English reading

The conference of the Club of Venice was held on 30th of June and 1st of July in Fiesole (Italy) and allowed a hundred or so European government communicators and specialists. They took stock of the strategies implemented during the current crisis. They agreed on the need to share good practices and to increase the skills of public communicators.

As his country entered tough news due to the neighboring conflict in Ukraine, Commonality interviewed George Surugiu, Senior communication advisor at the General secretariat of the government, Romania. He answered our questions about his profession, the approach in Bucharest to citizen issues and the current crisis.

The tenth edition of the Deauville Green Awards has just taken place, underscoring the sheer energy and drive of the cinema and film community in its effort to promote the socio-environmental transition. Over and above the major general-interest, awareness-raising productions and the more special-interest, expert issues, this edition has spotlighted the power of emotion as a driver for learning on an individual level. An awareness driver, ideal for this medium.

Migration narratives are shaped at three levels of governance: international, national and local. Among all three, local communication can scale-up perceptions thanks to its proximity to citizens. How do actors operate at the different levels craft and disseminate migration narratives? How do these actors interact with one another? How does this interaction impact policymaking?

As the summer season approaches, Tourisme Montréal has called on its residents to create its film promoting tourism in the city.

The Finnish town of Salla submitted a bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics with a logo, a video clip and press relations to draw attention to the future of Lapland. What was the outcome of this publicity stunt ?

The 14th of March, the City of London launched an awareness-raising campaign that encourages men to step up and call out their mates when they sexually harass a woman or make sexist jokes or ‘banter’ about a woman.

"We cannot remain indifferent": public communicators, like most Europeans, have been shocked by the war in Ukraine. But they can play a role in rallying citizens together.

It is crucial to understand how to use participatory democracy to shape digital (and space, tech, etc.) policy - to benefit all. As program manager for digital and space policy, Elizabeth Wiltshire draws the lines for an inclusive e-governance.

Organised in Toulouse, France, on 16 and 17 February by Cap'Com and the Club of Venice, the international seminar entitled "Citizenship and participation in the regions" shed light on the way forward for public communication.

The first OECD report on public communication has just been published, entitled "Global Context and the Way Forward". It analyses communication at government level and how this contributes to better public policies and services, as well as greater citizen trust. A summary of this report is now available and a series of online events will explore the issues further.

Until war broke out in Ukraine, talking about migration was often seen as fear-mongering. Yet it is now a reality, experienced at town and city level. Last autumn, to present innovative local communication initiatives that shape and balance the migration narrative, the MC2CM (Mediterranean City-to-City Migration Project) organised the Urban Communicators' Labs as part of the EMNC Euro-Mediterranean conference.

Iceland has reacted brilliantly to Mark Zuckerberg's recent announcements about the metaverse in a parody video campaign to promote tourism, even managing to provoke a reaction from Meta's boss.