1. Transition Time: From Priorities to Themes
INFORM Meeting, Paris St. Denis, 4 December 2012
Transition Time: From Priorities to Themes
Frank Schneider, Joint Technical Secretariat

2. Background: CENTRAL EUROPE Programme
We are a transnational programme (European Territorial Cooperation)

3. Transition means change: The cycle we all live in
Project ideas receive funding
Projects create
(thematic) results
Projects kick off
Projects develop activities
New programmes take shape
Programmes help projects to sell attractive results to new partners and audiences
Capitalisation
Start-up and
implementation
Transition is change, there are small steps as well as big ones! Ask the audience: What is the mistake most commonly made in the transition phase? NOT TO ADAPT THEIR COMMUNICATION STRATEGY! So, how did we do it in the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme?

4. Communication strategy: From priorities to themes
: 4 very broad priorities to attract proposals. They were often communicated in a very technical way.

5. Communication strategy: From priorities to themes
: Six more specific themes, bearing a clear branding. In communicating these we avoid EU slang and use emotional elements to attract new audiences.

6. Communication strategy: At a crossroads in 2011
Why did we change our communication?
Objectives REACHED through priority-focused communication
helping to generate and deliver successful projects
Objectives NOT REACHED through priority-focused communication
informing the public and increasing awareness of new audiences
demonstrating the added value of the programme and the projects
And why were the latter objectives not reached?
Two evaluations (internal and external) found that communication was too technical – it was missing emotion and thus failing in reaching out beyond the “usual suspects”.

7. Communication strategy: Refined objectives and audiences
Through communications we aim to:
Make results and outputs visible and accessible for wider audiences
Introduce new communication tools (like social media and thematic publications) and thematically re-focus the existing tools
Facilitate knowledge exchange within and beyond the programme
Create opportunities for thematic cross-fertilisation and strengthen cooperation with thematic funds
Inform thematic stakeholders and involve them in capitalisation
Further analyse programme achievements in view of the policy framework and inform and engage stakeholders
Support projects in their regional capitalisation activities
Monitor and analyse communications-related activities of projects and further strengthen their communication capacities
In the capitalisation phase it is important to take stock, to analyse and finally to communicate the results of the projects. Through dragging thematic results (individual highlights as well as clustered contributions) to the surface, the programme contributes to the sustainability of results. We will not improve projects and results directly but a better understanding of what has happened in the past programming period will indirectly lead to better project proposals in the new programming period.

8. Programme communication: Thematic result focus after 2011
What it looks like (a selection of our tools)
From a “one fits all” to a more specific targeting of key audiences
Step-by-step the thematic design is being rolled out to all activities of the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme.
This also includes new thematic powerpoint slides. As with other tools, these are theme-specific.

9. Programme communication: Thematic result focus after 2011
Thematic publications
The PORTRAITS booklet showcases 29 projects that were co-financed following the 1st Call. Some project pictures have become the basis for our wall calendar Six thematic booklets will be published in The Contact Points will translate the booklets for their use in national contexts.
Thematic analysis
Thematic studies as well as geographic mapping will provide the analytical backbone of the CENTRAL EUROPE communication activities that aim at the capitalisation of project results.

10. Programme communication: Thematic result focus after 2011
Facebook Following up on a successful photo competition in 2012, the Facebook photo competition will be repeated in 2013 and further supplemented by a project video competition.
Website and Newsletter
In order to emphasise the programme’s thematic results, the online tools have been redesigned while widely retaining their structure. A slideshow with articles from the PORTRAITS booklet was introduced. A further facelift of the website is planned for 2013, e.g. concerning the usability of the Output Library.

11. Programme communication: The bottom line
Adapting a famous quote by Carl Sagan:
You have to know the past (and make it known)
to build a better future.

12. Contact CENTRAL EUROPE Programme Joint Technical Secretariat
Museumstraße 3/A/III
1070 Vienna
Austria
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