The essence of how and what to communicate about your EU project hasn't really changed in Horizon Europe. Writing great content, delivering informative messages to the right people, selecting the most appropriate platforms, and choosing the ideal format should still be at the top of your thoughts.
On a pure Horizon Europe level, these are the main changes and novelties you will have to consider while drafting your proposal and some extra tools which can help you raise awareness and increase impact.
Dissemination and Exploitation plan
In section 2.2, instead of writing an extensive dissemination and exploitation of results plan, you will need to draft a brief plan aimed at a targeted audience supporting section 2.1, Project’s Pathways Towards Impact. Do not worry, hoping that your project will be amongst the funded ones, you will then have to provide a fully-fledged D&C&E plan within the first six months of the project’s implementation. As usual, you are expected to change and update the plan according to new and unforeseen needs within the project.
The Impact Canvas
You will find the Impact Canvas in Section 2.3, under the name of Summary. The Summary is one of the stars of the new proposal template, proving clarity of vision and substance to the proposal. The Canvas is a table in which you will have to ‘summarise’ what you wrote in sections 2.1 and 2.2. You’re expected to clearly explain which Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication measures you have decided to adopt to maximise impact.
New Dissemination tools
I will dedicate a few lines on the tools that the European Commission recently created for beneficiaries. But you can read about other existing EC tools which are free to use here. Most likely, you will mention those platforms in your C&D deliverables.
- Horizon Results Platform: launched during the R&I Days back in 2019 in pilot mode, the Horizon Results Platform was recently revamped. It’s a place for beneficiaries to upload and promote the Key Exploitable Results (KER) of their projects, and it can be used as a matchmaking tool, making it easier for you to meet people who are interested in your results. When uploading your KERs, you may also add what type of support you are looking for. Read more about it here.
- Horizon Results Booster: entirely led by META Group, the Horizon Results Booster is a free tool that the European Commission offers beneficiaries, and it is aimed at maximising the impact of R&I projects. You can apply as one single project or as a project group. You just need to select which service you need and submit your expression of interest. Within the Booster, the beneficiaries can find three services:
- Portfolio Dissemination & Exploitation Strategy
- Business plan development
- Go to Market
- Open Research Europe: This tool was officially launched only a few days ago. If you have any scientific publications, you may want to explore this more in detail. Open Research Europe is an open access publishing platform that beneficiaries can use to publish any research results coming from R&I funded programmes and it’s in line with the EU’s open science policy. An editorial team will review the article upon submission to ensure that policies and ethical guidelines are adhered to, and an open peer review and article revision will follow. You can follow them on Twitter to be up to date with the latest articles: @OpenResearch_EU.
Intrigued? Join our Communication and Dissemination webinar on 7th April 2021 and explore with us some other communication tools, actions, KPIs and reporting tips.
More information
Follow our hashtag #HorizonEuropeNovelties to be up-to-date with the latest changes. And follow #H2020 and #HorizonEU's official Twitter account: @EU_H2020.
Find communication and dissemination confusing? Learn more about them here.
And if you want to brush up your knowledge on Dissemination and Exploitation, read here.
