Communication Campaigns
Ongoing campaigns
#EUinmyregion
Projects Open Days is a European Union-wide campaign encouraging citizens to discover European projects near them. It consists of four different initiatives which involve the public in visiting projects and sharing images and experiences via social media.
EU in My Region/Projects Open Days
#EUinmyregion/Regional Campaigns
40 regions of Europe are partnering up with us to run a series of regional campaigns with an ultra-local flavour, and with a smile!
EU in My Region/Regional Campaigns
Local Events
Europe Direct Information Centres and the Association of European Border Regions – through the initiative Interreg Volunteer Youth - organise local events to promote and showcase the results the EU and cohesion policy have delivered in their area, and to engage citizens into discussing in an interactive and innovative format.
If you are interested, go to the interactive map of local events to find the one closest to you.
REGIOSTARS
Since 2008, the European Commission hands out annual REGIOSTARS awards to EU-funded projects which demonstrate excellence and new approaches in regional development. With the goal of inspiring other regions and project managers across Europe, participating projects are in the spotlight of communication activities at European level. The REGIOSTARS are awarded to projects in five thematic categories (smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, urban development and a topic of the year).
Further details on this year’s competition.
Road Trip Project
The Road Trip Project is above all a human adventure! In 2018 and in 2019 altogether 16 young travellers embarked on a van for a journey across Europe. On the road, they met locals and explored a variety of EU-supported projects and activities. They shared their experiences through videos, photos and blog posts on social media platforms, exchanging tips on the road and triggering a Europe-wide conversation among their peers.
In 2020, the Road Trip Project became the Green Trip. The campaign aims to raise young Europeans’ awareness of the climate urgency, connect them with the EU's environment and climate action, and engage them to explore more sustainable lifestyles. From September to December local influencers in five target countries – Belgium, Germany, Greece, Lithuania and Portugal – embarked on a discovery journey, exploring by themselves a variety of green projects and initiatives enabled by the EU in their respective regions. Sharing their stories with their communities on social media, in their local language, influencers and followers challenged each other to adopt environmentally friendly habits, thus doing their bit to protect our planet. The Green Trip campaign will run until June 2021. While the influencer journeys have come an end, many campaign highlights are yet to come in 2021, e.g. new social media content touching upon five key sustainability issues, and partnerships with schools to bring green ideas into Europe’s classrooms.
- Road Trip Project
- Green Trip Campaign website
- Follow the campaign on instagram: @EUinmyregion #DingDongEU
Press trips
DG REGIO organizes often events on Regional Policy in the Member States or in Brussels. In the process of selection of media for coverage of the events, DG REGIO applies 3 guiding principles:
- Profile of the media – we target high impact multipliers, with an interest in the subject of the event;
- Geographic balance – we strive for even distribution among concerned regions and member states;
- Type balance – we aim to reach a balance between media types (television, radio, print, Internet).
To find out more on how to cover DG REGIO events you may email REGIO-A2-COMMUNICATION@ec.europa.eu.
Youth4Regions
Youth4Regions is the European Commission programme helping journalism students and young journalists to discover what the EU is doing in their region.
Megalizzi-Niedzielski prize
The Megalizzi – Niedzielski prize rewards aspiring journalists that show a strong attachment to the EU and its values.
Megalizzi – Niedzielski prize for aspiring journalists
Partnerships with media
The European Commission’s DG REGIO encourages the media from the EU to cover regional policy topics and developments.
In order support such activities, the DG provides support in the form of grants and partnerships.
Smart Regions
Smart Regions, in collaboration with Euronews, takes a tour of Europe, visiting the cities and towns where Cohesion Policy projects are reducing regional disparities and bringing real, tangible benefits to communities across the EU.
Calls for proposals promoting Cohesion policy
Calls for proposals promoting Cohesion policy
Communication actions under Cohesion policy calls
With three calls for proposals entitled “Support for information measures relating to the EU Cohesion policy” and published respectively in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Commission has sought several beneficiaries (including media) for the implementation of information measures promoting EU Cohesion policy. The main aim was to provide support for the production and dissemination of information and content linked to EU Cohesion policy, while respecting complete editorial independence of the actors involved. This interactive map aims to highlight and promote the actions implemented and the products delivered under the above-mentioned calls for proposals.
Communication actions under Cohesion policy calls
Past Campaigns
Local Debates
In 2018 over 60 local and regional dialogues are being organised in partnership with local organisations across 8 countries to discuss the impact of EU actions in territorial contexts. The events have brought together a variety of local stakeholders and interested citizens, engaging them in open exchanges about the benefits and challenges linked to the delivering of EU funding. Furthermore, the dialogues are providing a unique opportunity to collect inputs in view of the next EU financial period, starting in 2021. One of the main takeaways of the events is that local stakeholders are keen to exchange as to how the EU funding are invested in their municipality or region. They also want to contribute more to the communication of cohesion policy in order to best highlight its positive impact. The dialogues have seen the participation of thousands of people. The hosting countries have been Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Cohesion 30
In 2018, EU cohesion policy will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Cohesion policy has been accompanying the evolutions of the European Union: From the creation of the single market to the need to foster convergence to underpin the EMU, successive enlargements and most recently, the need to respond to the migration crisis. Also in the future, cohesion policy shall stay at the very core of the Union's development. It will enable the EU to harness globalisation, and to foster prosperous economies, caring societies and sustainable growth through innovation and skills.