| Nuclear
community intensifies communications efforts to reach
broader public and meet the information needs of the
global nuclear renaissance.
From 11-15 February 2007,
over 170 professional communicators from 27 countries
congregated in the Palazzo delle Stelline Congress Centre
in Milan, Italy, to take part in ENS PIME 2007.
Now in its fifth year, the annual PIME (Public
Information Materials
Exchange) conference is organised
by the European Nuclear Society (ENS) in co-operation
with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD (NEA/OECD) and
FORATOM. PIME is an international conference that provides
communicators in the global nuclear science community
with a unique opportunity to discuss the key issues
of the day, to focus on new communications solutions
and tools and to network with their fellow professionals.
Among those who took part were representatives of the
major European power utilities, research centres, nuclear
science associations and national nuclear associations.
At a time when concerns about
security of supply, combating climate change and competitive
energy prices have thrust nuclear energy to the top
of the global energy agenda and stimulated the nuclear
revival, the premium on effective communications is
all the greater. So too are the challenges and rewards
for nuclear communicators, who must communicate the
social, economic and environmental advantages of nuclear
energy to an increasingly information-sensitive public.
This was one of the key messages to emerge from the
conference.
The conference agenda consisted
of a series of plenary sessions, panel discussions and
parallel workshops focusing on specific communications
issues.
Among the main subjects discussed
during the plenary and panel sessions were the international
ITER fusion project, the drivers and implications of
nuclear new build in the UK, countries planning to go
nuclear for the first time and the situation in the
host country, Italy. The results-oriented workshops
gave PIME 2007 delegates the opportunity to concentrate,
in a more hands-on way, on issues like applying best
practices, enhancing stakeholder consultation and communicating
via the Young Generation Nuclear network. The objective
was for delegates to learn about new communications
skills and approaches.
Among the guest speakers
at PIME 2007 were senior representatives
of the European Commission, industry specialists, journalists,
communications consultants and experts in a range of
fields, including public acceptance and crisis communications.
Each year during PIME the
nuclear community recognises the contribution that high
impact communications can make to reinforcing key messages
about nuclear energy to the public by presenting the
PIME Award for Communications Excellence. This year
the prize went to British Energy, for its innovative
and audacious Demarco Skateraw campaign that humanised
the image of nuclear energy by establishing a novel
link between art and science.
On the final day of the conference,
delegates visited the research facilities of the European
Commission’s Joint Research Centre, ISPRA, which
are just outside Milan.
ENS President, Frank Deconinck,
who chaired the conference, emphasised how information
is a prerequisite for a democratic society and how it
is the role of scientists and communicators to empower
the public by sharing knowledge with them: “People
are the ultimate power, but power is only of common
good if it is the hands of informed people. We are confronted
every day with misconceptions and factual errors about
nuclear energy. How can we expect the public to make
an informed, objective judgement if scientists cannot
effectively communicate the facts? PIME aims to enable
nuclear communicators to improve their skills and develop
new tools so that the public can make informed choices
based on scientific fact, not fiction.”
PIME 2007 was organised in
cooperation with
|
