To reach the required objectives of a project, it is generally important to actively identify the target stakeholders and build up as well as engage the community of a project. In this article, we describe possible strategies in combination with a modular web platform and smart online tools that ensure high-quality outcomes with maximum awareness.

Engagement

Each project must have a strong focus on the immediate and sustained integration and engagement of all relevant stakeholders, starting from a project’s kick-off.  First of all, related stakeholders that can benefit from the project need to be identified. Further, the establishment of well-positioned networks and sustainable future linkages with the relevant organisations is an important aspect, especially when connecting with other Horizon 2020 projects.

Focusing on the engagement of interested parties, various components to implement the necessary awareness and engagement actions should be provided. In this sense, the following activities can be designed and applied during a project’s timeframe, thus activating stakeholder engagement:

Engagement strategy: Foster high-level expert engagement and use a multi-actor approach to create a bridge between scientific and practical knowledge, while including various actors right from the early stages of the action. Following the identification of main stakeholder groups relevant to the scope of the project, an engagement strategy is outlined. 

Promoting awareness: Create topic- and stakeholder-specific awareness sheets and factsheets to promote awareness in the relevant stakeholder groups on the project aims, activities as well as online and offline solutions right from the beginning. Furthermore, through the development of synergies with other funded projects, enhance technical knowledge exchange during roundtable discussions with relevant consortia, thus building upon their findings and implemented actions.

Info events: Organise a series of info events in the form of focus groups, inviting representatives from each stakeholder group relevant to the scope of the project. You should use a set of guiding questions to lead the events. These questions, however, be adapted according to the situation and in case the course of the focus group requires it. The aim is to gain further insights into the stakeholders’ perspectives, which will lead to the development of online and offline solutions and simultaneously raise awareness on project activities and upcoming events. 

Community

A Web Platform should make use of digital dissemination and online demonstration tools as well as conventional marketing materials like leaflets, brochures and fact sheets. The online demonstration functionality provides users with the actual look and feel of potential solutions. Media syndication tools are used besides social bookmarking features to ensure modern possibilities and to share content for all visitors of the platform. Interlinkages with third party channels and digital interfaces are used to increase reach and future awareness to restart the engagement process in a continuous cycle. 

To manage continuous dissemination and specially provided practitioners in every possible field with good practices and potential solutions, a combination of online modules is possible during this stage:

• Good Practice Presenter: It presents good practices and showcases based on the provided data by the workgroups in a structured way and also allows the sharing of marketable information to make the audience aware of the projects’ approach. 
• Solution Finder and Demonstrator: This module of the platform could provide a sophisticated Solution Finder to select the derived solutions based on specific criteria and filter options. Each solution is described by its features and the used approaches. 

Digital Dissemination and Social Sharing Tools: This module would compile Digital Dissemination materials like leaflets, fact sheets, brochures as well as a media and press kit consisting of common descriptions of the project, good practices and showcases. By directly hosting combined dissemination material packages on the web, widespread distribution of those is eased.