At the same time…

A mega-project like the Einstein Telescope obviously involves a lot of different topics. And the same goes for communication about that telescope. About science, about innovation, valorisation and economic opportunities, about the environment, about politics and governance, about participation, about young people and their future, about the preparations for our bid book. To name just a few. Meanwhile, even a novel with the Einstein Telescope as its central theme has been published.

When you are in charge of communication on such a project, you care about how the media report about you and what stakeholders, fans or critical followers post about you on social media. In our case, mainly through LinkedIn.

I will therefore take you back to Friday, 7 November. At the MECC in Maastricht, more than a thousand schoolchildren not only watched the horses during Jumping Indoor Maastricht, but they also explored the universe through VR glasses, as we will soon be doing via our telescope ‘in real life’. Those jumpers were fascinating, but that glimpse into the future – perhaps their future – was actually more exciting.

At the same time, barely a kilometre away in the Gouvernement, the provincial government building of Dutch Limburg, the Limburg Parliament passed a motion. By a large majority, the provincial councillors allocated an additional 10 million euro to be earmarked for the Einstein Telescope. Not to make scientists happy, but based on the confidence that our telescope will soon make the economy stronger and thus boost society. 

By far the most media attention – at the same time – was given to the launch of the Flemish roadshow in Hasselt. Goal: introducing schoolchildren to the Einstein Telescope and get them interested in studying science or engineering. This Einstein caravan will tour universities in Flanders in the coming period. Hasselt University was the first. Prime Minister Diependaele kicked off an impressive Tour of Flanders there.

I myself told the story of our Einstein Telescope to the spokespersons of the Dutch Commissioners of the King that afternoon. They were quite interested in the ripples of the universe, but they also wanted to know if we are encountering any ripples elsewhere. So I told them about the public meeting earlier that week in the Walloon town of Welkenraedt. With solid presentations given by Walloon francophone colleagues. Nevertheless, our story did not appeal to some of the visitors, who made this abundantly clear afterwards. They still had questions, lots of questions. Especially about what a construction period of the Einstein Telescope would mean for the immediate environment. Their environment. Why had they heard so little about it? Did we have something to hide?

I made an attempt to explain that we first need to know where we want to build the underground triangle, to ensure that we can assess more precisely what the impact of that construction period will be and where this will be the case. I also reported that we hope and actually more or less count on the fact that we will soon be able to do a lot of transport by rail instead of just with lorries. More sustainable logistics and less inconvenience.

A lady from the group gave me a piercing look. Her message was clear: I’ll believe it when I see it! Years ago, she had been promised all kinds of things in another project, she indicated. At the time, around the construction of the track for the high-speed TGV train between Liège and Aachen. In reality, instead of zero nuisance, huge mountains of sand had ruined her view for a long time. And many roads through the village at that time were suitable for a mud run world championship rather than a smooth flow of traffic. This lady never wanted to go through that again.

I was reminded of her as I scrolled through the daily media review on Saturday morning. Nice coverage of the events of that Friday before. However, the message from the lady in Welkenraedt blew a slight cloud into my weekend. 

Yes indeed, I am fully convinced that the Einstein Telescope offers countless opportunities for science, innovation, economy and thus also for the inhabitants of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion and far beyond. At the same time, I realise that the feasibility of the project is also determined by our response to questions such as those of this lady in Welkenraedt.

Henk Schroen is an independent communications and media consultant. With this background, he has been working as communications manager for the Einstein Telescope EMR Project Office for over three years. Previously, Henk worked in education, spent many years in newspaper journalism, and served as communications manager for the police and the Province of Limburg (NL).