A survey of recently funded and started H2020 bioeconomy research projects was undertaken by CommBeBiz in Period 2. The purpose of this surveys was to ask about the needs and wishes of projects and provide starting points for partners to plan with and provide those specific services and opportunities to projects. The actions on offer included the co-creation of project briefs; participation in webinars and testinars (a combination of webinars with ‘testing’ of the information shared by experts); contribution of materials for the annual Bioeconomy Innovation magazine; provision of training in communications; application for Awards and Bursaries to provide access to CommBeBiz Academies and business mentors; attendance at the annual networking events; participation in competitions, plus joining the online bioeconomy research community with access to all resources, information and training materials online.
Project partners reinvigorated their efforts to engage with the bioeconomy research community, endeavouring to make it easy for more individuals to say ‘yes’ to participation by providing reshaped opportunities to develop understanding and skills.
From Awards to Bursaries (WP5) Instead of participation in a competition, projects were invited to request a bursary to attend one of five Academies.
Website development (WP2, WP3): the development of the web platform and assessment of its ability to support recruitment and retention continued throughout Period 2. There were 68,969 website page views up to February 2018.
Media and social media (WP2, WP4): Pracsis and Minerva discussed and agreed tactics to increase media engagement, which remained problematic. Social media CommBeBiz utilized the two most appropriate social media channels for science and researchers – Twitter and LinkedIn. Research by Teagasc (in 2016) found that while many researchers favoured using social media to disseminate their successes to wide sections of society, they choose to focus their most extensive online engagement efforts towards the scholarly community.
Publications (WP4, WP6, WP2) – The ability to co-create a Project Brief was one of the most tangible benefits of engaging with CommBeBiz, positioned as a supplementary addition to traditional project literature. 45 were published and available on-line by the end of Period 2. Three publications were issued as full colour, attractive magazines, entitled Bioeconomy Innovation. The BeBizBlueprint (WP6), the final major deliverable of the project, summarises the key learnings and experiences of the project, collated into key messages for a range of organisations and sectors that make up the ‘Ecosystem’ surrounding the research community.
Skills development (WP2, WP4) The major focus of Period 2 was the design and delivery of online and face-to-face training and development opportunities and resources for researchers. 27 Online webinars of various styles continue to be available in recorded form; ‘real time’ communications courses, bespoke by invitation from organisations or agencies, or organised by CommBeBiz, have been held attracting a range of delegates.
Outreach meetings (WP2). In Period 2, CommBeBiz participated in a range of meetings, all focused on the bioeconomy. Annual meetings (WP3) As planned in the DoA, three annual networking meetings open to all were delivered – two in Period 2 (London, led by Minerva, and Budapest, led by EBN). Taking the title of Bioeconomy Impact for all three events, the programme focused on specific workshops as preferred by delegates with plenty of networking time.
Photo Competition (WP3) Introduced by partner Teagasc to encourage more projects and researchers to engage. 90 entries were received for the 2016 competition, 107 in 2017 and 75 in 2018.
