Education, Outreach and Communication in the Europlanet 2024 RI project

The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project defined, at the time of proposal submission in 2019, an ambitious programme of education, outreach and media engagement activities designed to maximise the societal impact and engagement of European citizens with the project and with planetary science. After four and a half years, including an extension of six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Europlanet 2024 RI project is coming to an end in July 2024.

Outreach and education programmes have been amongst the most affected within the Europlanet 2024 RI project by the pandemic, since the original plans were highly-dependent on face-to-face activities. Many programmes delivered at the end of the project are either completely new or significantly adapted for online delivery, compared to the original proposal. Innovations include a schools engagement programme linked to Europlanet’s annual meeting, a Discord server, online contests, online training and a magazine.

In this presentation, we will discuss challenges in developing and sustaining an outreach programme for Europlanet, both over the course of this project and in the longer term. We will share lessons learned from experiences of practicing public engagement and educational activities during the pandemic and post-pandemic eras. Finally, we will present sustainability plans for Europlanet’s outreach, education, and media activities.

Education

The Europlanet 2024 RI project has developed a number of resources to support teaching of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) subjects. The Europlanet Society’s Outreach Working Group and the Europlanet Early Careers (EPEC) network have supported the testing, evaluation, and dissemination of the activities, which include ready-to-use lesson plans for teachers themed around Mars and the icy moons of the Solar System.

The education team has also worked in collaboration with partner institutions and networks to run activities. Among the most successful new programmes has been ‘EPSC* Goes Live for Schools’, developed in partnership with Lecturers Without Borders, Scientix and Frontiers and the Europlanet Society’s Diversity Committee and EPEC. Launched in 2020 and held annually in association with the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC)*, the programme has reached hundreds of school children in the meetings’ host cities (Granada and Bratislava) and online.

In 2022-2023, the education team carried out consultations aimed at teachers and science communicators in order to understand their needs and identify how Europlanet could better contribute to the planetary science education landscape at the European level. The recommendations from this survey will guide future planning and strategic activities of the Europlanet Outreach Working Group.

* Note: In 2023 EPSC was held jointly with the US Division of Planetary Sciences in the USA, hence the European-based Europlanet Research Infrastructure Meeting (ERIM) was the focus for the ‘…Goes Live’ programme in 2023.

Outreach

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, early project activities shifted online. Initiatives included a photo competition to mark the BepiColombo flyby of Earth in April 2020, organised in collaboration with ESA communications and INAF, as well as an annual arts competition, #InspiredByOtherWorlds, which is linked to EPSC and co-organised with the Europlanet Society Outreach Working Group. Outreach providers and educators received training via online workshops and webinars,  featuring hands-on sessions with tools like the Europlanet Evaluation Toolkit and 'Planets in a Room' display kits.

In the latter half of the project, face-to-face events resumed, with Europlanet participating in large-scale outreach events, including the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Leiden and non-traditional events, such as Fantasy Basel, attended by thousands of members of the public.

The Europlanet Summer School 2023, which focused on skills development for early career researchers and amateur astronomers, offered training modules and assignments on topics including  an introduction to science communication, writing for the media, engaging with schools, and exhibition design.

Communication

The Europlanet website is the main platform for dissemination of the project’s activities. Over 700 posts on project announcements, publishable reports on facility visits, Expert Exchanges, meeting reports and other updates have been posted over the course of the project. The site has deployed dynamic tools and aggregators to link relevant content to facilities, Regional Hubs and areas of interest (e.g. Diversity or Outreach). Since 2023, a Discord server has offered further opportunities for engagement and discussion with the planetary community.

The Europlanet Media Centre has been responsible for disseminating the activities and results of the Europlanet 2024 RI project to the media and wider community. The social media landscape has changed significantly over the project. While Twitter/X remains the platform with the largest following for @europlanetmedia (doubling over the course of the project from 2K-4K followers), the transition from Twitter to X in 2023 has had a profound impact on the effectiveness of the channel; the number of new followers has slowed, and the number of impressions has also very significantly reduced compared to previous years. By contrast, LinkedIn saw a doubling of followers within the past year.

Over 50 press releases associated with the project and Europlanet Science Congress have garnered international coverage. Notably, results from the Europlanet 2024 RI SPIDER activity have led to several well-received press releases linked to Nature Astronomy/Communications papers.

Europlanet also launched a Magazine in 2021, with the aim of providing a more in-depth showcase for the activities of Europlanet 2024 RI project and the wider Europlanet community. This has proved successful, reaching an audience of around 2000 per issue, but has also provided an opportunity to capture, follow-up on and summarise the results of activities, providing new insights into outcomes and longer-term impacts.

Sustainability

At EPSC2024, Europlanet will present its plans and funding model for sustainability of its activities. The establishment of sustainable structures, including the Europlanet Society Outreach Working Group, the Europlanet Early Careers (EPEC) Network and the non-profit organisation, FTP-Europlanet gUG, should enable Europlanet to continue to support the community in education, outreach and communications activities.

Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.