Over the last five consecutive framework programmes, the European Commission has supported research in the field of Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) aiming to generate a positive impact into current pressing societal challenges. In fact, over the last decade, around 3000 organisations from the European Union and beyond have been actively involved in more than 400 projects addressing issues related to migration, integration and demographic change, employment and new growth, cultures and citizenship, global justice and stability, reserving inequalities, etc. However, although research has produced valuable findings and promising results, these do not always reach its targets in society, policy or the market, thus hampering the opportunity to be fertilized and transformed into innovations with potential benefits and positive impact to our society.
The uptake and valorisation of research results and dissemination towards ‘knowledge end-users’ such as research and business communities, policy/decision makers, civil society and citizens and the media, is of paramount importance to deliver an efficient support for policies, foster innovation and contribute to build resilient, inclusive, participatory, open and creative societies in Europe.
DANDELION promoted the work of IIRS projects on a local, regional and European level by developing and implementing a series of innovative and exciting communication activities aimed at informing, educating and entertaining a wide cross-section of the European population, policy makers, academics and the media. DANDELION gave the IIRS’s ambitious philosophy the biggest profile by placing key challenges (e.g. the European economic and financial reform, the problems young people face in Europe, cultural heritage, European values and diversities, the EU's role as a global actor, the new forms of public sector innovation, etc.) at the heart of these activities by a) involving established science educators, b) creating clear lines of communication between projects and named mass media and c) utilising novel communications. Moreover, by giving dissemination managers the right tools and guidelines to reach the general public, policy makers, academia and the media, DANDELION guaranteed an improved access to research projects’ data in the future.
