DRAFT
Dissemination Plan
DIGAS
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
1. Introduction
All partners are expected to contribute to the dissemination activities.
The dissemination plan starts with a definition of what dissemination is and thereafter
describes what activities that need to be disseminated, who the stakeholders for the project
are, as well as what dissemination channels and materials that are going to be used
throughout the project. Finally, the dissemination plan contains a “schedule” for the
dissemination activities. The dissemination plan will ensure that the partners within the project
don’t use a single or limited approach, and that different forms of media are used for different
target groups and different project outcomes.
The dissemination plan will be updated on a regular basis and is therefore not a static
document. During the course of the project, a list of all current and future dissemination
activities will be maintained by all project partners along with associated material (report,
articles, presentations, logo, poster, leaflet, etc.). These documents will be available at
www.dropbox.com.
After the first project year, an intermediate dissemination report will describe how
commitments have been met related to the planning, the dissemination materials and the
obtained results, with an overview of what will be done in the second part of the project.
2. What is dissemination?
The European Commission defines dissemination as “the planned process of providing
information on the quality, relevance and effectiveness of the results of programmes and
initiatives to key actors. It occurs as and when the results of programmes and initiatives
become available”.
A project requires its potential stakeholders to be aware of its aims and objectives, after which
they will become interested enough to wish a more detailed understanding. To create a basis
for action, the “planned process of providing information” can be understood in three different
ways:

“Dissemination for awareness”: targeted towards stakeholders that can find it helpful to
be aware if the activities and outcomes of the DIGAS project but do not require a
detailed knowledge of our work.

“Dissemination for understanding”: the aim is to make sure that stakeholders who are
believed to benefit from the project have a deeper understanding of the project and the
work carried out within the project.

“Dissemination for action”: targeted stakeholders that need to be equipped with the
right skills, knowledge and understanding of the project’s work in order to achieve real
change.
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
DIGAS integrates this argumentation in its dissemination approach by focusing on the AIDAmodel (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action). The first part of the project will mainly focus
on raising attention and interest for the project, while the second part will focus more on
creating a desire and action to be involved in virtual placements.
Successful dissemination produces change in people’s thoughts and actions. Influencing the
relevant stakeholders is the objective of dissemination. Although it is worthwhile to
disseminate results and experiences extensively and abundantly, the number of dissemination
activities is not as essential as their end result.
Ultimately the main motivation for dissemination, from the point of view of a project, is the
achievement of sustainability. Sustainability can be envisaged as being composed of various
elements or ingredients. They comprise visibility, networking, policy consensus, users’
feedback, funding (public or external), official recognition, competent staff, human resources
commitment, and achieved sustainability of related output. Although the elements are not
independent from each other and are difficult to measure in precise terms, a number of
elements will need to be present if a given output is to be defined as sustainable. The type of
necessary elements very much depends on the type of outcome.
Dissemination is considered an essential part of the entire project, and not a separate matter
to be taken care of at the end of the project only. It continues throughout the process.
Dissemination is closely linked to the other work packages and especially to evaluation.
Furthermore, dissemination within the DIGAS project is seen as a shared responsibility which
falls to all the project partners. Each partner will take an active part in bringing into effect the
measures set out in the dissemination plan. Therefore, it is important that each partner has a
clear idea on their motivation to participate and the potential benefit produced by the project.
The most important aspect of the dissemination of results is that the project partners feel they
have achieved something valuable which is worth sharing with the larger public.
3. What do we want to disseminate?
Dissemination will start at the very beginning of the project and will continue throughout the
whole project duration. As stated earlier, the primarily focus at the beginning of the project will
be to raise awareness and interest for the DIGAS project. The dissemination activities in the
second part of the project will focus more on creating a desire and action in relation to the
project, basically to create a desire within the relevant stakeholders to participate/offer
(virtual) placements and real life assignments. During the second part of the project the
dissemination activities will also focus on promoting the concrete outputs found in the first part
of the project. Therefore, there is a distinction between the general project idea itself and the
expected outcomes/outputs as to what we want to disseminate.
3.1 The project in a nutshell
DIGAS is a new exciting project where Danish, Spanish, Belgian, Italian, Finnish, and
Lithuanian markets are part of a strategic partnership. The project, however, is expected to
expand to other European countries through the Space network.
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
Graduates from studies with high unemployment rates throughout Europe are able to find new
job possibilities in SMEs. This can, surely, be seen as a long needed boost for the European
economy.
The quality of the project is ensured by:
Addressing foster citizens’ potential and simultaneously ensure employability.
Students from humanities, theology, and philosophy that possess VET competences are going
to be matched with SMEs thereby making a smooth entrance into the labor market. This
happens by integrating the world of work in the last year
and
Unemployed graduates from humanities, theology, and philosophy gain VET competences are
matched with SMEs thereby making an opening into the labor market. This happens by giving
them intensive VET courses in cooperation with the world of work.
The above is done in order to enhance the matching of skills and stimulate the competiveness
of the SMEs globally. Furthermore the SMEs are then able to focus on new employee groups.
The project addresses the following needs :
In several member states youth unemployment, poverty, and inequality have increased.
Employers fear that graduates are lacking skills and that the actual shortages of skills are
going to be problematic in the developed nations due to the overall aging of the population.
SMEs have problems to innovate, grow, meet quality standards and mismatches where not
enough young people are trained at the needed levels and the young people that do have the
right qualifications are not employable.
Project goals regarding test methods
• The qualitative skills mismatch occurs when companies give VET skills to graduates from
studies with high unemployment rates (e.g. humanities, philosophy, theology etc.)
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
• The quantitative mismatch where not enough young people are trained to be employable by
giving the students in study programmes with high unemployment rates (eg. humanities,
philosophy, theology etc.) the possibility of acquiring VET skills
Both groups should be trained to enhance internalization in SMEs thereby making them better
at competing on the global scene.
To support and aid SMEs the new employee groups should be trained to assist SMEs in cultural
understanding, develop strategies for internationalization, assess international market
potential, and the expansion into foreign markets. Furthermore the understanding of business
culture in different countries is vital for SMEs to expand and go global. Another positive side
effect is to cross culture train unemployed graduates so they are able to assist the SMEs in
conquering new markets.
DIGAS is going to find ways of bringing the world of work to academia and fight the mismatch
of competencies to the benefit of the SMEs. The knowledge of real life assignments is gained
from the Nordplus and EU projects: NOBANET (lead ARCADA), EU-VIP and ProVip (partner
Tietgen)
To sum up it is important to increase the internationalization and competitiveness of the SMEs
in order to achieve growth cross culturally. Other important aspects are the recognition of
competences and fighting unemployment by integrating the world of work to the benefit of the
local communities.
You kill two birds with one stone by matching graduates from study areas with a high
unemployment rate that are taught VET skills with SMEs that must enhance their
understanding of business cultures in different countries in order to further their internalization
strategies and international market potential.
3.2 Expected outcomes
DIGAS will
• Create new job possibilities in SMEs for graduates from study areas with high unemployment
rate
• Create synergies through cross sectorial cooperation between HEIs and VET (adult learning
training centers)
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
• Enhance stakeholder involvement in fighting mismatch of competencies
• Find new ways of bringing world of work to academia
• Use the integration of LLL in a vertical manner in fighting unemployement and mismatch of
competencies to the benefit of SMEs
DIGAS is intended to produce the following outcomes:
• Innovative approaches to address skills mismatch with focus on building up European
business and cross-cultural communication skills
• New opportunities for unemployed graduates, by providing cross culture training making the
unemployed graduates employable in a new field: SMEs going global
• New ways of integrating real life assignments in training using knowledge gained from the
Nordplus and EU projects: NOBANET (lead ARCADA), EU-VIP and ProVip (partner Tietgen)
• New ways of combining HE teaching methodology with VET methodology to foster
employability
• Joint HE and VET adult learning module development in line with world of work's needs and
expectations using of participatory approaches
• New ways of internationalisation of VET by using ICT-based methodologies as virtual mobility
tools developed for HE
• Reinforced cooperation among partners from different countries and different sectors to the
benefit of competence recognition
• Further develop methodologies to fight unemployment via integrating world of work in
education to the benefit of local communities
• Improved practices to cater for the needs of unemployed groups dealing with cultural
diversity
• Increased international capacity and competitiveness in SMEs: improved internationalisation
competences and internationalisation strategies in SMEs
4. Target audience
Dissemination activities are targeted towards different stakeholder groups that are relevant for
the DIGAS project. A stakeholder can be defined as “any group or individual who can affect, or
be affected by the achievement of the projects objectives – or can influence these objectives”.
The involvement of the different stakeholders will differ depending on what they want and
what they need from the project, but also in relation to what the project needs from them.
Therefore, the dissemination activities targeted towards the different stakeholder groups will
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
differ. For some target groups, for example, it is sufficient with awareness raising activities,
whilst more detailed actions are needed for others in order to gain their support or active
participation.
It is important to involve the different stakeholder groups so that they are not only presented
with the outcomes of the project, but are involved in the creation of at least some of the
outcomes. Their feedback is valuable and they will therefore be consulted throughout the
project through stakeholder meetings, training workshops, symposia, and other events and
meetings.
The following stakeholder groups are identified for the dissemination activities of DIGAS:
Businesses
Businesses are the main target group for the DIGAS project. Supervisors of work placements
within the companies and HR departments are of particular interest. It is important to involve
the management of companies. The dissemination activities will be carried out through existing
on- and offline events, publications, and social networks for businesses. The businesses will
mainly be reached through the DIGAS stakeholder conference and the pilot activities.
The dissemination activities will be practical, low threshold and focusing on good practices and
benefits for companies since our experiences has shown that this strategy is most effective
when it comes to targeting the business world.
Training Centres/ institutions
Training Centres/ institutions – training unemployed people -are another important target
group, and especially those people within the institutions who are in direct contact with the
unemployed graduates.
It is also important to try and reach the management of these institutions/ centres so the
people directly involved get the necessary support from their superiors in implementing new
activities for unemployed graduates.
The institutions/ centres that are partners in the project will be reached during the
methodology and material development, and pilot activities.
Staff members of other institutions/ centres are the direct target of our international
conference.
Higher education institutions
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are another important target group, and especially those
people within the institutions who are in training in areas with high unemployment, research,
programme development, and lecturing.
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
But, it is also important to try and reach the management of these institutions so the people
directly involved get the necessary support from their superiors in implementing new activities
the students in areas with high unemployment.
The higher education institutions that are partners in the project will be reached during the
research, material development and pilot activities. Staff members of other institutions are the
direct target of our international conference.
Jobcenters
The jobcenters will be explicitly involved in the pilot activities, and will play an important role
in the validation of the proposed initiatives and recommendations. They are of great
importance because it is the unemployed graduates that will enjoy an improved learning
experience that has been established in the full knowledge of what it takes to teach work in an
SME.
Unemployed will mainly be reached through the pilot activities where they will be able to test
the methodologies and materials created in the project.
5. Dissemination Channels
The participating institutions have some expertise in the dissemination of large scale projects
at regional, national and international levels through developing and maintaining project
websites and publicity materials, organising workshops, presenting at conferences and
publishing widely. It is envisaged that international communication will be in English, but that
local (especially institutional) communication will be preferably in a language that fits within
the own internationalisation policy and strategy.
Dissemination also uses a layered approach, involving first the partners within the network,
then the institutions and organisations which the partners have direct links with, and finally,
through publications, presentations and participation to EC initiated activities, the broader
university and educational world inside and outside Europe.
Activities to support the dissemination of project results include:
5.1 Project website
Due to the increasing importance of the Internet, project websites are probably the most
common dissemination tool and can guarantee a large visibility if promoted appropriately.
Their advantages lie in the fact that they can contain a whole range of information and
products, can be interactive and are therefore a ‘complete’ dissemination tool; their biggest
disadvantage lies in the fact that they need updating and maintenance to be effective.
Furthermore, our target audiences need to know it is there and have to be interested enough
to visit the site in the first place. Once we have attracted them to the website, we have to find
ways of ensuring they visit the site regularly. The website can be publicised via newsletter,
events, brochures and mailing lists. We have to make sure that our site merits return visits by
keeping it updated and by flagging interesting items on the homepage so that the user
immediately can see that there is something new for them to look at.
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
The main purpose of the DIGAS website is to create awareness and interest for the project
amongst the relevant stakeholders. The stakeholders should always be updated on what is
happening within the project and therefore the website will contain basic project information
and will develop as the project goes along, thus serving as a record of the work done and ongoing work in the area.
5.2 Partner websites – European Commission websites
In addition to the DIGAS website, all partners will publish short DIGAS descriptions on a visible
place in their website, with a link to the DIGAS website. The project will also be announced at
the:
EVE platform of the European Commission
(http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/eve/)
5.3 Publications (reports, printed directories of outputs, journals, electronic journals, portals
etc.)
Publications are another traditional way of disseminating results, sometimes integrated with
workshops/ conferences in order to cope with their main disadvantage: they are “cold”, not
interactive ways of presenting results and can be ignored and forgotten if insufficient attention
is attracted to the publication. An additional disadvantage is the time required to prepare
effective publications.
Some of the DIGAS partners have experience and interest in publishing in academic journals
and at academic conferences, and also creating web publications. Project partners aim to
publish joint papers in relevant academic journals (and books), both subject-based and of
more generic interest, creating further interest in the initiative and enhancing its academic
credibility amongst the scientific community.
5.4 Participation in conferences
Participation in conferences probably constitutes the most traditional way to present results of
innovative projects. They have the big disadvantage of being organised in a definite place and
at a definite time, so they are not sufficient to guarantee long term access if not accompanied
by publications (proceedings). If well organised, they can be a “warm” and interactive way to
discuss results and possible future developments; their cost may be reduced to very little when
organised within an institution.
Findings from the DIGAS project will be presented at international conferences in the area of
employment and education. Participation in conferences is also important in relation to
creating awareness and interest for the project.
5.5 Workshops & seminars
Workshops and seminars usually differ from conferences in that they are targeted at smaller
groups of participants and involve a much higher and more active level of engagement. For
example, a workshop might be organised as a "hands-on" session allowing participants to try
out particular materials and approaches.
Findings from DIGAS will be presented at those “smaller” (often also more “local”) events as
well.
5.6 Stakeholder meetings
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
In view of the transferability and to support the exploitation, stakeholder meetings will be
organised which will involve higher education management or staff, company representatives,
chambers of commerce or industry networks and student representatives with the aim of
consultation on the project outcomes presented in view of future sustainable implementation in
the mainstream activities of the organizations and institutions. It is very important that
company representatives and/or industry networks are represented at these stakeholder
meetings since dissemination towards of that stakeholder group is one of the core goals for the
DIGAS project.
5.7 Networks and organisations
The four networks that are directly involved within the DIGAS project consortium are
of course well placed to disseminate project results within their own network. Through
these four networks alone we have direct access to address the main target groups of
DIGAS. The partner networks will include presentations, workshops and distribute
leaflets about the project at their own events. With dissemination of information via
these own communication channels those networks could facilitate access to project
outcomes and ensure the availability of the course materials for their members all over
Europe.
Practically all partners also have links with and/or actively participate in international,
national and regional, educational and enterprise networks, policy bodies, and other
relevant membership organisations. Several of these networks will be contacted to
actively promote the outputs of the project. It is envisaged that through this kind of
natural relationships the DIGAS project results will find their way to a broader
spectrum of institutes and stakeholders that could benefit from the project outcomes.
Identifying existing networks and organisations and using existing channels can be one
of the most effective methods of dissemination. Publishing articles in their newsletters,
mailing through their extensive databases, participating in their conferences, seminars,
workshops or other events, will facilitate access to project outcomes for their members
all over Europe and will create more coverage for DIGAS.
6. Dissemination Materials
The following dissemination materials will be produced to provide the target audiences with
information, through the above defined dissemination activities:
6.1 Logo
A logo will be designed and developed that will be used for all deliverables of the project.
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
6.2 Flyer
The flyer will be distributed at conferences and other events where potential target users could
be addressed. Special attention will be paid to pass on this information to the own newsletters
of the institutions, in first instance the project partners and the networks their institution is
member of, but in extension also to all members of the network partners in the project.
6.3 Presentation
A general project presentation will be created that forms the basis for all project partners to
present DIGAS to their audiences. A list of presentations given about DIGAS will be maintained
on the project website, along with associated presentation materials.
6.4 Press releases
In relation to the events organised within the DIGAS project press releases will be sent to the
local press. The purpose is to create awareness and interest for the project.
7. Planning of dissemination activities
In the very beginning of the project, the dissemination will mainly focus on raising awareness
for the main project ideas and the targeted results. These dissemination activities for raising
awareness will be continued throughout the whole project duration.
As soon as the first results become available, the dissemination will more and more focus on
interest and understanding. Our reports on the state-of-the-art and the scenario’s, the reports
describing our experiences in the pilots as well as the events (meetings, workshops) will make
sure that people can get a deeper understanding of the project’s work.
Towards the end of the project the dissemination will focus on desire and action. The final
event and final publication will equip interested people with the right skills and knowledge to
be able to achieve real change in their own environment. Dissemination for action will however
not only occur at the end of the project. The training workshops - organised in the middle of
the project - will also serve that purpose.
8. Impact
To ensure that our planned dissemination activities reach their target audiences and are
helping us achieve our dissemination objectives, we will use a number of monitoring and
evaluation methods throughout the project’s lifetime.
The evaluation activities have two purposes:
-
To be formative i.e. to improve the dissemination activities
-
To be summative i.e. to collect feedback for the final report for the European
Commission
Both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods will be looked at. Quantitative evaluation
is about collecting statistics of the number of workshops/conference participants, participants,
the number of flyers handed out etc. Qualitative evaluation consists of individual evaluation of
each dissemination activity by means of dissemination reports that describe the date, time,
activity performed, type and number of target groups that was reached and feedback from the
participants.
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
It is indeed not only important to just disseminate and promote the project ideas and
outcomes. We should also think of measuring and recording the effectiveness of our
dissemination efforts and therefore we will keep track of the impact we have had on our
targeted end-users. Measuring the impact is not so much about knowing how many
participants attended a certain workshop that was organised. More important to know is what
kind of (positive or negative) feedback we received on the organisation and content of the
workshop.
Tietgen as project leader, will keep a record of everything that has happened by collecting the
original dissemination materials (articles, presentations, etc.) and the dissemination reports
that have to be submitted by each partner after a dissemination activity has taken place.
These reports will be essential to gain insight in the impact of the project on the target groups.
9. Acknowledgement European Commission
Project partners must clearly acknowledge the European Union's contribution in all publications
or in conjunction with activities for which the grant is used. The following sentence needs to be
used:
"This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication
[communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
On each output or publication also the logo of the European Commission and ERASMUS+ has
to be added. The logo, in different languages and different formats can be downloaded from
following website:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/eacea_logos_en.php
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.
References

Suurla, R. et al. Methods and Tools for Effective Dissemination. A guide to the
Dissemination of the Results of International Educational Projects. Published by IACEE
in 1999.

Harmsworth, S. et. al. Creating an Effective Dissemination Strategy. An Expanded
Interactive Workbook for Educational Development Projects. (Bridging the Gap –
Innovations Project 2001 - Higher Education Funding Council for England). Available at:
http://www.innovations.ac.uk/btg/resources/publications/dissemination.pdf

“Dissemination and exploitation of results of our programmes”, European Commission,
Directorate-General for Education and Culture website, accessed at:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/valorisation/index_en.htm

EU-VIP Dissemination plan
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects
the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein”.