“Do you feel European?” “Yes”, “No”, “What?”.
If you’ve had a look at the new website from PERCEIVE, the European project Horizon 2020, launched in September, who we support for the communication side of things, the first thing you’ll have done is asked yourself this question. As we explained here, it’s a complex research project that touches on many academic fields. Making it captivating for people who aren’t involved in the work requires a certain amount of care, convincing people who find themselves on the website that it is directly relevant to them. But first things first.
The Homepage is designed to welcome the user and make them feel like they’re at home. The aim of the first question is to instantly involve them in the main theme of the project, thanks to a something that triggers their interest, so much so that it leads them to interact. Do you feel European? Yes, no, you don’t understand why we’re asking you that? It doesn’t matter, this project could mean something to you. A brief description and a second, more specific question: why should this project interest you? The main aim is to make users understand that they are part of our target. European citizens, professionals in the European Union, organizers and consultants or researchers, will all have a valid reason to have a good look around the site.
The About section is just the destination for the generic user, who may not have a particular interest or knowledge about the project. Anybody however can find relevant information in this section. From the link to the last article of the Journal, to updates or tweets, it all helps to give a sense of solidity to what we’re doing, to give the project energy.
Research Structure is the most substantial part of the site. The soul of PERCEIVE is the research that inspires and stimulates how the project is communicated. There are a number of elements that are explained in greater detail such as: the specific purpose of the project (why is the Cohesion Policy the subject of this research?), the innovative elements of research such as the multidisciplinary approach, and what European citizens think about the Cohesion Policy, not at national but at a regional level, analysis already carried out. Subsequently we carried out a graphic representation of the design structure, by interacting with the graphics you can understand the logic and the consequences of every type of research.
Impact is perhaps the page we are most proud of, but we shouldn’t say! This is where you will find the explanation of why PERCEIVE is not just academic research, but a project that a much larger section of the population will benefit from, directly affecting citizens and their lives. Likewise, policy makers and professionals will receive guidance on how to effectively communicate the outcome of their policies and projects. We explain in detail what actions we will have an impact on.
Our Journal section, very dear to us, is the most dynamic section on the site. This is where the contributions of all partners, opinions about the projects, expectations, comments about news related to project themes are all collected. It will also be used to host external content, contributors, and people who write, work, or are interested in anything that has to do with Cohesion Policy and want to share their opinion on our site.
On the Partners page, the equivalent of the”About us” section, is we introduce ourselves: from the University of Bologna, project leaders, all the other universities and research centres that are part of the project, including us. Each description of the partners takes you to a dedicated page where you have the opportunity to get to know all the members of the PERCEIVE team, with email addresses and personal websites.
What more can we say, head over to : www.perceiveproject.eu to take a look.
