Communicating for a stronger partnership: connecting with citizens across the Southern Neighbourhood

Description

The overall objective of this action is

• outreach to opinion leaders and segments of the general public

It requires what could be called “internal advocacy”. While the production process as such may only involve a small group of people, all others must be taken on board by explaining the rationale and direction of specific communication measures and allowing for comments.

This can be achieved by way of vertical internal communication during the process by the most appropriate means – from email newsletters over teleconferences to face-to-face meetings and direct consultations. In such internal communications, the objectives of individual campaigns and the selection of means to achieve their goals will be outlined.

Target groups under this action are:

• Political decision makers, in office or not
• Opinion makers, such as journalists, influential public figures, or issue-based opinion leaders
• Potential direct and indirect beneficiaries of EU cooperation and development projects (individuals, groups, businesses, governments, public authorities);
• Wider communities with an interest either in relations with the EU or specific programmes and actions
• Young, educated, urban audiences in their role as future drivers of change in the Southern Neighbourhood

The main result of the project is

• to support a Communication for a stronger partnership between the EU and the Southern Neighbourhood countries through the development and implementation of a regional communication program

Services

• Awareness-raising and information campaigns on impact of EU support in the region;
• Real-time information dissemination on the same subject;
• Support to function for EU Delegations and European Commission to complement their communication activities;
• Use of opinion polls and media monitoring to improve communication; and Lead proactive coordination of these activities with those implemented by the media hub and CSP East projects, which are both also part of the OPEN regional programme

More concretely, the services involved:

Editorial Production 

• Storytelling for better EU visibility 
• Pitching stories in a targeted fashion 
• Publish 30 articles per year in local media 

Production of Communication Materials 

• Provision of 20 photos/year/country with captions of EU projects 
• Production of 60 items of graphical content over the whole lifetime of the project 

Communication Activities on Country/Regional Level 

• Organization of intra-country activities 
• Deliver bespoke training on media and communications 
• Participation to the annual regional network meetings

Awareness Raising and Information Campaigns 

• Annual EU information soiree networking reception 
• Thematic campaigns 

Real Time Information Dissemination 

• New open neighbourhood portal
• New social media strategy 
• Create and distribute regular news alerts