One Health EJP Communication and Media Workshop
How Science Achievements Reach People and Contribute to a Better Life
Thank you to the lead organisers at Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (Bulgaria) led by Professor Hristo Daskalov, and co-organisers, The One Health EJP Communications Team at University of Surrey (UK), for organising a unique and successful Communication and Media workshop.
The coronavirus pandemic resulted in our Communication and Media workshop being an online event, hosted on 5th-6th October 2020.
The workshop boasted leading communication experts in public health, with a specific focus on food safety and risk assessment, and included training delivered by a former TV News broadcaster, presenter and reporter who is an expert on media performance and media interviews.
The organisers and speakers delivered a high-quality course consisting of theoretical and practical elements of communication to over 35 delegates from 18 countries.
To ensure the workshop was interactive despite being online, delegates participated in group-work presentation exercises, and even had the opportunity to attend and participate in exemplary ‘live’ public media mock interviews on their topical research area, teaching them how to answer the questions of journalists and how to deliver their key messages effectively.
Delegates were from various career stages, including bachelor’s students, masters students, PhD students, early career post-doctoral researchers and doctors of human and veterinary medicine.
The delegates represented all pillars of One Health, including veterinary medicine, human medicine, biological sciences, environmental sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, public health, infectious diseases, microbiology, mathematics, social sciences, economics and communications. Bringing together people from across disciplines made this workshop truly cross- disciplinary and highlighted the advantages of a One Health approach.
The comprehensive workshop programme provided delegates with the opportunity to learn from experts about risk communication, EU communication campaigns, and the coordination of communication activities and strategies related to public health and food safety risks.
Delegates also learned techniques and tools to communicate their research more effectively- examples include the creation of a communication strategy, brand awareness, the use of social media, how to deliver successful public media interviews and the role of popular scientific journals.
The attendance of delegates from diverse backgrounds allowed for interesting collaborative discussions and for knowledge and experiences to be shared.
Here’s what 2 of our PhD students had to say about the event:
Filip Damek, ToxSAUQMRA PhD student, ANSES, France
“I am glad I could have been a part of the One Health EJP Communication and Media workshop as it has taught me, among other things, the importance of having an online presence to share my results with public and other scientists. All the tips on improving my communication skills I obtained during this workshop I can apply to my presentations immediately. It was all well worth it, thank you!”
Laura Gonzalez Villeta, EnvDis PhD student, University of Surrey, UK
“I loved participating in the mock interviews, it was a very nice learning experience…”
For more information about this workshop, visit the Communication and Media Workshop page.
