Everything that happened during the ENJOI Final Event

On November 16th and 17th 2023, in Palazzo Pepoli, Bologna, the ENJOI Final Event was held. Journalists and practitioners from different countries, backgrounds and experiences gathered in a unique context to actively discuss ENJOI's results and the new frontiers of innovation in science communication and journalism.

The ENJOI project: take-home messages

The first 'ENJOI day', entitled Engagement and journalism innovation for outstanding open science communication , of the ENJOI days was dedicated to wrap up the main project's result. Elisabetta Tola, the Project Coordinator from formicablu, went through all the phases of ENJOI from the beginning: the Engagement Workshops (EWs), the Labs and the definition of the Principles, Standards and Indicators of good science communication (SPIs). Michele Catanzaro, from the Associació Catalana de Comunicació Científica in Spain (ACCC), spoke in detail about the SPIs and the writing of the ENJOI Manifesto. Then, Marco Boscolo, from formicablu, talked about the media landscape analysis, which was key to understand the framework of science journals today, and presented the ENJOI Observatory, a legacy of the Project that will continue after its nominal end and serves as a bridge to the following European project in the Horizon 2020 category, COALESCE. Anne Dijkstra proposed a reflection on the relationship between scientists and the media. She presented an academic research that analysed - with concrete examples and case studies such as the use of AI in journalism or infodemics during COVID-19 - the point of view of scientists on the one hand, about the media, and the point of view of journalists and the media, about scientists, on the other. The seven guidelines from this analysis reiterate how engagement and using standards, principles and indicators can be crucial in stimulating proactive discussion and self-reflection. Behind the whole the ENJOI's method there was a well defined co-creation process, which was explained by Michael Creek from Stickydot and Karinna Matozinhos from Science for Change.

Another critical point concerned recommendations for policy-makers to make the presence of science and science communication more and more meaningful in the decisions at European level and, thus, in the lives of citizens. A dedicated meeting was also held on this point in Brussels in October 2023, and the Project Coordinator Elisabetta Tola highlighted the main policy recommendations coming from the ENJOI participatory process. 

Finally, Esther Marín from the University of Lisbon presented the tools devised by the ENJOI consortium to improve - practically - science communication and journalism. Some of these are dedicated to teachers and schools, others are for generalist journalists who find themselves talking about science for the first time and still others are accurate checklists for learning how to write in compliance with the SPIs defined by ENJOI.

In this roundup of results, summaries and new insights, there was an interactive, co-creation session led by Michael Creek, in which participants were asked to write and discuss together their take-home messages: what inspired them most about the project, what they think will serve them well in the future, and what needs to happen now that there is more awareness. Among the things that emerged were the central role of politics in the change of perspective required in journalism, the need to improve from the perspective of inclusion and diversity, and the curiosity to apply the principles of co-creation in the newsroom.

The day ended with the presentation of the next crucial long-term goal, the COALESCE Project. As Joana Magalhães from Science for Change explained, COALESCE's long-term main goal is to create a European Competence Centre for Science Communication. The ENJOI Observatory will be part of this future Competence Centre, bringing a specific focus on science journalism.

Innovation and engagement in journalism: an inspiring international conversation

The second day in Palazzo Pepoli was an international, cross-border conversation entitled Innovation and engagement on the journalism horizon. A gathering of journalists with different thematic, geographical and work experiences who shared their journey to understand, together, which are the right keys to promote innovation and engagement in journalism. And, also, to change those aspects that make applying principles, standards, and indicators difficult in today’s journalism. Which makes it difficult, in other words, to provide excellent service to the readers. 

We started by talking about what “Innovation” means with Aron Pilhofer, James B. Steel Chair in Journalism Innovation at the Temple University, US, who approached the topic from the perspective of a generalist journalist. Pilhofer emphasised the importance of defining a metric that can measure innovation because there is no innovation if it is impossible to establish objective parameters to estimate it. 

In the two round tables that followed, new ways of approaching journalism that reward collaboration, engagement and in-depth news and content selection were discussed. A choice that inevitably reflects on readers, who are more involved and willing to support the projects they believe in. 

One significant example is the Italian Slow News. This publication mainly publishes in-depth pieces and is a far cry from today's major newspapers' inflated way of producing news – the so-called churnalism. Other examples concern the emergence of independent newspapers whose economic sustainability is linked to reader engagement, such as Indip, Irpimedia, the periodical for in-depth, investigative and territorial reporting in Sardinia. 

These tales of independent and ‘revolutionary’ realities in today’s journalistic landscape continued in the second half of the day, with stories by, for example, Priti Patnaik and her health newsletter, Geneva Health Files, and Davide Del Monte, who found in info.nodes and its magazine Marla a way of connecting information about global problems with activism, in order to transform knowledge and awareness into passionate fights and active solutions. The foundation of this media outlet is the belief that journalism has the power to have a significant impact on society if it is supported by the work of people who transform the journalistic message into practical solutions, into calls for readers, into activities where the information conveyed by journalists is used to 'change' social views and awareness. During the session, it became clear how cross-border international collaboration between journalists is indispensable to dealing with global problems. Stephane Horel from Le Monde talked about her experience of breaking down geographical, cultural, and ideological borders, which enhanced the possibilities of telling the truth by combining different experiences and skills. 

There would be many more examples, as all the journalists who spoke brought a unique experience and many messages to learn from. For this reason, we have live streamed the whole ENJOI Final event - check it out!

ENJOI Final Event Day #1 "Engagement and journalism innovation for outstanding open science communication"

ENJOI Final Event Day #2 "Innovation and engagement on the journalism horizon"

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Image by Valentina Marcon for the ENJOI Project