{"id":13770,"date":"2025-05-08T13:03:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T13:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8d.nl\/mogelijkheden\/dissemination-strategies-for-researchers\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T10:59:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T10:59:49","slug":"dissemination-strategies-for-researchers","status":"publish","type":"mogelijkheden","link":"https:\/\/8d.nl\/en\/mogelijkheden\/dissemination-strategies-for-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Dissemination strategies for researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dissemination strategies for researchers: using design to increase knowledge uptake<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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In a scientific context, dissemination refers to the active sharing and distribution of research findings with relevant audiences. This includes fellow academics who build on insights, but also – and especially – citizens, professionals and policymakers who can apply new knowledge in practice. At 8D, we focus on the latter. We make scientific output usable and understandable for people outside the academic world. Not as a communication trick, but as a design challenge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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More than communication: design-driven dissemination strategies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Too often, dissemination is treated as a side note in the project plan. It\u2019s outsourced to parties who launch a generic project website and add a few social media posts, usually on a newly created account with zero reach. This is not only a waste of resources, but also results in knowledge failing to reach the people who could actually benefit from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our team views dissemination as a strategic part of research, with design thinking<\/a> playing a key role. In fact, we often find that our design process for creating an effective dissemination tool also enriches other aspects of the research. The end product might be a website – but just as easily a card game, a VR simulation, a workshop, or something entirely new. Our approach is always format-free and goal-oriented: we create exactly what the target audience needs to engage with the research findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Co-creation as the key to successful knowledge sharing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Dissemination doesn\u2019t need to wait until the end of a research project. In fact, the most impactful dissemination starts during the design phase. Through co-creation, we bring researchers, people with lived experience, and target users together at the table. This ensures that knowledge transfer is not a one-way street, but an interactive process in which the audience itself helps translate research into practical applications.<\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This approach – known as social design<\/a> – allows knowledge to gain meaning early on in the context of the end user. It not only increases the relevance of the research, but also improves the chances that results will land sustainably in policy and practice. More reading advice for indept information about social design: ‘What is social design and why is it relevent for researchers?’<\/a> and ‘Examples of social design in research.’<\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Examples of creative dissemination strategies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our goal is always for our tools and interventions to do more than inform. They activate, confront and engage, making knowledge stick or triggering real change. Examples of dissemination tools we\u2019ve developed include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n