Work Package 6: Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation

Name: Marieke Reuver

Institute: AquaTT (Ireland)

Education: MSc Animal Sciences, specialising in animal production systems and aquaculture and fisheries

Current role: Programme Manager at AquaTT and leader of SEAFOODTOMORROW WP6.

What are the main objectives of WP6, and why are they important in terms of the overall aim of SEAFOODTOMORROW?

SEAFOODTOMORROW Work package 6 deals with communicating the project’s research and results to the outside world. Communication, dissemination and exploitation are essential components of the innovation process, and getting it right is vital in ensuring the greatest impact from the project. As an innovation action, we are really focusing on this process in SEAFOODTOMORROW. The core Work Package 6 team are from four organisations: AquaTT, EuroFIR, Aeforia srl and URV, but all partners have an active role in communication.

Dissemination is often a neglected afterthought in busy research schedules, but the dissemination of key findings is a crucial step in publicly funded research projects such as SEAFOODTOMORROW. We believe that there is an ethical obligation to ensure that research findings are communicated to other researchers, to individuals and institutions in the areas related to seafood and aquaculture, as well as to the general public.

In Work Package 6 we use an active and systematic approach to ensure effective dissemination. By disseminating and transferring SEAFOODTOMORROW’s results, we pass on the benefits and anticipate that the research will be widely known, understood and utilised.

What communication and dissemination activities have been carried out so far?

SEAFOODTOMORROW has a publicly available project’s website which is a valuable communication tool and repository for all of SEAFOODTOMORROW‘s results, activities and events. We have also established a strong social media presence for SEAFOODTOMORROW on Twitter and LinkedIn. We have various promotional tools such as a project factsheet, these e-newsletters and we produced a short video, now available in 10 languages through YouTube, Vimeo and the project’s website.  All partners are very active in communicating their results, through for example scientific conferences, workshops and other events.

How will SEAFOODTOMORROW ensure that new knowledge outputs generated by the project are effectively transferred to relevant end-users?

SEAFOODTOMORROW makes use of an innovative knowledge management and transfer methodology which has been developed by AquaTT based on years of experience in this field. We look at each research output and identify end-users based on its unique features and possibilities. Based on this information, we establish means to connect the output and end-user. It is a very targeted methodology which we find very effective for transferring relevant outputs and making a real impact.

The seafood sector is often misconceived as a low skill and unexciting industry. What is SEAFOODTOMORROW doing to address this?

Indeed, seafood businesses are struggling to recruit fresh, young talent. As part of our dissemination and specifically knowledge transfer activities, our partner Aeiforia have developed an e-learning tool, aimed at improving professional skills and competencies of those working or being trained to work within the seafood industry. The tool includes 20 e-modules covering SEAFOODTOMORROW related topics, sustainability, safety and quality in the seafood sector and shares new know-how on solutions developed by our partners on tackling issues the industry currently faces. The free-of-charge resource will be launched in April 2021.

How will the public and seafood consumers benefit from SEAFOODTOMORROW results?

The project has developed several new and healthier seafood products, as well as new tools and technologies to ensure higher quality seafood in Europe. Under Work Package 6, the team has also developed a consumer risk-benefit communication tool – FishChoice 2.0, which empowers consumers to make better decisions about their seafood intake. This tool enables users to balance potential risks (understand risks associated with intake of chemical pollutants), benefits (intake of nutrients) and sustainability (seafood stocks). We are really excited about this tool, which will be launched later this year!

Amazing work! Thank you so much for taking the time to update us on your work in work package 6.