CommNet: Communicating the Bioeconomy
CommNet is a network of EU research projects on bio-economy. The objective is to facilitate the communication on EU Bio-economy research to a greater audience and to target key groups, such as industry and policy makers, the media and especially young people.
The topics the project covers are:
- Food
- Fisheries
- Agriculture
- Biotechnology
One of the focus areas of the project is education and outreach to students in primary and secondary school. The main activities and services are:
- The FAB Toolkit, which includes educational material on Bio-economy topics, for children aged 5-16 years published in their website and available in 6 different languages.
- A constant production of over 30 news articles, focused on the projects part of the CommNet network.
- Several face-to-face training events covering strategic thinking, planning and development.
Basic information
CommNet builds on the success of their previous publications. From 2012 until now has CommNet various materials produced on bio-economy as well as on the projects included in the CommNet network. They also have their first two CommNet audiovisual presentations produced via their website and the main European distribution channels are distributed (EBU).
The project provides, through live online interactive sessions with researchers funded by the European Union, the opportunity for students to learn about the activities that researchers undertake and to obtain bio-economy in Europe information. In this way, students will gain insight on career opportunities in science and technology research in Europe.
Teachers will be able to join the pilot project by contacting the national contact points online. Prior to joining the project, they will be able to assess the competences of their school in relation to ICT supported projects, by taking the E-maturity test.
Throughout the pilot activities, teachers will be able to access interactive simulations, educational games and E-science applications integrating them with extra-curricular activities. They will also be able to access remote and online labs, and relevant scenarios for their use in the school classroom.
In the communities of practice, teachers will be able to set up a community to discuss a specific topic, set up projects involving different schools or join communities already active in a specific area. In the inventory, teachers will find E-learning tools, teaching scenarios and lesson plans and guides and instructions.