Twenty-four researchers from the EfD centers participated in a policy engagement and science communication workshop in Accra, Ghana. The workshop contributed to strengthening participants’ capacity with a range of communication tools and techniques essential to have an impact on society.
EfD aims not only to produce high-level research but also make it easily available for policymakers and other stakeholders in society. This calls for systematic and efficient stakeholder engagement, as well as communication skills. Effective communication means presenting your message in a short, easily understandable, and relevant manner.
The workshop involved taught sessions on key communication tools and channels such as press releases, policy briefs, media interviews, and social media. There were presentations of individual and group assignments, some very hands-on exercises, and some presentations of highly relevant policy impact case studies. The workshop also featured an interesting session on AI that sought to expose participants to innovative tools for enhancing productivity.
“The main goal of the training initiative is to build a community of practice of policy engagement and science communication to further raise the impact of the EfD network,” says Daniel Slunge, EfD Policy Engagement Director, and one of the workshop’s facilitators.
For participant Adrian Saldarriaga Isaza, EfD Colombia, the training is a solution for overcoming a longstanding hurdle in his career.
“I decided to study economics because I wanted to be involved in something that can contribute to managing the environment. But after many years of doing research I’ve realized that even though you can do very good research, it can be challenging to connect with the policymakers. The need to improve on this is why I decided this course is important for me, and my center.”
“This course has been very useful because I’ve learned about how to get more involved in the policy space not only when you have the results but how to have a connection with policy from the start of the research.”
A structured approach for raising research impact
Daniel Slunge explained that the training initiative on Policy Engagement and Science Communication uses a structured and strategic learning approach aimed at facilitating and accelerating EfD’s goal to achieve greater impact in research. Having participated in five previous online workshops, the participants were pleased to connect with their peers and facilitators in Accra and build on learning.
In addition to the immersive in-person learning experience provided, an aspect that made the workshop more meaningful for the participants was the opportunity to build new relationships and networks. Another was the chance to hear and take in inspiration from the research-policy impact success stories and achievements of others. This included an inspiring presentation by EfD Ghana Center Director, Wisdom Akpalu, together with Rebecca Sackey-Mensah of the Fisheries Commission. Wisdom Akpalu was later adjudged winner of the 2023 EfD Policy Impact Award.
Empowered to empower others
Like Adrian Saldarriaga Isaza, several participants were keen to share their feedback on the training. This includes EfD Vietnam’s Le Hoa Dang who said the workshop met her objective to equip herself with the set of tools and techniques needed to make her work more useful to society.
“I learned a lot about various tools and techniques to communicate research findings…how to work with journalists and plan my research to involve policymakers from the outset and make my research more useful.”
The participants also highlighted their plans to extend the gains to their colleagues and centers.
“I have already made a plan to meet our younger colleagues and take them through what we learned here,” says Peter Babyenda of EfD Uganda.
Monica Lambong-Quayefio, EfD Ghana also shares, “The training is beneficial; networking and getting to know more about what others are doing and how they are doing it. I am going to work with the EfD team in Ghana to see how we can start implementing some of the things that were shared.”
The workshop was held from 3 to 4 October 2023 at the Accra City Hotel in Accra, as part of activities preceding the 17 EfD Annual meeting. Facilitators and presenters were Petra Hansson, Daniel Slunge, and Erik Sterner from the EfD Global Hub, Ghana, and Vicentia Quartey of EfD Ghana. Course participants Dang Le Hoa of EfD Vietnam and Nnaemeka Chukwuone of EfD Nigeria also presented cases from their countries.
By Vicentia Quartey