Strasbourg, 21 January 2010 CDLR-Bu(2010)6
Item 5 of the agenda
BUREAU OF THE
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY
(CDLR)
COMMUNICATION RELATING TO THE CDLR
AND LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY
Secretariat Memorandum
prepared by the
Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs
Directorate of Democratic Institutions
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Introduction
This document summarises the state of affairs concerning communication in the field of local and regional democracy at the Council of Europe and puts forward ideas for further action to be discussed by the CDLR.
Follow-up to the Kiviniemi report
Work continued on follow-up to the Kiviniemi Report in the field of Communication. Further meetings were held with Norway (Greta Billing and Kjersti Barsok) and Finland (Kimmo Collander) in November and December 2009. Norway kindly produced a draft communication checklist for their meeting with the Secretariat, and this was presented to members of the LR-FS Committee in December (see Appendix).
During the discussions with Norway, it was agreed to organise an informal brainstorming meeting on communication in January, and invite all CDLR members to participate. The meeting will take place on 26 January, immediately after the Bureau meeting.
Norway were keen to see news on activities on local and regional democracy in the member states, such as on pilot programmes, appear on the Council of Europe home page. The Secretariat said they would contact the Directorate of Communication to ask whether this would be possible. Further information on this point will be communicated to members of the Bureau at the meeting.
Website
The Local and Regional Democracy website remains the main communication tool for the CDLR. In 2010, modifications will be made in line with proposals by the Norwegian and Finnish delegations in document CDLR(2009)49 Addendum.
LOREG database
In 2009, as LOREG became beleaguered by problems of a financial and technical nature, it was clear that a decision would have to be taken by the CDLR as to its future and that of the Network of LOREG correspondents. At its September meeting, the CDLR agreed to bring the activity to a close. The database will be taken offline in the second week of January 2010. Arrangements are in progress to transfer the database and its documentation to the Open Society Institute, Hungary, who run the LOGIN database. It was originally intended to set up a joint search facility with LOGIN (decision of the Network of LOREG correspondents, June 2008 – see doc LOREG(2008)6), should it have been decided to continue the LOREG activity.
“MORE” - Database for transfrontier co-operation
The Council of Europe database on transfrontier and transnational co-operation, “MORE” (Matching Opportunities for Regions in Europe), set up with the support of the Italian Government and officially launched in 2007, enables local and regional authorities, their associations and training institutions on transfrontier co-operation to look Europe-wide for suitable partners in co-operation, as well as publish information on their activities in the field.
Since MORE shares LOREG’s host site, it was subject to the same financial and technical problems encountered in 2009 and, as a result, affected by the decision taken by the CDLR on LOREG at its September meeting (see also in this connection CDLR(2009)49 Addendum).
Negotiations are underway to transfer the database to PORE (Progretto Opportunità delle Regioni in Europa), of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department of Regional Affairs, in the course of 2010.
Publications of the CDLR
Three country reports on the Structure and Operation of Local and Regional Democracy were adopted by the CDLR in September 2009. They were submitted by Finland, Romania and Turkey. In future, country reports will be added to the Local and Democracy website as a matter of course, but paper versions will only be published at the request of the country concerned (see also below).
TIMS (Trafficking Information Management System)
With regard to preparation and publication of the country reports, the Secretariat continued examining the possibility of setting up an electronic collaborative work system, which could enable (almost) real-time updating and horizontal comparison of reports. In particular, it has taken further steps to consider the possibility of cloning the TIMS database created for the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs at the Council of Europe, to facilitate monitoring work under the Convention on Against Trafficking in Human Beings.
Work is currently underway to draw up an estimate for the cost of cloning the database. Cloning the database is preferred to database creation or copying, since operational costs will be shared by several Council of Europe departments rather than being borne by one department alone. Despite this possibility for keeping costs low, the resourcing of this development will still require investment for which funding will have to be found either through additional resources or re-directing of usual expenditure. The Secretariat will keep the CDLR informed of progress on this project throughout the course of 2010.
Communication campaign on the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance for the Ministerial Conference in Utrecht
Following the positive reception of the crystal dodecahedron (to be awarded to local/regional authorities that earn the label of good democratic governance within the framework of the Strategy) by the CDLR in September, it asked the Secretariat to organise a campaign on the Strategy for the Ministerial Conference, Utrecht, 16-17 November 2009. In view of the short time to prepare the campaign, it was decided to keep it simple, with emphasis on maximum visibility. Posters were ordered for each of the 12 principles in French and in English, the new Strategy brochure (see below) was published, pens and notepads with the Strategy title and logo were produced, and the dodecahedron was displayed in a cabinet near to the conference hall’s entrance. Feedback during the conference would suggest that the campaign was generally well received and achieved the desired effects.
The brochure on the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance
The revised brochure on the Strategy became available for distribution shortly before the Utrecht Ministerial Conference in November. Copies were distributed at the Conference as part of the Communication campaign (see above). Should member states require copies, they should contact Siobhan Montgomery, email: [email protected].
Action required
CDLR Bureau members are invited to take note of the information provided above.
They are also invited to continue actively contributing to the new communication policy in order to enhance the visibility of the Council of Europe’s work on local and regional democracy at national level.
Appendix
Draft check list for communication
This document is meant to aid the CDLR and its sub-committees in reaching the over arching goals listed in the Utrecht agenda. The different committees have different agendas and the aim of this document is to help identify issues at an early stage that need to be communicated so that the proper measures can be taken.
All committees should discuss the questions below when a new issue or product like a report or evaluation is being discussed. These questions are intended to help identify especially important issues:
Product/issue
- What are the outputs? What do want to get from this?
- How important is this product/ issue, cf. the Utrecht agenda, the identified challenges and in support of our common objective of delivering good local and regional governance to all citizens?
Target groups
- Who are the target groups for this product/ issue?
o Possible partners?
o Possible opponents?
- Who will this affect?
- Are there any partners in this matter that we need to communicate with?
- Where does this matter go from here? To the CDLR, CM?
Communication goals
- What do we want to communicate?
- What do we want to achieve?
Central message
- What is the central message we want to bring about this product/issue?
Implementation
- What is the form of the product?
o If there is a written product:
§ Is a summary that could be easily translated?
§ Could it be published online?
- How should we visualize the results of this product/ issue (what tools?)?
- Where should we visualize the results of the work?
- Who should visualize result of the work (CoE, member states?)?
Appendix 1: The following challenges of the Utrecht agenda
Appendix 2: List of communication tools
Appendix 3: Communication chart
Appendix 1
The following challenges of the Utrecht agenda are of particular common interest:
1. Managing the impact of the current financial/economic crisis
2. Addressing the low level of democratic participation in public life at local and regional level
3. Reducing the complexity and cost of the current system of local and regional government and enhancing its efficiency
4. Enhancing the capacity for and quality of governance in local and regional communities or authorities
5. Addressing the impact of demographic/migration trends
6. Improving access to public services delivered at local and regional level
7. Making it easier for local and regional authorities to co-operate across frontiers
Appendix 2: Communciation tools (to be further elaborated)
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Communication tools |
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Regular press |
Short explanation on use |
Target groups |
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Press release |
Create wide attention to a certain issue or product by releasing a statement to the media. |
The general public |
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Chronicle/article |
Create wide attention to a certain issue or product by writing or contribyuting to an article in a specific magazine or newspaper |
The general public or a specif group of readers of a certain magazine |
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Press seminar |
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Programme/travels |
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Press conference |
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Press initiative |
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Media initiative |
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Media memorandum |
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Campaign |
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Brochure |
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Pens |
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Notebooks |
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Posters |
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Top expo |
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Video |
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Small gifts |
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Exhibition |
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Kalender |
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Digital press |
Short explanation on use |
Target groups |
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Press release |
Create wide attention to a certain issue or product by putting a statement on the internet. |
The general public |
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Chronicle/article |
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Press initiative |
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Media initiative |
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Media memorandum |
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Campaign |
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News letter |
An electronic letter which can be used to inform a specific group of people about a specific topic. |
Those who are interested in development on local and regional democracy. |
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Banner |
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Video |
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Weblog |
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Second life |
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Games |
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