

·    Open access culture collection of plastic-degrading soil microorganisms (WP6)

·    Recommendations for an industry code of conduct regarding plastics manufacture, sale and use (WP7, industry brief)

4. Policy recommendations - dissemination to decision-makers, policy-makers

·    Policy guidance translated from the inventory of plastic use (WP3, WP7, policy briefs)

·    Guidelines for policy makers on ESS and overall sustainability (WP7)

5. Scientific information – dissemination to project partners, scientific academic community peers:

·    Project partners will share knowledge using a protected section of the project website.

·    Research outputs will be disseminated to the scientific community through peer-reviewed and open access publications, and presentations at conferences (eg EGU, ISME, FEMS, SETAC).

A final project conference will be held (M58) in Brussels aiming to attract an audience of policy makers, farming and industry representatives, scientists.

Task 8.5 Exploitation and project sustainability planning

Task leader: NVM | Participant(s): All partners | Timing: M24- 60

The task will produce a project Exploitation and Sustainability (E&S) plan which will describe the potential commercial exploitation of products/services created within the project and plans for sustainability of project outputs. Partners and stakeholders will be developing:

·    Ready-to-implement standardized protocols to assess the impact of MNP on the soil biota (TRL 5-6); and validate and develop NP analysis (TRL 5-6)

·    The practical toolbox for farmers is an open assess software tool that allows the farmers to calculate the MNP concentration in soils related to plastic input from different sources (TLR 5-6)

·    Open access collection of soil microorganisms with advanced capacity to degrade plastics, for exploitation by industrial partners in the recovery of pollution or implementation of more sustainable plastic use strategies (TRL 4-5)

Another dimension is ensuring sustainability of the project’s momentum and networks

beyond the project’s life. We will support the networks established to consider

future organisational structures and governance for post-project activities.

The tools and materials will remain available on the website and moderated for 12 months after the project ends. After this time DTU will take over the moderation of these tools and materials and maintain the operation of the website for at least 5 more years.

This task will be coordinated by NVM with the involvement of Industry Partners and key technology developers, who have experience in identifying and realizing business opportunities in the agricultural context. It will be supported by the HLMAN and informed by the MAAB. The E&S plan will identify the key exploitable products and services, the potential target user groups, the market potential, the unique selling points and advantages for end-users. It will be prepared by engaging with external stakeholders (potential target users groups) to ascertain their needs and interests (also taking advantage of using social marketing intelligence methods) building on T8.2. A draft E&S plan will be prepared by M48 and revised with input from the consortium and target groups. The final E&S plan will available by M58.

Deliverable 8.1: MINAGRIS visual identity and project website [M5, WU, OTHER, PU] Deliverable 8.2: Assessment of AKIS for plastic use in agriculture and user demands finalized [M9 UoG, R, PU] Deliverable 8.3: D&C Strategy and Reports on the activities [M12, M36, M60, UoG, R, CO] Deliverable 8.4: E&S plan [M58, UoG, R, CO]