Communication Mediation and Transfer of Knowledge in Champagne Ardenne » – COMETES-CA

The COMETES-CA project, "COmmunication MEdiation TransfErt of Knowledge in Champagne Ardenne," aims to enhance scientific communication, mediation, and valorization in Champagne-Ardenne by structuring and coordinating the actions of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA), the University of Technology of Troyes (UTT), and the Center for Scientific, Technical, and Industrial Culture (CCSTI) ACCUSTICA. This aligns with an ambitious strategy of dialogue between research and society, facilitating public access to scientific knowledge produced by nine ANR projects, five of which are led by URCA and four by UTT. The project involves structuring, coordinating, and intensifying scientific communication, mediation, and valorization actions in the Champagne region, particularly targeting audiences in rural areas and priority neighborhoods. It is part of an ambitious strategy for science with and for society, fostering exchange between the research world and citizens and contributing to the reinforcement and cross-fertilization of knowledge.
The project organization will rely on two mechanisms: a steering committee tasked with supervising the project, comprising political and operational actors from both universities and ACCUSTICA, and a project group composed of ANR project coordinators and ACCUSTICA facilitators responsible for implementing actions as decided by the steering committee. While leveraging existing and recurring actions by URCA and UTT, ACCUSTICA will propose new actions to train coordinators and/or their team members in scientific mediation and communication for non-expert audiences, adapting the content to target audiences. For each project, leaders will engage in one or more actions over the three years: participation in COMÈTES meetings; mediation actions targeting audiences in the Champagne region within listed events; and the creation of popular science products such as videos, podcasts, popular science articles, posters, educational kits, or intervention materials for training sessions.
A self-evaluation approach will be conducted over three years for the continuous improvement and measurement of the project results to optimize its impact. For each action, a dashboard of key indicators will be produced, analyzed, and measured through self-evaluation.
The COMETES-CA project fully aligns with the strategy of the third application for the SAPS label, jointly supported by the three partners. It addresses three strategic objectives of the label by strengthening the dialogue between science, research, and society; establishing lasting partnerships between the academic world, actors in scientific mediation and communication, institutions and local authorities, and media and associative actors; and finally, by supporting the skills development of all research personnel in science-society dialogue.