Events and meetings where people get to interact face-to-face are one of the most used communication channels according to the EUSBSR communications survey. They are also seen as the most effective way to communicate about the work done in each EUSBSR Policy Area.

At the same time, resources for organising events and meetings are scarce. Sometimes organising one is not possible due to limited resources, or travelling to the venue requires too much time. How to make the most out of events with limited resources?

MORE RESOURCES BY COLLABORATION? 

The underlying message of the EUSBSR "Better together!" is not just words but should also be transformed into action. One way to be better together is by collaborating with another PA and/or Flagships when organising an event. This provides both parties more resources which allows often to have more visibility and to reach better results.

One example of collaboration was seen at the 9th EUSBSR Annual Forum in Tallinn when two Policy Areas, PA Safe and PA Secure, organised a live demonstration together. Check here what were the elements behind a very successful communication of the demonstration.

Another great example was when Policy Areas Ship and Safe organised an event in Brussels to attract policy makers' and authorities' attention. 12 Flagship projects of Ship and Safe were present to bring concrete proposals to the policy makers. More about the seminar in the EUSBSR blog.

Third great example of joint event organising comes from Policy Area Energy and Horizontal Action Climate who organised together an event "Financing the future of energy efficiency". Why was it useful to cooperate? HA Climate and PA Energy Coordinators were interviewed:

"As one of the Actions under the HA Climate is Low Carbon Development, which also includes actions related to e.g. energy efficiency on buildings, renewable energy production etc., we found that the collaboration between the HA Energy and HA Climate are necessary."

- HA Climate Coordinator Krista Kampus

 

"I would truly recommend other stakeholders of the EUSBSR to work together as this helps to see problems, issues and solutions from a different perspective giving the opportunity to work more efficiently. Take the courage and time to find a partner that you can work together to address various common issues as we are all in this together."

- PA Energy Coordinator Madara Zvirgzdina

Read the whole interview with Krista and Madara in the attachment below.

WEBINAR TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY?

Attending events requires often travelling, even abroad. Lack of time and resources can lead to inattendace, but one way to make an event accessible without the need to leave one's office is to organise a webinar (a web based video conference).

Webinars are not just video screenings but interactive meetings where participants can ask questions, comment and be part of the discussion online. For example, PA Education organised a stakeholder seminar/webinar in Stockholm that participants could join either online or on site.

LIVESTREAM TO INCREASE VISIBILITY?

Compared to webinar livestreaming is not as interactive. The idea is not necessarily to livestream the whole event, but you can choose to highlight some moments. For example, consider livestreaming a speech by a well-known keynote speaker. Facebook is a simple platform for livestreaming and its advantage is that your followers are notified when streaming begins.

Thus, livestreaming is one way to use social media and produce content to your followers, but in addition, it is a great way to reach people who are not yet familiar with your work. Compared to webinars that often require signing up beforehand, livestreaming on Facebook or on YouTube is spontaneous and can potentially reach a very wide audience.