COMSCIENCE · ComScience Network: providing added value to EU research dissemination efforts at regional level

The ComScience Network brings recent EU research results into local communities through science communicators from five different EU cities. Local scientific experts and representatives of local or regional administrations will participate and promote local scientific culture. Five chosen science topics address the concerns and interests of European citizens: stem cell research, the use of genetically modified organisms, obesity and type 2 diabetes, allergies and asthma as well as contaminants in our food. The project structure stimulates the exchange of know-how and best practices and enables Science City driven partnerships between local actors from different places in Europe. In three years ComScience will: i) consult key players to discuss content and format of the proposed activities ; ii) adapt disseminated materials from FP6 and FP7 research consortia ; iii) organise 25 public dissemination events ; and iv) produce extensive evaluation reports for policy input. The deliverables of the ComScience project goes beyond its immediate activities, namely to evaluate and document to what extent it is possible to: • compile and re-work (edit, format) the information - that is produced by the many different EU funded research consortia as the output of their dissemination activities - in an international collective(s) of local dissemination actors • create a generic methodology (best practice) that allows widespread dissemination of the the structured data on a significantly larger scale, in local settings while respecting regional differences. • provide the means to keep the accumulated knowledge up to date and for a long term use by different communication organisations. To achieve these goals, ComScience has brought together a powerful team that represents not only different types of science communicators, but also represents different European regions and cities.