VIU has been awarded a Horizon 2020 grant for QUEST - Quality and effectiveness in science and technology communication, a € 1.2 million project which will be funded by the EU Commission within the SwafS action - Science with and for Society, the first ever call launched by the EU on re-examining the role of Science Communication.
VIU’s TEN Program on Sustainability
VIU, through its TEN Program on Sustainability, will coordinate a European consortium of 8 partners formed by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, City University of London, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Tallinn University, Trinity College Dublin, Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea (APRE) & World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
Journalism, Social Media & Museums | Climate Change, Vaccines & Artificial Intelligence
During the two-year project researchers and experts from the QUEST consortium will investigate science communication in three strands - journalism, social media, museums - through three case studies: climate change, vaccines, and Artificial Intelligence. The final aim is to take stock of science communication today, to define quality criteria, to provide supporting tools for journalists, social media managers and museums facilitators, in order to ultimately offer citizens effective and reliable communication on scientific topics that generally have a significant impact on their daily lives, such as those selected as case studies.
VIU as Lead Partner
As Lead Partner, VIU will be responsible for the overall project coordination and management as well as its scientific direction. “The markedly multi-disciplinary approach required by the EU call”, says Alessandra Fornetti Executive Director of the TEN Program on Sustainability and QUEST Coordinator, “has been largely satisfied by VIU’s capacity to put together a consortium that draws on a variety of backgrounds, disciplines and roles”. The QUEST consortium brings together science communication researchers, editors, communicators, journalists and science journalists, digital creativity and data science experts, environmental scientists, along with a number of companies, associations and prestigious research institutions that form a first group of key Stakeholders (among them are BBC, CERN, INFN, Alcantara SpA).
“The specific methodology applied to this particular topic”, says Ilda Mannino Scientific Coordinator of the TEN Program on Sustainability and QUEST Scientific Coordinator, “with its three-strand approach and the selection of key case studies, has certainly been one of the trump cards for QUEST”.
QUEST’s first steps were taken through a very fertile initial dialogue with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (a Founding Member of the VIU) and has grown into a very strong and motivated cooperation which is certainly at the basis of this joint success. The competences brought in by Enrico Costa, Communications Office, and Fabiana Zollo, Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics has contributed to the development of two main aspects of the project, i.e. the management of communication in research institutions and in social media. VIU and Ca’ Foscari will jointly work on research and innovative education tools of which both institutions will highly and promptly benefit, with the further common objective to involve other VIU Member Universities in this mutual challenge of Science Communication.
