2IMPREZS attends the North Sea Region Conference 2018
On day one of the conference, the 2IMPREZS Communication Manager attended a full-day, interactive communication workshop designed to support Interreg NSR projects like 2IMPREZS to communicate outcomes and results and to take a strategic approach to communication. The workshop covered topics such as learning how to tell your story, strategic communication (especially that with policymakers!) and streamlining internal communication. Participants were challenged to think outside the box through interactive activities involving props, coloured markers and more!
The opening conference dinner on the 13th of June, the North Sea Region Programme was kicked off with a warm welcome from Siv Henriette Jacobsen (Deputy County Mayor of the Østfold County Council in Fredrikstad), as well as Kerstin Brunnström (President of the North Sea Commission) and Christian Byrith (Head of the North Sea Region Programme). Later in the evening, the winners of the #NSRimpact video competition were announced, which 2IMPREZS had entered to win. However, this 1st place title will have to wait until next year’s conference, but you can view 2IMPREZS’s video entry here.
The main NSR Conference took place the following day under the theme, ‘’Setting the course for the future’’. Here, esteemed and experienced speakers as well as participants discussed the outcomes of current policies and projects and how this can inspire future strategies. The theme ‘’Setting the course for the future’’ is currently of high interest for NSR stakeholders, as the EU is preparing for a new budget period with new programmes and the North Sea Commission is gearing up to write a post-2020 North Sea Region Strategy. Discussion of the NSR future continued as participants broke off into interactive workshop sessions responding to climate change, clean and efficient transport, attractive communities and maritime spatial planning (while factoring in sea litter).
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Participants of the Day 1 workshops line up for an interactive game to find out why communication is so important to interregional cooperation.
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Participants of the maritime spatial planning workshop on Day 2 play a complex yet fun board game to understand the challenges of spatial planning in our oceans.
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The 2IMPREZS Newsletter is out now! The newsletter was distributed to NSR stakeholders at the NSR Conference 2018. |
Beautiful Fredrikstad, Norway Photo taken on a coffee break during the communication workshop by Madeline Langlois (EIfI). |
Throughout the conference, there of course was plenty of time to mingle and network with other likeminded individuals involved in the Interreg NSR Programme, an important method of spreading awareness of the 2IMPREZS project to both potential stakeholders and the general public. Launched last Fall 2017, the 2IMPREZS project is always looking for ways to get exposure and tell its inspiring story about why we need Energy Challenges in NSR schools—because, at the end of the day, the kids are the future, and they deserve the right to take action to defend their future Earth.