Date of publication
May 27, 2026
Category:
Practice Insight
Developing digital stories in research for science communication: reflections from researchers
by
Leanne Townsend
,
Mikelis Grivins
,
Christina Noble
,
Claire Hardy
,
Livia Ortolani
,
Gusztáv Nemes
,
Marta Baena-Sanz
,
Mags Currie
,
Mar Delgado
Audiovisual communication methods such as digital storytelling can reach wide audiences to realise greater societal research impact. Increasingly, researchers embrace (or are expected to embrace) these approaches but often lack relevant skills. This paper draws on Horizon Europe-funded research where digital stories were developed in 20 European regions. Findings from a survey completed by the researchers highlight skills- and engagement-based challenges and explore how capacity to develop digital stories was built. The paper focuses on the role of digital storytelling in science communication, and the challenges researchers face in developing these outputs, including in ensuring meaningful participant involvement and the authentic representation of participants' voices within the final narratives. We discuss how to better support researchers to embrace digital storytelling as a science communication method, with recommendations for effective research impact.