Talk to me, Europe!

Talk to me, Europe! Debating European Communication - this was the title of AER's second Communication Atelier which took place at the representation of Baden-Württemberg on the 18th and 19 March 2009.

The conference consisted of following parts:
 

PART I -  Keynote speeches:

Participants were able to listen to keynote speeches, notebly from AER's Secretary General, Klaus KLIPP, Mr. Jaume DUCH, spokesman for the European Parliament who presented the official EP elections campaign 09 after it was just launched the days before. Petra KOHNEN, COE of the European Radio Network, discussed European communication from the media's point of view .

Furthermore, the European Ombudsman, P. N. DIAMANDOUROS, talked about transparency in the European institutions. Jo LEINEN, MEP and Chairman of the Constituional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament presented his views on the role of the Parliament, transparency and European Communication.

PART II - AER Communicating Europe Award:

By showcasing the two winning regions of the AER Communicating Europe Award, we focused on regional authorities and their potential of providing citizens with informative and relevant information about  European politics. In addition we 3rd edition of the AER Communicating Europe Award was launched.

PART III - Panel discussion: How well informed are citizens?:

In the second part of the first day, European decision making has been cross-examined in more detail.  In particular we focused on the issue of European consumer protection. 4 panelists, including representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, and European consumer organisations (BEUC/ANEC), discussed the transparency of European decision making and the relevance and impact for the regions and citizens.

PART IV - Workshops and training on European Communication:

In the workshops regional spokespersons, communication or international affairs officers will have the chance to  learn in different workshops about the art of political communication, about concrete strategies how to work within the Brussels communication and media scene and about other communication projects taking place in other European regions. 

Target Group: around 80 regional representatives, journalists, experts and EU institutions. 

Meeting Venue: The ComAtelier will take place at the representation of Baden-Württemberg to the  EU at Rue Belliard 60-62, B-Brussels. 

AER Youth Ambassadors contribution

AER Youth Ambassadors will present their activities during the Communication Conference in the framework of the Workshop on Exchange of best practice and experience. Youth Ambassador is a young person responsible for getting other young people in their region interested in regional and European cooperation.The role of Youth Ambassador is to inform other young people about Youth Entrepreneurship and also to explain to politicians – regional, national and European – what young people want them to do in relation to this important topic. After the Youth Summer School, each AER Ambassador should organise an activity in his/her region on the theme of Youth Entrepreneurship. The activities might be, for example, a project to increase knowledge about Youth Entrepreneurship, information campaigns or a strategy what your region can do for the Youth Entrepreneurship etc… This means that there will be activities taking place all across Europe, which will show that young citizens take responsibility for the future of their region and for Europe.

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