AER Communicating Europe Award 2009

Winner of this category is: Styria - Austria with their project "We go Europe -Europe in Styria'

The jury felt that the project combined a creative use of language with captivating and challenging topics. A good mix of interactive and informative activities was reached making use of new media tools such as live chat and web streaming. The clear overarching idea and its creative implementation convinced the Jury to honor this project. The prize was received at the AER General Assembly in Belfort on 27 November 2009 by Erich Prattes, member of the regional parliament. 

Category 2: Educating young people about Europe
To communicate Europe in early childhood, to involve pupils and students in European issues educates for a European citizenship. We would like to know how your region gets children and young people engaged and interested in Europe.

Winner of this category is: Medjimurje (HR) with their project 'A B C D - Europe'

This project convinced the Jury by being creative and original while using only a small budget. It addresses an unusual target group - children in the kindergarten and primary schools. 50 Kindergartens and 32 Primary Schools were reached by this project involving more then 20 000 children. The jury liked the original concept of involving these young kids in talking about Europe through activities that were entertaining as well as educational. The project convinced the Jury furthermore by showing that active engagement and is the key to success and not then dependency on money/funding. Vesna Haluga, Head of EU integration department of Medjimurje county and author of the project,received the award on behalf of this region.

Category 3: Engaging regional media on European issues
Much has been said about national media and Europe, far less on the role of regional media. In many regions of Europe, regional newspapers are the first source of information for citizens. Yet, European news and issues are often badly covered. What is your region doing in order to get regional media more involved in European issues?

Winner of this category is Noord-Brabant (NL) with their project 'The Brabant battle goes Europe'

The project is a creative and engaging media production which is involving high school students. The show is a great example of what can be done in partnership between region and regional media using all the state of the art technologies and media formats. Jan Roosen and Suzanne Van Lith from the Province of Noord-Brabant as well as the producer of the TV show received the award.