The programme aims that the work of the researchers and the projects funded by the Nessling Foundation are implemented in society to accelerate the sustainability transformations that protect natural systems.
Already for several years, the Nessling Foundation has offered so-called Grant Plus services for the projects they have funded. Now the work is spreading as the Nessling Impact programme that offers even more opportunities for the grantees to develop the impact of their work.
“We wanted to enhance our own impact because we are living in a critical decade for acting on the ecological crisis. We have funded research for 50 years and we will continue to do so. In addition, we are now aiming to ensure more strongly that scientific knowledge transfers to the society to increase the speed of the sustainability transformation that protects natural systems,” says Katja Bargum, the Nessling Foundation Science and Executive Director.
Over the last year, the Nessling Foundation has organised surveys and discussions to find out what kind of support the funded researchers and projects need, and different ways suitable for the 2020’s have been considered for bringing researched data for the society to use. Different sparring models have also been tested in individual projects. The Nessling Impact programme will continue to be developed together with the grantees.
The development of the Nessling Impact programme is run by Enni Sahlman, the Nessling Foundation’s new Impact Specialist, and the Foundation’s whole staff will participate in the work of the programme. For the past year, Sahlman has been working as a Communications Specialist covering a parental leave in the Nessling Foundation. Previously, she has worked for example as a Head of Communications in a youth organisation and as the Senior Communications Specialist at a communications agency, where she had operators and expert organisations from the science community as her clients.
“For 10 years both as a consultant and within organisations, I have been developing ways of bringing research and expert knowledge in the use of society. To me it is ironic, that communicators and marketers around the world know well how to talk about a new ice cream flavour so that it sells out during the launching week. But at the same time, world changing research information may stay within a small circle only because the message is targeted or timed wrongly or is in a difficult form. When used correctly, communication is a strong tool. That is why it is also a key in increasing the impact of research,” says Sahlman.
The work of the Impact Specialist is first focused on offering different kinds of tools for the support of the Nessling Foundation grantees’ communication and interaction. We offer them more training, peer groups and personal sparring, for example.
“I want the Nessling Impact programme to have enough space to develop and change according to the needs of our grantees and the society. Although we will first be mainly focusing on increasing the grantees’ communication and interaction skills, the work can take different forms in the future. For example, in addition to the Nessling Foundation’s traditional symposia, we could organise smaller events targeted for limited groups where the grantees will get to share their thoughts. We are also happy to receive suggestions for new methods and collaboration to speed up the sustainability transformation,” says Sahlman.
You can find the training calendar and other events for our grantees on the Nessling Impact programme’s website. The website is constantly updated.
The Nessling Impact programme is part of the implementation of the Nessling Foundation’s new strategy. Get to know our strategy here.
Read here the introduction of Impact Specialist Enni Sahlman.
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