Communications and Outreach for Science Laboratories and Facilities: Best Practice Advice for Directors, CEOs and Communications Managers

This report distills the findings of a series of international peer reviews of the communications and outreach functions of large-scale multidisciplinary science laboratories around the world.

Intended to assist the leaders of science laboratories, organizations, collaborations and facilities worldwide, these recommendations cover

• Managing reputational risk
• Strategic communication planning
• Organization, structure and funding for communications & outreach
• Stakeholder and facility user relations
• Local community engagement
• Traditional communications functions including media relations, public outreach, digital and print publications, internal communications, visits

This report was issued on February 18, 2017 by the InterAction Collaboration of particle physics communicators. The InterAction Collaboration comprises the world’s major particle physics laboratories in Europe, North America and Asia. Since the Collaboration’s inception as a network to coordinate communications for the science of particle physics, InterAction laboratories have expanded their operations into a broad range of scientific disciplines.