23 February 2023
Kudos, the platform for showcasing research, has announced a major new initiative to support better understanding of research relating to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Cooperative is being launched in partnership with Impact Science, a brand of Cactus Communications (CACTUS). Together with publisher partners, Kudos and Impact Science will showcase and promote plain language summaries of research that can help reduce poverty and inequality; improve health education and economic outcomes; and protect our environments.
The Knowledge Cooperative model provides publishers with a way to collaborate in tackling the issues of our time. Working together to summarize and publicize research achieves greater visibility and impact, and is particularly effective for targeting audiences beyond academia who are less familiar with publisher platforms and brands. Readers benefit not only from contextualized explanations of research but also from a single entry point, consistently promoted across a range of channels.
“Research has an important role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” says Melinda Kenneway, CEO and co-founder of Kudos. “But achieving these outcomes requires greater effort to ensure research findings are summarised and interpreted for wider audiences – from policy makers, educators and industry to the media and general public. Publishers have a vital and unique role to play here.”
“We know publishers are keen to scale up their efforts to champion the SDGs, during this Decade of Action,” adds Nikesh Gosalia, Senior Vice President, Global Academic & Publisher Relations at CACTUS. “As a sector, we need to commit to making research more accessible – beyond Open Access. The new frontier is cognitive accessibility, and we’re proud to be working at the forefront of helping more people understand and act on sustainability research.”
Publisher sponsors will identify content to be summarized and promoted via the cooperative, with subject matter drawn from any of the sustainable development topics – for example, poverty, hunger, sanitation, energy or climate research. Plain language summaries, videos and infographics will be created by the professional research & impact communication team at Impact Science. A long-term media and advertising campaign will drive widespread visibility and readership.