Research Impact

Researchers at ECA actively collaborate outside academia through various mechanisms to foster innovation and to create mutually beneficial partnership.

ECA researchers can engage with society in number of ways because ECA’s ambition is to create innovative solutions for SOCIAL WELFARE DEVELOPMENT AND TO TURN RESEARCH RESULTS INTO PRACTICAL APPLICATION.

We organize PRACTICAL INFORMATION DAYS for social workers “LET'S TALK SCIENCE” on Tuesdays each month up to July 2026. We invite social workers and researchers to share ideas and experiences. 

The workshops give the opportunity to gain new skills for profession.

ECA has special SATURDAYS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS with title “SIX SECRETS OF GOOD SCIENCE COMMUNICAYTION IN SOCIAL WORK”. Social workers are becoming discovery masters and learned policy makers in the profession.

They learn:

1. How to set goals,
2. How to be authentic: how to upfront your weaknesses of your research, because the credibility relies in large part on authenticity.
3. Tell a story to communicate the science as a story because applied science is the field of great mystery story. It drips of the drama of human discovery. And it always has room for sequel. Therefore integration of the story with the science explains things in the laymen’s terms. Assume the audience is intelligent but not informed about particular topic! We teach to use analogies, visuals, anecdotes.
4. It’s about "them", not you. We teach social workers how to look to the things they don’t know through good science communication.
5. Don’t oversell your research results: how to hold yourself to the highest level of integrity. Science is a slow, incremental, one step forward, two steps backward enterprise.
6. Find your voice! It takes time, practice and hard work to become a good science communicator. Why not make a blog? Launch a lecture and start to participate actively and lead the profession according to the time!

RESEARCH SUPPORT NETWORK:

Among students, worldwide social work students’ associations and policy makers.

MEDIA CONNECTION:

Including social media.

Special course in SOCIAL WORK STUDY PROGRAM as a free choice “SOCIAL WORK AS SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH”.

The course wants to stimulate reflection of the social meaning of the social work as a science and the role of communication, information and popularization. In addition the course offers an “Introduction to scientific literature and empirical studies on science communication”. Finally, it informs about communication to media, typology of communication and communication sociology.

The course gives 3 ECTS.

Workshops on science communication.

It involves ECA staff members, teachers how to forward knowledge available to people and society in groups and people in vulnerable situation.

We inform social workers how to become social entrepreneurs. We call it al lecture “Discover how you can achieve your innovative dreams no matter which phase you are at!”

KEEP DEVELOPING AND CONTINUING YOUR EDUCATION:

ECA satisfies your hunger for knowledge and skills: from post-graduate courses to short-term training programs, lectures, distance learning and pathways that combine work and studies.

TACKLE SOCIETAL CHALLENGES THROUGH INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION:

ECA Institute of Interdisciplinary Research carries out interdisciplinary research with societal relevance. They focus on issues that touch multiple academic social fields that will remain important in the long term and that rely on an extensive and interdisciplinary network. They are the ideal basis for the exchange of expertise across disciplinary boundaries opening up promising new prospects.

Become an ECA Interdisciplinary Research Institute member!

ENGAGE IN EUROPEAN AND NORDIC PROJECTS:

Cross-border collaboration are key to tackle the global challenges we face in Europe. ECA believes that everyone benefits from intercultural collaboration and the inclusion of different perspectives of joined research. That is the reason why we are actively encouraged to take part in research projects across different academic fields needed for students who are studying at the Academy of Applied Sciences.