Blueprint for #CitSciComm with and for policymakers (D4.4)

NEWSERA Blueprints for citizen science communication (#citscicomm) with and for quadruple helix stakeholders (citizens and society at large, academic scientists, public sector and policymakers, industry and SMES) and science and data journalists is an instrument that can serve a general audience, including those who are planning to start a citizen science (CS) project, those who want to improve and/or rethink their communication strategies in order to increase specific target audiences, or those who want to enlarge their scope of action by involving the different actors of the quadruple helix model and the media. The road for CS projects establishment and sustainability is long and there are many barriers to be faced. But you are not alone! Together with 39 CS projects from Italy, Spain and Portugal, the NEWSERA Pilots, we have tested the NEWSERA methodology for the co-design, implementation, iterative assessment and validation of communication strategies directed to each of the quadruple helix stakeholders and science and data journalists. This was performed through our #CitSciComm Labs, dedicated to each individual stakeholder, consisting of three rounds of workshops, replicated in each of the participating countries, throughout three years. In this series of five blueprints, NEWSERA brings the learnings of this co-created process together with our pilots, invited stakeholders and science communication experts (NEWSERA Sounding Board) that was complemented with mentoring, capacity building and networking sessions, generating knowledge, recommendations and useful resources. In this blueprint, dedicated to policymakers as target stakeholder, you will find, more in depth, the importance to address this stakeholder, good practices on the co-design of targeted communication plans, elements of co-design, mutual benefits of CS project-stakeholder, and indicators. Furthermore, a description and details of messages, innovative tools, channels and specific case-studies from the NEWSERA Pilots are included. Finally, we shared a series of recommendations to efficiently engage with quadruple helix stakeholders and science and data journalists for wider impact and ensure replicability of the NEWSERA findings and science communication strategies in citizen science projects and beyond