Dissemination of project results is an essential and mandatory phase of any Erasmus+ project. It is a set of measures for presenting and disseminating the results and impact of projects and for achieving greater project visibility.
Dissemination of project information is important because:
- increases project visibility,
- promotes examples of good practice that may be useful to future applicants,
- increases the visibility of the organisation implementing the project,
- enables the creation of future partnerships,
- increases the visibility of the Erasmus + programme.
In order to design a good plan for communication and dissemination of information about projects, the following should be considered:
Communication goals: Raising awareness, promoting social values, developing new partnerships;
Audience or target groups: These are the people you would like to reach and who could benefit from the project results. They can be the general public, stakeholders, experts, decision makers, the media, etc.;
Channels and activities to reach the target audience: Channels and activities that are most effective and appropriate to meet the needs of the selected goals, such as social media, events, publications, should be chosen.
Project results: These can be a guide to good practices, a practical tool or a product, research, a study report, what knowledge and skills have been acquired and so on.
Timeline: It is necessary to plan effectively when different activities take place (relating them to the work plan), agree on a realistic goal and ensure flexibility depending on the progress of the project and changing needs of the target group.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): These indicators are a valuable tool for project management to monitor progress (allow for adjustments as needed) during the implementation of a communication and dissemination plan and to measure the degree of success in achieving goals.
Dissemination of projects information always starts in the institution/organisation participating in the project. Then this information is shared at the local and international levels so that others can use the results of the project. At the international level, this means the promotion of the project and its activities in which all project partners participate, which is aimed at each country from which an institution comes, as well as at the European Union. Locally, the dissemination of information is carried out at the level of the state, city or municipality from which the project coordinator/partner is and adapts to the specifics of its environment, which includes different types of promotion with different partners.
It is important to make a good plan for disseminating information and using project results. It is best to plan such activities at the beginning of the project, possibly adding them during and implementing them after the end of the project. It is also important to determine what needs to be promoted and how. Project results can be concrete and measurable (number of events held, curriculum changed, equipment purchased) or less measurable, but still significant (acquisition of new skills, knowledge, competences), so the promotion of results should be adjusted to these criteria.
Identifying the target group is an integral part of successful promotion. The promotion of the project and its outcomes will not be done in the same way to colleagues from similar institutions, decision makers, media and project beneficiaries, but the method of promotion and dissemination should be adapted to the selected target group.
There are various ways to disseminate the results and promote the project:
- Through the organisation’s website,
- Through the account of the organisation on social networks: Facebook, X and Instagram,
- By tagging the Foundation Tempus on social networks when posting about the project – we recommend using @FondacijaTempus for tagging on X, or the hashtag #fondacijatempus (which can be used for Facebook, X and Instagram posts),
- Audio/Video materials to share,
- Press statements, announcements, guest appearances in the media,
- By sending a newsletter with news about the project,
- By organising or participating in conferences, seminars, trainings and other events,
- By publishing publications and brochures,
- By creating a visual solution unique to the project (e.g., a project logo),
- By making promotional material (folders, blocks, pens, leaflets).
More detailed information on disseminating information and using project results can be found in the Programme Guide and the Erasmus+ Project Communication Guide.
Since the beginning of the Erasmus+ programme, the European Commission has emphasized the importance of disseminating and using the results as important criteria for the success of projects, their sustainability and the justification of investing European Union funds. Therefore, the European Commission has enabled beneficiaries to use a platform that supports the objectives of the Strategy for the dissemination and exploitation of the results of the Erasmus+ programme:
- Supporting the development of policies in the field of education and training, youth and sports by making available the results of Erasmus+ programmes and projects, which improves the work of organisations and decision makers in these areas.
- Increasing the impact of the Erasmus+ programme by adequately disseminating the results of programmes and projects among a wide range of target groups – potential project applicants, beneficiaries, decision makers and the general public through the mass media.
The Erasmus + Project Results Platform is a database of the European Commission that contains descriptions of all projects funded under the programme, including the contacts of the organisations participating in them. In addition, the platform includes the results of completed projects and links to relevant pages. Success stories or projects that achieved outstanding results in terms of importance for education and youth policies, performance or conceptual solutions are highlighted on the platform. They were selected from a number of examples of good practice or properly managed projects that gave very good results.
Reasons why users should use the platform are:
- Increasing the visibility of projects;
- Sharing project results with those interested in similar topics;
- Developing new ideas;
- Finding partners for future projects.
All the visitors to the platform can search the database using available criteria, such as project type, year, country or keyword, to find a suitable project.
In addition, beneficiaries whose projects have been approved have access to the user part which they can access using the authentication data they received after signing the grant agreement. This way, users can add project results, a website address or other information to their project cards.
For all doubts, users have access to the European Commission’s FAQ page or a video tutorial on using the platform on the Foundation Tempus’ YouTube channel.
It is important to know that in all publications and promotional materials, the support of the European Union must be indicated in a specific form. The rules and examples of permitted materials can be downloaded from the EACEA website and we expect a detailed user guide from the European Commission soon.
The Foundation Tempus also participates in the promotion of Erasmus+ projects. On our YouTube channel one can find articles about individual projects in the field of KA2 “Capacity Building in Higher Education”, as well as the experiences of teachers from KA1 mobility projects. In addition, examples of good practice and other promotional activities related to the dissemination of information about projects, can be found on the Foundation Tempus’ accounts on social networks. If some important activities are organised or the promotion of project results is underway, representatives of institutions and organisations can inform the Foundation Tempus (via e-mail office@tempus.ac.rs), which would then share this information through its channels.
