An essential element of project funding in Interreg programs is the effective communication of activities and results in order to enable an exchange of experience in the program areas and beyond and to allow many stakeholders to participate. Communication and public relations work are therefore important aspects that must not be neglected alongside the substantive work in the projects.
In order to support the projects in this task and to achieve the highest possible standard of public relations work, the program secretariats generally offer seminars at least once per call. A total of 60 communication managers in Interreg BSR projects met at the Lübeck media docks on March 7 and 8 for such a seminar. The event was hosted by IB.SH Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein, the managing and certifying authority for the EU Baltic Sea program “Interreg Baltic Sea Region” and responsible for the program secretariat.
Employees of aconium GmbH came to Lübeck for the LowTEMP (Low Temperature District Heating for the Baltic Sea Region) project to find out about the latest requirements. The communication seminar was explicitly aimed at communication managers of projects that were approved in the first and second calls of the EU Baltic Sea Program. In addition to information on the program and its guidelines, the main aim was to improve communication work in the projects. Based on the specifics of transnational project work, the two-day event offered guidance for strategic communication in order to better reach the respective target groups. The seminar agenda included the basics of project communication – roles and responsibilities, transparency and reporting – as well as the particularities of dealing with project partners from different countries.
There was also practical and theoretical training in modern conference concepts and practical explanations on the use of modern communication tools. The seminar also provided space for informal exchange and networking between the participants and with the program secretariat. Successful and proven practices from projects were passed on and discussed. In the LowTEMP project, aconium GmbH is responsible for project, financial and communication management for the lead partner, the Institute of Fluid Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
LowTEMP aims to improve the district heating networks in the partner regions – Denmark, Germany. Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden – more sustainable and to promote the introduction of so-called fourth generation district heating networks.
Photo above: Presentation of the Interreg VB Baltic Sea Region communication seminar in Lübeck on March 7 and 8, 2018.
Photos below: The participants and a presentation at the Interreg VB Baltic Sea Region communication seminar in Lübeck .
Photo credit: aconium GmbH