Case Study
Making Research Accessible: Cluster Knowledge Translation & Transfer
CLIENT
Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada
Introduction
In 2023, the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC) received federal funding for the fourth Canadian AgriScience Cluster for Horticulture from 2023 to 2028. As part of the Cluster initiative, FVGC was responsible for conducting Knowledge Translation and Transfer (known in the industry as KTT) activities over the five-year period to keep stakeholders, including growers, informed on the progress of the research work. FVGC entrusted the KTT work to Burr Forest Group (BFG), utilizing our expertise and passion for finding creative and effective ways to extend complex information to diverse agricultural audiences.
Challenge
The work includes 10 research activities that are at various stages in their journey – with some being continuations from previous Clusters. BFG was tasked with creating a wealth of resources – from social media to videos to regular reports – to provide research updates over the course of the Cluster. The challenge lay/lies in taking early-stage research and communicating its value and importance to multiple audiences in engaging ways.
The Burr Forest Group Approach
Relationship Building
BFG started off by reaching out to all of the research activity leads to introduce the company and the KTT work we would be doing over the following years. BFG also asked all of the research activity leads to fill out a questionnaire detailing their work, including background information and their plans/goals/dreams over the next years. Following this, BFG kept and is keeping in regular contact with these researchers through monthly check-in emails.
Content Building
After receiving the filled-out questionnaires, the BFG team reviewed and compiled all submissions. From there, the information was used to start making weekly social media posts on FVGC’s X and LinkedIn pages. When researchers sent updates about how research work was progressing, this information would be added and used in these posts.
The questionnaire information and information submitted by FVGC was then used to craft the first Update to Industry report in spring 2024. The report included a detailed overview of what the goals of the research activity are and any research progress to date. The reports will be released twice a year.
To help introduce the Cluster, BFG was tasked with making a short informative video. To do this, BFG worked with the team at Tripwire Media Group. Tripwire has expertise in storytelling through video and was able to work with BFG to create the animation below. This project engaged the knowledge from FVGC about their research activities, the up to date information BFG had from their relationships with the researchers, and the video/creative skills of the team at Tripwire. The result was a two and a half minute video showcasing the 10 research activities.
Results
While this project is still ongoing, to date, BFG has been able to deliver numerous content pieces that demonstrate the important and ongoing work happening with the research activities in concise, engaging ways. The project has further established BFG as experts in Cluster KTT work, demonstrating our capacity to clarify intricate and complex information for a variety of audiences through a variety of mediums. This endeavour reflects BFG’s commitment to making agricultural research more accessible.