Formez at the Berlin International Conference on Communication and Publicity on Structural Funds

A Formez expert presented the activities of assistance to the drafting and implementation of the Communication Plans which have been realized under the Twinning projects in the pre-accession countries and new Member States during an international conference on the implementation of the Structural Funds Communication Plans, which was held in Berlin from September 2nd to 4th. The event which was organized by the European Academy for Taxes, Economics and Law in Berlin, had the key objective to outline the most efficient communication instruments to publicize Structural Fund Operational Programmes.
The Heads of the Activities of Communication and Publicity on Structural Funds from the 27 EU Member States participated in the conference. Henrik Josephson, Senior Communications and Publicity Officer - Interreg IV B, opened the conference by drawing the attention of the audience on the difference between information and communication and on how to draw up clear and consistent messages. Following, Mark Yeoman and Clare Morgan who are respectively the Deputy Director and the Media Relations Manager of the Objective One Partnership Office for Cornwall, took the floor and outlined the methods for optimizing the collaboration with the media. Richard Holmes, European Fund for Regional Development Communication Manager for Yorkshire, emphasized how the beneficiaries of the Structural Fund Programmes may be aided in the fulfilment of their obligations in terms of communication and publicity. Belen Gomez De Enterria, Director for Evaluations from the Directorate General for European Affairs in the Madrid region, outlined how the communication and publicity actions of the Operational Plan of the Madrid Region were assessed. Day One concluded with the address by a Formez expert who described the activities of support to the Units of Information and Communication of Structural Funds which have been carried out under administrative Twinning projects. On day Two, two important speeches were given: one dedicated to the external assignment of Publicity and Communication activities of European Structural Funds edited by Andrew Luff, Head of European Structural Fund Programmes from the East of England Development Agency in the United Kingdom and the other which was dedicated to the organizational structures of the Information and Publicity Units in the Public Administration edited by Anna Kanakaki, Head of Communication of the Operational Programme “Health&Welfare” in Greece. In the afternoon session, two workshops were organized with a focus on the introduction of active communications edited by Marco Michel from the European Information Centre “Jean Monnet” in Berlin.