FoodStories: Impactful food science communication
Overview
The FoodStories project is on a mission to equip food science academics at all levels with storytelling techniques that will help them communicate scientific facts and results in a more engaging and memorable way to a non-expert audience.
What are we going to do? (aka, the objectives)
The FoodStories project has two main objectives:
• Increase the ability of food scientists to communicate effectively about their research to non-expert audiences by using storytelling
• Enhance the capabilities of professors and universities to innovate their curricula to teach food science communication through methodologies, good practices and hands-on trainings.
How will we get there?
To achieve these objectives, FoodStories will implement several activities, including:
- Researching good storytelling practices concerning science communication and collecting those that can be successfully used for specific food science communication in the publication: FOODSTORIES Best Practices Collection
- Putting knowledge in action by developing materials and practical exercises to equip professors, researchers and scientists in the food sector to effectively communicate their research to a wide audience. Relevant publications: Exercises Toolbox and Facilitator’s Guide
- Creating a video masterclass on food science storytelling as a comprehensive educational tool to improve or create university curricula on food science communication
The FOODSTORIES project is funded by ERASMUS+ programme and carried out by an European consortium composed of 5 partners.
Aarhus University (Denmark, Project Coordinator) is a major Danish university with a strong international reputation across the entire research spectrum. Together with University College Dublin (Ireland) they bring academic and research strengths in agricultural and food sciences and nutrition and health sciences and provide with a cohort of students and early career researchers to test the materials and content developed by the project.
European Food Information Council (Belgium) brings the experience of seasoned food science communicators in translating complex food and nutrition into accessible content
i-strategies (Italy) provides expertise in storytelling techniques and science communication through a narrative approach.
LOBA (Portugal) leads the communication and dissemination activities with their skillful experienced team from marketers to designers to developers.
EUFIC contributes to all activities related to content production in FOODSTORIES, from mapping best practices to creating the masterclass and validating all projects results. In particular, we lead the production of learning materials and practical exercises. We also contribute to communication and dissemination thanks to our established network of collaborators and members operating in the food sectors.
Since the launch of the project in January 2023, we:
- Supported the development the brand identity and the creation of the website
- Collected best practices in science communication and contributed to the drafting of the relevant publication FOODSTORIES Best Practices Collection
- Drafted the content, supported by the other partners, for the materials and practical exercises that led to the publication of the FOODSTORIES Exercises Toolbox and companion Facilitator’s Guide
- Coordinated the testing phase through three workshops (two in-person and one online) with end-users to validate the effectiveness of these materials
Spotlight on: the Exercises Toolbox and Facilitator’s Guide
The FOODSTORIES Exercises Toolbox consists of 19 exercises that cover key storytelling elements and techniques that can be used for science communication divided in four main categories: Foundations, Building your story, Strengthening your story and Maintaining scientific integrity.
The exercises are presented in order, starting from the fundamentals and progressing to more advanced topics. Users can also use the exercise overview to navigate the content based on their educational needs and the section "Possible combinations of exercises" to see suggestions for exercises to try based on expertise level.
Lastly, the section “Learn more about” address common questions and concerns related to using storytelling in food science communication. We give references to additional resources and suggestions for further readings are available at the very end.
In addition to the above, the Facilitator’s Guide provides insights for educators, like university professors, to help them run the exercises in a group setting, for example a workshop or lecture. It also includes tips to apply in live settings and online, from set-up to assessment.
What’s next?
EUFIC will be busy with the dissemination of the Exercises Toolbox and Facilitator’s Guide, while contributing to the creation of the Masterclass, from content definition, development and assessment.
- Giulia Gaggiotti, Knowledge & Operations analyst
- Kenia Fita Capdevila, Collaborative Projects, Junior Manager
- Hashtag: #FoodStoriesEU
- Website: https://foodstories-project.eu/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/foodstories_eu
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foodstories-eu/