HOW TO RECONNECT WITH CITIZENS? Key conclusions and recommendations - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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HOW TO RECONNECT WITH CITIZENS?

Key conclusions and recommendations

• Dr. Carlos Mendez, University of Strathclyde

COHESIFY Final Conference, Brussels, 26 April 2018

The COHESIFY project (February 2016-April 2018) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 693127

1 KEY CONCLUSIONS

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KEY CONCLUSIONS

The image of the EU & public trust in EU institutions has deteriorated over the past decade

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KEY CONCLUSIONS

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Cohesion Policy spending & communication makes a real difference to how citizens perceive & identify with the EU

KEY CONCLUSIONS

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Despite improvements, Cohesion Policy communication is failing to rise to the challenge

KEY CONCLUSIONS

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EU funding and projects need to be seen by citizens to be addressing regional & local needs & development challenges

KEY CONCLUSIONS

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Citizen-focused approach to the programming of EU funds is needed with an upgraded role for communication

2 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

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RECOMMENDATIONS - Programming for people

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Introduce ‘open programming’ for real dialogue with citizens in designing interventions

RECOMMENDATIONS - Programming for people

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HOW? Through democratic innovations:

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING deliberation (juries, panels and polls) and decision-making by citizens

RECOMMENDATIONS - Programming for people

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WHY? To revolutionise citizen engagement in programming and communication

RECOMMENDATIONS - SMART communication planning

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Communication integrated in planning including

Outcome indicators with baselines Funding earmarked & costs specified

RECOMMENDATIONS - SMART communication planning

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Stronger role for Commission (conditionality) Upgrading communication capacity at all levels

RECOMMENDATIONS –

Project selection to exploit communication impact

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Effectiveness of projects to exploit results should be a selection criterion (as in H2020, COSME…) Especially where Commission has leverage (major projects)

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Project selection criteria documents should specify communication principles/criteria – for transparency and review RECOMMENDATIONS –

Project selection to exploit communication impact

RECOMMENDATIONS

Evaluation: accounting for communication results

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Communication plans & actions Impact evaluation Improve methods (surveys, focus groups, media monitoring) EU evaluation guidance Learning platform

• Repository for evaluations of communication, and good

‘communication’ practice database

RECOMMENDATIONS – Media Strategy

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Recognise that countries & regions differ in the way Cohesion policy is framed

RECOMMENDATIONS – Media Strategy

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Design media strategies with reference to local frames

Actively challenge - rather than ignore - negative frames Enhance positive frames Build longer-term narratives linked to individual stories

RECOMMENDATIONS – Media Strategy

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Diversify & upgrade social media activity

RECOMMENDATIONS – Visibility, branding & relevance

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Increase visibility of ‘EU FUNDS’ brand More EU presence in regions Humanise the funds – managing communication as a set of stories about people and their locality Bring projects to life: unified project database with audiovisuals

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THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

ANY QUESTIONS ?

General enquires

• Dr. Carlos Mendez

Mail: info@cohesify.eu

carlos.mendez@strath.ac.uk

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WWW.COHESIFY.EU

The COHESIFY project (February 2016-April 2018) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 693127