Transcript Building and Improving Support for RTD Policy and Public Spending

Building and Improving Support for RTD
Policy and Public Spending
Communication
How to do Things Better
Christina Kaul
Practice Leader Public Affairs Europe,
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
April 29, 2008
© 2008 Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.waggeneredstrom.com
“The combined level of public and private RTD
funding is the strongest single indicator for the
relative success of a region / country in the
European Innovation Index.”
- European Regional Innovation
Scoreboard
Challenges for RTD Funding in Europe
Strategic
approach
to RTD
policy
Coordination
between
stakeholders
Communication
Innovation Ecosystem and Role of Communication
Strands of RTD Communication
Public science
education
Facilitate
business
application
Build public
support for
RTD spending
R&D
?
Research and
project
promotion
Research
dissemination
Key Learnings from BIS-RTD
1. Few good practices identified, in particular no systemic examples
2. Communication needs to be content-driven
3. Regional vision required about RTD funding to push RTD policy
demands upwards
4. More cooperation between all stakeholders necessary for
successful communication
5. Hollistic approach fundamental for concrete communication
programs
6. RTD Community needs to embrace communication and
educational outreach
7. Public science education essential to win long-term public support
8. Lots of open questions how to improve communication systems
Communication Principles For RTD Support
Bridge from
RTD towards
societal value
Shift messaging
towards emotion
Build
stakeholder
platforms
Communication
as a strategic
approach
Tell stories not
only facts
Increased
Support for
RTD Policy
and
Funding
Stakeholder
engagement vs
one-way
information
Link RTD with Societal Value Creation
RTD
INNOVATION
COMMUNICATION
SOCIETAL VALUE
From Logic to Emotion
Innovation
Leadership
Innovation Facts
Research
R&D
Labs
Engineers
Patents
Inventions
Proprietary
IP
Customer insight
Lifestyle
Innovation Beliefs
Innovative
Creative
Revolutionary
Pioneer
Avant-garde
Cutting-edge
Visionary
Ideas
Genius
Innovation Narrative
Rational messaging
Emotional messaging
© 2007 Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Inc. All rights reserved.
Compelling Stories to People
WHAT IS
THIS?
MODERATELY
COMPLEX
ISSUES
SIMPLE
ISSUES
STORYTELLING
COMPLEXITY
An Approach to Communicating RTD
RTD - A Complex Community of Interests
Policy
Makers
Informed
elites
Universities
Support for
RTD Funding
Small
businesse
s
Industry
Media
Public
Build Pillars of Support
Get buy-in from general public
Streamline science education programs to include societal and individual’s considerations
Reach out to
policy makers
Strategic approach to
build support
communities with various
sets of policy makers and
win politicians by their
own motives
Educate
journalists
Win support of
informed elites
Engage with journalism
training and develop tools
to foster pools of
specialized journalists
Develop tailored
arguments for different
segments and target via
focused media outreach
and online communication
Build stakeholder support
Diversity of stakeholders to build pro-RTD platform with clear objectives and strategy and
joint roll-out of program wit continuous involvement of partners
BIS-RTD and Communication: Moving Forward
• Communication manual to
build support for RTD funding
• Regional workshops for
building stakeholder platforms
• Web-based forum to
exchange experience and
best practices
• Development of training tools
THANK YOU!