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

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

1 KEY CONCLUSIONS 2

KEY CONCLUSIONS 1 The image of the EU & public trust in EU institutions has deteriorated over the past decade 3

KEY CONCLUSIONS 2 Cohesion Policy spending & communication makes a real difference to how citizens perceive & identify with the EU 4

KEY CONCLUSIONS 3 Despite improvements, Cohesion Policy communication is failing to rise to the challenge 5

KEY CONCLUSIONS 4 EU funding and projects need to be seen by citizens to be addressing regional & local needs & development challenges 6

KEY CONCLUSIONS 5 Citizen-focused approach to the programming of EU funds is needed with an upgraded role for communication 7

2 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 8

RECOMMENDATIONS - Programming for people Introduce ‘open programming’ for real dialogue with citizens in designing interventions 9

RECOMMENDATIONS - Programming for people HOW? Through democratic innovations: PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING deliberation (juries, panels and polls) and decision-making by citizens 10

RECOMMENDATIONS - Programming for people WHY? To revolutionise citizen engagement in programming and communication 11

RECOMMENDATIONS - SMART communication planning Communication integrated in planning including Funding Outcome earmarked & indicators with costs specified baselines 12

RECOMMENDATIONS - SMART communication planning Upgrading Stronger role communication for Commission capacity at all levels (conditionality) 13

RECOMMENDATIONS – Project selection to exploit communication impact Effectiveness of projects to exploit results should be a selection criterion (as in H2020, COSME…) Especially where Commission has leverage (major projects) 14

RECOMMENDATIONS – Project selection to exploit communication impact Project selection criteria documents should specify communication principles/criteria – for transparency and review 15

RECOMMENDATIONS Evaluation: accounting for communication results Impact evaluation Communication plans & actions Improve methods (surveys, focus groups, media monitoring) EU evaluation guidance Learning platform - Repository for evaluations of communication, and good ‘communication’ practice database 16

RECOMMENDATIONS – Media Strategy Recognise that countries & regions differ in the way Cohesion policy is framed 17

RECOMMENDATIONS – Media Strategy Design media strategies with reference to local frames Enhance positive frames Build longer-term narratives linked to individual stories Actively challenge - rather than ignore - negative frames 18

RECOMMENDATIONS – Media Strategy Diversify & upgrade social media activity 19

RECOMMENDATIONS – Visibility, branding & relevance 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 20

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION! ANY QUESTIONS ? carlos.mendez@strath.ac.uk General enquires Dr. Carlos Mendez Mail: info@cohesify.eu 21

WWW.COHESIFY.EU The COHESIFY project (February 2016-April 2018) has received funding from the European Union’s 22 Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 693127