Who are our audiences, and how can we reach them effectively and efficiently?

During workshops at The Field Museum in early 2006, scholars, community groups and communications experts shared their views on the best ways of teaching people about research results. The nuances of the various approaches are beyond the scope of this booklet, but here are a few basic things we learned.

• Plan your strategy for sharing your research findings right from the start of the project.
• Ask yourself, who are the audiences for the research results, and how can the researcher and community work together to communicate effectively?
• Prime your audiences with general information about the research project prior to its completion, so they will have a framework to understand the results - whatever they may be - when it is finished.
• If the research project has the potential for significant impact on city, regional or national dialogue, consider working with a media strategist to plan a "release the findings" event. This option can be expensive, but may be a way to get news media, policy makers, politicians and other powerful people interested in the issue.
• Media can be attracted to research results if the results touch upon an issue already in the news, but from a new angle.
• CCUC's work in the Calumet region of Chicago represents an example of using research results to "reverse the frame" of public perception of an issue. As home to steel mills and other troubled industries, the Calumet region was long known primarily as a blighted part of the city. CCUC's work in the region in recent years has uncovered a more complex picture of a place with multiple strengths, including local organizations and individuals who care for their community, as well as abundant plant and animal life.
• Regardless of whether a PAR project is working with a large or small budget, and with nationally or locally significant research, informal ways of sharing information are critical to getting your message across.

For this reason, planning for the dissemination of the research results should include things like finding out from community partners who the local opinion-leaders are, and informing them of the results. Sending research briefs to a range of neighborhood organizations with the offer of making presentations to their built-in audiences can be an effective approach. "Word-of mouth" strategies are increasingly recognized as a powerful and inexpensive way to communicate.



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