On Tuesday April 11th, the Horizon Europe funded research project COALESCE kicked off. COALESCE wants to strengthen, further develop, and mainstream generated knowledge and connections on science communication to establish a European Competence Centre for Science Communication. By building on cooperative relationships with multiple stakeholders on an international and interdisciplinary level, COALESCE aims to demonstrate the means of rapid mobilisation of science communication in times of crisis while fighting misinformation and engendering trust in science.
In a world where scientific relevance is increasingly questioned on different forms of media it is critical that researchers understand how to communicate to the public. COALESCE focuses on creating a center of expertise for best practices and communicating with the public. Ultimately in the end COALESCE intends to deliver a self-sustaining competence center, (both virtual and physical), to ensure excellence and training. COALESCE will provide a compendium of resources to make accessible science communication tools for scientists, public policy makers, journalists, and science communicators.
Effectiveness science communication
COALESCE ensures the effectiveness of and best practices for science communication through a concerted and focused effort made by an experienced, knowledgeable, and well-connected consortium. As a coordinated support action, the entire aim of COALESCE is to bring together diverse stakeholders in the science communication field. This includes equipping citizen scientists, matchmaking tools for journalists, platform training for scientists, education modules, scientific crisis response guidelines, and more.
Erasmus University Rotterdam co-coordinates the project together with Science for Change (Spain). Other consortium partners are: Venice International University (Italy), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), LUT University (Finland), Formicablu (Italy), University of Valencia (Spain), VU Foundation (Netherlands), Stickydot (Belgium), FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, S.I.S.S.A. Medialab (Italy), Tallinn University (Estonia), University of the West of England Bristol (United Kingdom).
The kick-off of COALESCE was part of the Public Communication of Science and Technology conference in Rotterdam, a bi-annual conference where the global science community comes together.