In order to drive lasting and impactful change, sustainability actions must bring diverse voices together. But how to connect with different groups? And how can climate change practitioners and researchers make sure that knowledge reaches all?

One step which may help is ensuring that knowledge is translated into as many formats as possible. The Social Innovation in Energy Transition (SONNET) project provides one example on how this can be achieved.

The project is made up of thirteen partners including ICLEI Europe, as well as ICLEI Members Antwerp (Belgium), Basel (Switzerland), Bristol (United Kingdom), Mannheim (Germany) and Warsaw (Poland).

One of SONNET’s first initiatives was to map 500 examples of social innovations in energy (SIEs), and then cluster them into “types” to better understand the diversity of innovations that already exist in Europe. This involved rigorous academic research, which was presented in reports and publications.

The project chose, however, to ensure that reports not be the only way that findings would be presented. First, the typology was integrated into an interactive webpage so that it could be explored by those who aren’t keen to delve into academic writing.

Then, the project published its first “Energy Read”, which overviews the work that went into typology creation, and presents ‘why’ and ‘how’ the different SIE types were identified.

Visual learners are also able to access this information through a new infographic, which summarises all that is in the Energy Read using imagery and a visual storyline.

But sometimes, people want to hear directly from the project. That’s why SONNET also recently released its first video. Starring three SONNET partners – Jana DeForche from the City of Antwerp, Karoline Rogge from Fraunhofer ISI and the University of Sussex, and Julia Wittmayer from DRIFT – the video presents SONNET’s vision, work on typology development, and work at the city level, specifically in City Labs. It uses a combination of interviews and illustrations to present knowledge.

Learn more about how SONNET is brigning groups together by clicking here.