BAM Toolkit for Participatory Science Communication

This toolkit presents the BAM (Bind–Adapt–Monitor) operational approach as a practice-facing (Open Science) toolkit for the design, implementation, and documentation of participatory science communication activities in publicly funded research and innovation (R&I) projects, with particular relevance to Horizon Europe. Grounded in a conceptual shift that reconceptualises participatory science communication not as a set of auxiliary or instrumental activities, but as a sociotechnical infrastructure, BAM understands communication as a structuring element of participation. Communicative practices, tools, and procedures are treated as infrastructures that distribute agency among actors, organise relationships between science and society, and condition the possibilities for social impact. Within this perspective, participation is not merely facilitated but materially and discursively organised through communicative arrangements. BAM operationalises this conceptualisation by focusing on three interrelated conditions:- Bind: conditions that aim to enable real public influence on research processes and outcomes, including windows of influence, stakeholder mapping, roles, mediation, and decision-making procedures.- Adapt: conditions that support meaningful and inclusive voice through dialogic, accessible, and co-designed communicative practices, tailored formats, facilitation, interaction protocols, and participatory data governance aligned with FAIR principles.- Monitor: conditions that ensure traceable evidence of change and feedback, including feedback loops, documentation routines, and mechanisms that link participatory inputs to project decisions, outputs, and uptake. The toolkit integrates three core components: (1) An operational BAM Checklist, applied per activity, for designing and monitoring participatory communication within a project’s communication plan. The checklist requires a minimum evidence trail (who, what, when, and where it is recorded) across key items related to governance, accessibility, interaction protocols, KPIs, feedback loops, and return/reuse of results. (2) A catalogue of 19 indicators (EP–EC–CC) to evaluate participatory communication as an infrastructure rather than as final societal impact. The indicators are organised into: - EP (Enabling Power / Bind): early coverage of actors, lead time of first interaction, co-designed objectives, adoption of inputs in design, and actor retention. - EC (Effective Communication / Adapt: channel–actor fit, clarity and accessibility of materials, user prototyping, timely and useful feedback, and quality of substantive interaction. - CC (Contribution to Change/Impact / Monitor): traceability of contributions, documented changes, closure of feedback loops, integrated co-produced outputs, non-academic uptake, policy/standards influence, equity of impact, participatory valorisation pathways, and quality of evidence and auditability. Each KPI includes indicative MV/B/E thresholds (Minimum Viable / Good / Excellent), which are intended to be calibrated to project scale, resources, risks, and stakeholder contexts. (3) Templates and evidence routines for documenting participatory processes, including an activity worksheet, decision and change logs, feedback records, and a lightweight evidence register that supports traceability (inputs → decisions → changes → feedback), auditability, and comparability across activities and projects. The toolkit is designed for project coordinators, communication teams, evaluators, and researchers who need practical, repeatable tools to plan, implement, and report engagement-oriented communication so that participation is traceable and reportable. It aligns with Horizon Europe requirements, particularly 2.1 Pathways to Impact, 2.2 Dissemination–Exploitation–Communication (DEC), and Open Science. This version (v1.0) is released as an initial operational toolkit and is intended to be iteratively refined through empirical testing and application across different project contexts. BAM does not prescribe specific participation models; instead, it supports the design, implementation, and evaluation of participatory initiatives where these are relevant and appropriate to the project context. Conceptually, BAM builds on established scholarship on knowledge infrastructures, participation in science, and citizen science impact assessment, and aligns with contemporary European Open Science and knowledge valorisation policy frameworks.