Organising Annual Forum

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The main responsibility of coordinating the organisation of EUSBSR Annual Fora lies with the NC. The NC-group  provides a good platform for exchanging experiences but here are few tips from the Swedish NC.


10 DOs and DON'Ts in organising the EUSBSR Annual Forum

by Swedish NC, Sofia Wennerstrand based on the experiences from 2016 Forum

  1. Keep the programme light to leave time for networking.
  • Remember that networking is the number one reason for attending.
  1. If arranging parallel seminars with an open call (‘Almedalen concept’), make sure to communicate the idea behind it.
  • Allow key stakeholders to organise their own activities: decentralised ownership.
  • Make sure to have clear templates for seminar calls; inform and ad-vise seminar organisers well in advance.
  • Make sure to have diverse representation among speakers and moderators, e.g. in gender and country representation, by setting clear criteria.
  1. Ensure variety in seminars.
  • Coach seminar organisers ahead of the Forum to ensure variety in speakers, activity design, etc.
  • Cover a broad variety of topics; offer something for everyone.
  1. Engage inspiring speakers.
  • Quality over quantity; speeches and should not be too long.
  • Use the dynamics of outside perspective: e.g. invite speakers from other regions.
  1. Plenaries should be inclusive, with political involvement on a high level.
  • Emphasise the breadth of the EUSBSR; avoid themes specific to only one policy area.
  • Avoid too many panellists.
  • The choice of moderator(s) is important; advisable to have more than one to facilitate interaction.
  1. Have a networking lounge/meeting place in a central location of the venue.
  • The venue is important and should facilitate networking activities.
  • Use innovative and creative meeting places instead of more traditional exhibitions.
  • Coffee, including takeaway, should be widely available.
  1. Plan the Forum in an inclusive way.
  • Ensure that different voices are heard during the planning phase.
  1. Decisions must be made within the planning organisation.
  • Clear leadership and a clear mandate to enable quick decisions.
  • Advantageous when leadership is closely linked to political ownership.
  1. Regular and inclusive communication with participants.
  • Prepare participants on theme, scope and overall idea of the Forum.
  • Use multipliers when communicating, i.e. more people helping to spread information in their respective networks and in different languages.
  • Use the event to communicate the work of the EUSBSR. Link the programme to the strategy in every way possible to make it more relevant.
  • Use interactive tools in a planned and strategic way, e.g. website for interviews and films, and other digital tools such as an app.
  1. Don’t underestimate the time and effort needed.
  • Everything will take twice the amount of time allocated. 

 

 

According to NC-group's Rules of Procedure the Annual Fora will be organised

in Estonia, 2018

in Poland, 2019

in Denmark, 2020

in Lithuania 2021

in Finland, 2022

in Latvia, 2023

in Sweden, 2024

in Germany, 2025.