Guidelines for digital communication tools within the frame of the project PEACE_Alps
16.10.2018 Version 1.0> Author Ellen Esser Organization PP08 - EWO
PEACE_Alps Pooling Energy Action Plans and Enhancing their Implementation in the Alps Project reference No. AS81 Priority 2 – Low Carbon Project duration: 16.12.2015 – 15.12.2018
This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space Programme GUIDELINE FOR DIGITAL COMMUNICATION TOOLS
Short Description This document defines and describes guidelines for digital communication tools applied in the course of the project.
Document Details Project PEACE_Alps Pooling Energy Action Plans and Enhancing their Implementation in the Alps Action WP C – Activity 6.5. Deliverable D 6.5.2. Due date Project month 10 Delivery date Dissemination project level, web level Dissemination PPs, local and regional administration, stakeholders target Organization EWO Author Ellen Esser
Version Date Auethor Organization Description 1.0 16.10.2018 E. Esser EWO
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Table of Contents
1 Mind mapping ...... 3
2 Digital live polls ...... 5
3 Explainer Videos ...... 7
4 Prezi Next Presentations ...... 10
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Guidelines for digital communication tools
Introduction
The project PEACE_Alps aims at enhancing the implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plans or any other energy concepts by supporting Local Authorities (LAs) in developing concrete actions with an inter-municipal approach. Digital communication tools were used to enhance the impact of the project. They contributed to raising awareness for the urgency of implementing mitigation and climate adaptation measures. The understanding of the bottom up approach was supported by presentations and the use of newly developed multimedia tools, e.g. animated presentations, animated videos, and digital live survey-tools.
The need to change behaviour and to support energy saving policies was realized by using all available means of communication. Since digital platforms like “prezi.com” allow to spread publications via social media and websites, the project designed and published the final handbook as a “prezi next” publication.
Short introductory guidelines for the use of specific communication tools, e.g. mind mapping, use of prezi and of animated videos were given by the partner responsible for communication (EWO) during project meetings. This report gathers this information in form of a guideline for future reference.
1 Mind mapping
Mind mapping is a pictorial method which can be used to boost the development of ideas by easing its generation, the visualization, structuring and classifying. It also serves as a means for studying, organizing information, project development and decision making. The concept is based on the psychological knowledge of how man’s brain works: Conventionally we fill a paper from top to bottom or left to right whereas the brain tends to scan an empty page entirely in a non-linear fashion. Taking this into account the creativity and outcome of a process can be enhanced by using mind maps that allow to start in the center of a page.
Within the PEACE_Alps project, mind-mapping was used in workshops, e.g. gathering ideas on how to approach stakeholders, but also in structuring project tasks and presenting them to an audience.
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Picture 1 Live Mindmapping during the PEACE_Alps start-up meeting in Geretsried
Picture 2 Handwritten mindmapping during a workshop in Kranj
In addition to the possibility of handwritten mind maps, a great variety of mind mapping software is available on the market and can help to make the generation of mind maps faster and better readable; it also offers opportunities to structure and restructure elements, export content to other applications, integrate other digital data, e.g. pictures and graphical elements.
As a start, free mind mapping software can be downloaded from the internet. The free versions usually provide basic features whereas the payed versions offer more developed
4 GUIDELINE FOR DIGITAL COMMUNICATION TOOLS applications (e.g. certain export and presentation functions). Especially the export functions are often restricted within free software tools. However, they are important for the distribution of the map to participants who are not using the respective mind mapping software. In the mind mapping tool xmind which was used in the PEACE_Alps project, the problem could be solved by first exporting the map as a picture and converting the picture file in a second step to a pdf.
Picture 3 Mind map of the partner exchange meeting in Titmoning
Xmind offers various templates; e.g. sheets for problem solving, project dashboard or SWOT analysis. Alternatively, users can just start with an empty sheet. A tool kit with different structures, formatting, tags and themes is being offered. The finalized mind maps can later be saved as a file or as new template.
The first step in creating a digital mind map is the decision about the structure, e.g. starting from the middle and arranging all ideas around this center or choosing a tree like structure. New tags can be added by pressing the “return” or “enter” button. Once familiar with this tool it can be used fast and intuitively. Further support is offered by the help menue of the tool.
2 Digital live polls
Digital live polling allow participants of a meeting or event to answer a questionnaire immediately via their own digital devices (as smartphones, laptops or tablets), and to see the results generated from this action directly (live) on a screen in the meeting room or hall. While this activity is going on, the survey results on the screen are developing.
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Such a poll was performed at the PEACE_Alps booth at Alpsweek 2016 in Grassau, Germany. Participants were questioned about the topic of climate change adaptation in their home towns.
Picture 4 Live poll during AlpeWeek in Grassau, results visible on a screen in the background
The live poll is a valuable means for stimulating discussion among a greater number and/or anonymous group of participants of an event. It is also a good vehicle to rouse the interest in a specific topic. It has to be taken into account though that the result of such a poll does not meet scientific objectives, since the final result of the survey derives from the input given by a limited number of persons and often by a quite homogenous group of people.
Picture 5 Live poll during AlpsWeek in Grassau
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From a technical point of view, it’s essential that internet access is available and that people have access to digital devices (which will in most cases be their own smart phone).
The preparation of a live poll comprises the following steps:
- Preparing a number of questions which can be answered by e.g multiple choice boxes, checkmarks with different options, drop-down lists or short answers, depending on the options provided by the online platform.
- Filling the questions into the online form, e.g. google forms (https://docs.google.com/forms/ ),
- .google forms are divided into a question and an answer site. Both sites can be designed and formatted according to the needs of the organizer.
- At the event, the URL of the questionnaire website will be shared with the audience, a time space must be provided to fill the form and send it back to the platform.
- In the meantime the incoming answers will be displayed on a large screen visible to the audience.
- After the finalization of the polling session, the results of the survey will be presented to the audience.
Results can not only be presented in listed form but also with diagrams. A feature for this is provided by google forms as well; alternatively more advanced polling tools that can be linked to the google “answer” page. e.g. Hype for Mac or Infogram can be used.
3 Explainer Videos
For the purpose of describing a topic or idea to a target group, explainer videos are a good tool to fulfill this task in a simple, engaging and compelling way. Explainer videos comprise a mix of visual elements (e.g. animated persons), text elements and audio recordings (voices, music); they offer a short, clear and concise explanation of a certain topic. For this reason, an explainer video for the PEACE_Alps tool about the bottom-up-process was realized within the project.
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Picture 6: PEACE_Alps explainer video
Explainer video toolkits are available on the internet; they are usually available on a subscription basis. The PEACE_Alps team chose the PowToon platform for the accomplishment of the video tool. The platform offers detailed guidelines on how to proceed: https://www.powtoon.com/tutorials/ Users can take advantage of a free version with a limited number of elements in a tool kit or a payed version with a greater variety.
Some basic rules for successful explainer videos are:
- Focus on emotion – not just on information.
- When planning the content of the video, do not focus on what you want to say, but on what the target group wants to watch
- Use text to transport messages
- Be short, try to limit the video sequence to 90 sec.
The planning process of the PEACE_Alps video had the following structure:
1. Preparing a mind map with the structure of the video (see picture of the mind map below),
2. Writing and designing the script (see picture of the script below)
3. Recording of the music: for the music, a file with recorded music was chosen and copied into the project directly on the PowToon website.
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4. Assembling the visual elements online on the PowToon platform. Several tutorials on how to arrange the visual elements are available on www.powtoon.com/tutorials/
5. Recording the voices according to the script with an audio tool; e.g. GarageBand for Mac. Afterwards the audio track was copied into the project on the PowToon website.
Picture 7 mind map with the structure of the video
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Picture 8 Script of the explainer video
4 Prezi Next Presentations
Prezi Next is a web-based presentation and visual storytelling tool based on html technology and java script, running on web connected devices like laptops, tablets and smart phones (https://prezi.com ).It allows a map-like overview on a topic, providing the possibility to change between different sections, zoom into details or pull back to the start page or to other main levels. Prezi Next has more features than the older tool Prezi Classic which is still in use.
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Prezi was used during PEACE_Alps for presentations and for the design and realization of the final project handbook. The handbook comprises of 6 different levels and has up to 170 different content pages. Numerous pictures, videos and story telling sketches were integrated into the prezi. The videos are linked to the YouTube channel; links to other internet sites are feasible as well. Since the online handbook is only publicly accessible on the internet, a postcard with QR code and the web address of the PEACE_Alps online handbook was printed for tangible distribution.
Prezi offers a free license with which the prezis produced are publicly viewable. The payed version is available on subscription basis; users have the possibility to choose between public and private viewer rights. In addition they can use prezi offline by downloading a desktop application and they can take advantage of a portable version. An excellent feature is the chance to work on the publication as a team, granting editor rights to other prezi users. For the editor rights it’s sufficient if the administrator has a payed version, whereas other editors may have free versions only.
Prezi next is not supported by the Internet Explorer and cannot be run with Linux. It has some system requirements as e.g. Windows 7 SP1 (64 bit) or higher and direct x9, a minimum of 4 GB RAM. If these requirements cannot be met, the device has a low performance when creating the prezi.
Picture 9 PEACE_Alps online handbook realized with prezi next software
For design and formatting, prezi offers templates, shapes and a limited number of fonts (about 16 fonts). Many features can be compared with the design of a power point presentation. The difference is the way how the different sections are arranged within the
11 GUIDELINE FOR DIGITAL COMMUNICATION TOOLS presentation. The look and feel of a prezi is more comparable with a map on a website in which you can click on different shapes (prezi uses the term “planet”), zoom, fade or proceed to deeper levels. Importing of power point files as well as exporting presentations as pdf is an option. But it’s not possible to transfer the older and still usable prezi product “Prezi Classic” to Prezi Next, because the “Classic” version is built on a different platform; i.e. on Adobe Flash.
For support and questions users can refer to the prezi tutorials which are quite comprehensive and well structured, see https://support.prezi.com/hc/en-us
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