The Shoreline communications team, responsible for REEForest project communications, participated in the National Science Communication Conference: four days of conferences organised by ILAS, the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Natural and Human Sciences at SISSA in Trieste, to exchange methods and ideas on how to communicate science to different audiences.
Our colleagues prepared a short presentation to outline the communication strategies and challenges associated with the REEForest project during one of the conference’s mosaic sessions dedicated to European projects. The mosaic format consists of grouping together three or four presentations of up to 7 minutes each by different speakers on the same topic, followed by questions from the audience.
The mosaic session we participated in was moderated by Andrea Rubin, a sociologist at the University of Ferrara specialised in science communication, and also featured contributions from Alessandra Fornetti, coordinator of the Science Communication Unit at Venice International University (VIU) and head of the #MUHAI digital campaigns, and Matteo Serra, science communicator for INFN and communications coordinator for Italy’s bid to host the Einstein Telescope experiment.
Elena Toti from Shoreline explored the communications strategy chosen for the REEForest project to raise awareness of the decline of marine forests and the relevance of restoration activities. She showed some of the content published on social media, highlighting both the difficulties encountered in communicating restoration activities that depend on nature and which, unfortunately, cannot always be carried out as planned, and the positive results achieved thanks to the stunning visual material filmed and photographed on site.
The meeting was inspiring and the audience participated with interest, asking questions to all the speakers. Some of the students enrolled in SISSA’s Franco Prattico Master’s Degree in Science Communication also took part, expressing their curiosity about the world of institutional communication and how communicators work in this field.
The conference was very intense and we were able to exchange ideas with colleagues from all over Italy. We can’t wait to return in two years!
