The FoodRisC e-resource centre

Last Updated : 02 June 2017

The interactive FoodRisC e-resource centre provides relevant information and guidelines for a range of professional communities and stakeholders in different scenarios of food-related risk communication, and suggests concrete strategies for action. The resource centre is aimed at policy makers, food authorities, food industry, NGOs and other stakeholders involved in food risk and benefit communication  It is designed to facilitate effective and coherent communication on food risks and benefits thereby promoting consumer understanding through clear messages.

This resource centre is the output of the FP7 FoodRisC project, which was coordinated by University College Dublin and funded under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission under grant agreement number: 245124.

It includes six specific sections each containing multiple case studies.

1. ‘Evaluate your situation’ summarises factors identified, by both academics and practitioners, as being crucial to risk communication decision-making. Reflecting on the purpose of the communications strategy is a key factor to keep in mind when deciding on future activities.
2. ‘Understand your audience’ offers guidelines and tips to tailor communication according to the needs of the target audience. Besides knowing who your audience is, it is important to identify key influencers and increase communication effectiveness towards them. This section includes an interactive, online tool to help decide the best research method, to gather knowledge about the audience and to respond to potential research questions.
3. ‘Create your message’ gives tips on how to translate science accurately into relatively simple language that risk managers, stakeholders and wider audiences can understand, in order to avoid misinterpretations.
4. ‘Media channels’ identifies the strengths and weaknesses of different communication channels (both social and traditional media), and offers practical guidance, such as ‘how to get started’, and tips to assist best practice.
5. ‘Monitor communications’ presents tips and guidelines on how to monitor online conversations, which makes it possible to detect upcoming issues at an early stage and to learn more about networks of people involved in discussions and content creation.
6. ‘Public involvement’ enables understanding of the thoughts and needs of both consumers and stakeholders through the VIZZATA tool, which is essential to maximise the effectiveness of food risk and benefit communication.

Visit the e-resource centre here: www.resourcecentre.foodrisc.org.