Together for Cohesion makes the stakeholders’ voice louder! We have defined a detailed plan identifying targeted stakeholders that have benefitted from cohesion policy in each flagship region. Now, we are ready for them to embark on our communication campaign!

Stakeholders are key actors in the development and implementation of European cohesion policy and projects. As such, they can play a major role in the communication of the outputs and real-life benefits of the policy. This is the reason why stakeholders are the essence of the project and “Together4Cohesion” communication campaign. The involvement of pertinent stakeholders is the key to the action, and therefore a strategy has been carried out.

Stakeholders at the core of “Together4Cohesion” communication campaign

“Together for Cohesion: Let’s rEUnite!” aims to raise awareness of the importance of cohesion policy among citizens and stakeholders and turn them in active players within the regional, national, and European dialogue on cohesion policy.

To this aim, our communication campaign “Together4Cohesion” is based on a strong synergy of the actions and voices of the main beneficiaries of the policy: Regions, citizens, and other stakeholders.

To obtain the most significant outcomes, we established an elaborate communication strategy. Essential steps have been undertaken in order to identify stakeholders’ outcomes, as: Target the right public, deliver the most impactful messages, and implement the most effective approach. However, an effective strategy must consider also variables, such as conscientiousness of challenges, public’s stance and relational impacts that each initiative has with critical stakeholders.

For the communication campaign to produce a significant impact, it is crucial to follow a defined plan in order to propose and obtain approvals, feedback and assessment. Together for Cohesion has adopted the so-called “management by objectives”. In a nutshell, before, during and after the communication campaign, four steps are realised. Each of them can be broken down into measurable objectives in order to inform and shape the plan framework. Those steps are the following: analysing the issue, developing strategy, implement the strategy, and monitoring and evaluation. Adopting this strategy enables to identify the key stakeholders for the communications. That is what the stakeholder engagement plan is all about.

Engaging relevant stakeholders in the communication campaign

The stakeholder engagement plan aims to identify targeted key stakeholders for policy areas that are covered by Cohesion Funds for each region participating in the project. The purpose is to collaborate with onboard stakeholders with past-experience in cohesion policy-related activities.

As Together For Cohesion is a campaign linked to the Cohesion Policy, it is necessary to identify the key stakeholders according to the five main policy areas of interest, that is to say: Tourism, Youth Involvement, Gender Equality and Pay Parity, Handicraft and Agricultural Development. Moreover, the five most common categories of stakeholders have been considered: Public Authorities, Enterprises, Academia, NGOs/CSOs, Media and Communication Outlets. In collaboration with the regions taking part in the project, key stakeholders have been listed for each of them according to the policy areas and their level of engagement in different stages of the campaign. Their involvement has been clarified in accordance with the steps of the communication strategy.

Once the stakeholders are identified, the following stage begins, and the various stakeholders will become active players in our communication campaign. Among other activities, they will take part in events and training, act as Ambassadors of cohesion, share their success stories and contents linked to the Cohesion Policy.

What’s next?

Stories from our stakeholders and their involvement in the activities of the project will be shared soon on Together for Cohesion website. Visit the project website to make sure that you don’t miss anything!

Beyond our targeted stakeholders, we want to hear your voice and share your stories too! Together for Cohesion has launched a call for third parties! Check out the call and contact us by May 20, 2020!

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash