Beyond dissemination: how to present research findings that inform, engage, and inspire

In 2021-2022, on behalf of Development Dialogue Asia (DDA), Communication for Change (C4C) with Kantar and Eye to Eye conducted a quantitative research and segmentation of the Indonesian population based on climate change understanding, worldview, and propensity for collective action, as well as qualitative research to test messages for public communication. These research gave us findings on how to effectively communicate messages about climate change to Indonesian people.

We realized that the findings would be very useful for CSOs, donors, and climate change activists, including those outside the "development sector." Therefore, we wanted to disseminate the research in a way that was digestible, relatable and inspiring for the target audience. To achieve this goal, we designed a three-day event which allowed audiences with different levels of understanding to digest the research findings at their own pace.

Designing an informative and engaging experience

The research dissemination event was held on 11-13 January 2023 in MULA, Cilandak Town Square. The event took the form of exhibitions commonly held in educational museums or science fairs as its inspiration. At the exhibition, visitors were presented with a condensed version of the research findings. Then, they were invited to play an interactive quiz that showed them how "pollution blanket that overheats the Earth" as a message could be framed in different ways according to the segment of the population being targeted.

After that, the exhibition provided them with a link to a webpage with the executive summary of the research. They could also download the complete report and register for future updates. To enrich the visitors' experience, we also held one talk show session per day to discuss the findings, each attended by panelists from various backgrounds, including CSO, donor, media, and academics.

The event was perceived favorably by the target audience

The overall response to this event shows that communicating our findings in the form of an exhibition yielded encouraging results. Various audience members stated that they not only received new information from the exhibition, but also got some ideas and inspiration for their climate change-related works. On top of visitor testimonials, the event also received favorable media coverage, namely from Tempo, Islami.co, and Greeners.co. In total, we had 177 registered visitors during the course of three days; however, since there were people who came without prior registration, the total number of visitors could be closer to 200.

Customizing your dissemination method increases the impact of your research

When disseminating research, the common practice is to simply write a report and distribute it within the environment of people who are already well versed or interested in the subject. However, for research to have an influence on thinking, behavior, or policy, we need to know how to serve it in a way that's accessible and relatable to all of our stakeholders. At C4C, we believe that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all formula.