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Dissemination and exploitation
of results of our programmes

The dissemination and exploitation process

The importance of connecting

The results of projects funded through EU programmes and initiatives need to achieve maximum impact: they should radiate as widely as possible so that the valuable lessons and experience gained by one group can benefit others.  Moreover, what is learnt from a project should inform future policy. All this can happen only if connections are made between the organisers of the project and the wider community. The key means of connecting with a target audience is the process of dissemination and exploitation.

The aim – by developing the full potential of a project’s results – is to create a virtuous cycle of influence making results more sustainable, maximising their impact, optimising investment, improving systems, pooling knowledge to avoid overlap of effort, and then feeding back into policy-making.

A fine distinction

Although dissemination and exploitation are closely related, they are distinct processes. While the mechanisms for dissemination  and exploitation (mainstreaming and multiplication of results) often overlap, dissemination (including also information provision and awareness raising) can take place from the beginning of a project and intensify as results are becoming available, but full exploitation can happen only when it becomes possible to transfer what has been learnt into new policies and improved practices. Furthermore, the project manager and all the key actors need to view exploitation as a process that reaches beyond the life of the project so that its results are sustained.

The process

The process takes place at all levels and at all stages of the project’s life. At the European level, a five-stage model (see below) is incorporated as a strategic approach to dissemination and exploitation in the implementation of programmes and initiatives. Then at regional, national and local levels, each actor has a clear role to play.

In planning the process, project managers should first identify what needs the project is to meet, then the expected results and who the beneficiaries of the results are likely to be. This stage basically involves a needs analysis and will ensure that exploitation, as well as dissemination is "built in" right from the inception of the project – even if active exploitation measures are not taken until results have been implemented.

The next steps are to decide what to disseminate and exploit, when it should happen, who needs to know, and how it can be done. It is important to remember that a project will have both tangible and intangible results requiring different approaches for dissemination and exploitation. Tangible results, such as a new tool, a document, a training package, can be easily demonstrated with samples or pictures. But intangible results, such as changes in attitude, the cultural awareness derived from a mobility project, or the upgrading of skills of individuals, may require subtler methods – interviews, perhaps, or analyses through questionnaires.

The EU’s five-stage model for dissemination and exploitation

EU education and culture programmes and initiatives now more and more incorporate five strategic levels for dissemination and exploitation:

  • A clear rationale for and objectives of dissemination and exploitation
  • A strategy to identify which results to disseminate and to which audiences – and designing programmes and initiatives accordingly
  • Determining organisational approaches of the different stakeholders and allocating responsibilities and resources
  • Implementing the strategy by identifying and gathering results and undertaking dissemination and exploitation activities
  • Monitoring and evaluating the effects of the activity.

All aboard

A timetable of activities should be mapped out and human and financial resources allocated. It is crucial to involve all partners of the project in the process; they will each have a unique contribution to make, specific skills and knowledge to draw on, and a new set of people to interact with to further the process.
Once the process is set in motion, it should have a snowball effect. As new contacts are made, so the opportunities and means of spreading the word about a project’s results increase, reaching an ever-widening audience. This means it also has to be a dynamic process that can be adapted to fully take advantage of each new audience and by finding new and appropriate activities as the need arises.
The dissemination process tends to be more readily understood and implemented than exploitation.In order for a project’s results to be exploited, target groups need to understand exactly how these results meet their needs and how they can be transferred to their situation. The diffusion of the results to all levels is especially important because the lessons learnt can have an influence on policy-making and thus reverberate through future programmes and systems. Therefore, the exploitation process needs to make provision for reaching key policy-makers, for focusing on the adaptation, sustainability, transferability and commercialisation of results, as well as their potential accreditation.

REFLECTING on multilingualism

imageThe REFLECT project funded by the EU’s Leonardo da Vinci programme aimed to promote linguistic and cultural competence of individuals in rural SMEs practicing across borders so as to help them boost their competitiveness and mobility.
During the two year implementation time of the project, the partners – from Ireland, Poland, Portugal and the UK – developed a questionnaire, surveyed companies, published the results of the audit in national reports, collated case studies, made videos of best practice, and produced an on-line guide to international communication entitled Easy Trader.

Dissemination all the way

Dissemination and exploitation occurred throughout. Helena Christie, the project’s director, explained that they were able to use many existing networks to ensure that the results were used beyond the project itself.
“It is important to make links both nationally and locally. Without existing networks and a key person involved in the project, it is more difficult to promote your project to the right people. Every event throughout the lifetime of the project is important. Even if an event is small and early in the project, useful links can be made; these contacts can be key to mainstreaming the project.”
Commercialisation is a way of exploiting results, making organisations more willing to market the product and some of the results of the REFLECT project have been commercialised. The research findings have also fed into the UK debate on National Learning Needs. Professor Stephen Hagen, a project advisor, recommended three key tips for exploiting the project results:

  • Ensure synergy between the project and local and national policy
  • The project should add value by finding a gap where the results can inform national policy
  • Ensure that partners have a national role and interest in the outcomes. This can encourage a multiplier effect on national policy.