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The Club of Venice convened in London on the 12 and 13 March 2025. The representatives of EU public communication were joined by academics, diplomats, journalists and institutional leaders to debate an issue faced by one and all: how to communicate in a time of crisis when the very notion of truth has become a subject of controversy. Natalie Maroun took the floor on behalf of the Cap'Com network in the session “Preparing for a Crisis” to explain why we can no longer respond to crises as we did in the past. Here are some of the insights she shared.

At the Plumes d’excellence 2025 gala, the equivalent of the Cap’Com Grands Prix in Quebec, the city of Saint-Charles-Borromée won two prizes: the Plume d’or in the digital communication category, and most importantly the highest distinction, the Grande Plume 2025, for his children’s day-care centre application.

Every year, the Deauville Green Awards – International festival of eco-responsible film – spotlight the power of images and stories to foster environmental, economic and social transitions. From animation technique to the popularisation of science, we look back over three effective, hard-hitting productions entered in the 14th edition, in which Cap’Com took part as member of the jury.

Of the many changes of logo or visual identity recorded in the communities since 2020, my own monitoring effort identified similar initiatives in nearly 45 towns in Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Canada. Let’s observe a selection of logos of French-speaking towns that are particularly interesting because of both their initiatives and their results. These examples could be sources of inspiration for future changes of identity following the upcoming elections. 🙂

He applies a project-management method drawn from his industrial engineering background and turns it into a major asset: on the shop floor, he asks everyone for their opinion, then calls on a team to impart a new regional dynamic. We met Eddy Métivier, the mayor of Matane, on the banks of the Saint-Laurent in Quebec.

On 15 May 2025, the WBCOM’ network held its Rencontres de la com communication symposium on “Reinventing AI: new tools, and recent and future developments”. Advances in the field roll by at breakneck speed, and with four speakers from a varied backgrounds, the Association of Belgian Francophone communicators, which is partnered with Cap’Com, painted a picture that resonated equally well with cyborgs as with centaurs (see Cap'Com AI 2024 infographic).

On one hand, local authorities construct place branding strategies to leverage their attractiveness and the feeling of belonging to their territory. On the other hand, commercial brands construct a locally-based imaginary world, using advertising approaches that, in recent years, have latched onto the “local” factor. Shouldn’t we be factoring in these imaginary worlds put out by the brands?

On the south bank of the Saint-Laurent River in Quebec - Canada, Kim Bergeron, communication and public affairs adviser at the La Matanie Regional County Municipality (a community of municipalities), is working on prompts to help her on the job. She won’t be beaten by the untamed nature of the Gaspésie region, nor by ChatGPT: she has everything under control!

What role can public institutions play in defining standards for AI? Questioned during a break in the recent days devoted to examining the OECD’s public communication network, Andréa Baronchelli, a professor at City University London and a specialist on the subject, reminded listeners of the role of the law and empirical practices in constructing a normative framework. However he also underscored the importance for organisations of adopting standards suited to the issues of transparency, responsiveness and customisation, which ensure an ethical and effective use of AI.

How can stakeholders refresh their communication on a leading subject, a marker of the local heritage already covered countless times? The communication specialists at Eurêka, the Eure department’s marketing agency, have addressed this issue with regard to the 150th anniversary of impressionism with a healthy dose of daring and have managed to create a novel connection between territory and trend. We unpack their “First impression” campaign, which won the Cap’Com Grand Prix 2024.

The relations between institutions and all public-sector communicators in their efforts to combat fake news were at the centre of debate during the plenary meeting of the Club of Venice, attended by European governments’ communicators, on 5 and 6 December 2024 in Italy. Cap’Com, an associate member of the Club, took the opportunity to put a few questions to the organisation’s secretary general, Vincenzo Le Voci.

For Kristina Plavšak Krajnc, independent international correspondent and director of Media Forum, the key to strengthening democratic resilience lies in effective public communication. With more than 20 years of experience, she works to raise professional standards in the communication of public institutions and raise awareness of good practices.

Since 2020, the mission of the Public Communication Network - part of the OECD's Open Government Unit - has been to promote citizen-centred public communication as a tool for policy development and open government. The network's 8th meeting was held at the OECD headquarters in Paris on 5 and 6 June 2024. Cap'Com was among those attending.

Canadians are a mischievous lot. With 65,000 French residents, it seemed only right that Tourisme Montréal should ask for the Olympic torch to pass through the city The request is symbolic, but the call to visit their city, which was posted on YouTube at the end of April (2 million views), is very real.

Maybe you're an enthusiastic user, a tempered novice or an outspoken detractor... in any case, artificial intelligence triggers a wide range of spontaneous reactions among communicators. Somewhere between myth and science fiction, Cap'Com's latest infographic offers some pointers on how to adopt the best professional stance when it comes to this new realm of exploration. So, are you a cyborg or a centaur when it comes to artificial intelligence?

For Saman Nazari, the “fairy tale” of social media as a free and useful agora is behind us. With his organization Alliance4Europe, he takes concrete action to make these spaces safer by offering a common language and approach, allowing us to understand and manage the flow of disinformation.

Croatia is now a member of the EU, but it still remembers lost dialogue and the voice of war. At a recent symposium of European communicators in Dubrovnik, it was interesting to talk to Zvonimir Frka-Petešić, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Croatia, about the fragile power of dialogue and the virtues of public communication in the face of the political and climatic challenges that lie ahead.

Tired of being confused with Switzerland, Sweden launched a tongue-in-cheek video at the end of October, via the country's tourist board (Visit Sweden), pointing out the differences between the two countries.

A few years ago, the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) significantly changed certain digital communication practices, particularly for public communication. In the summer of 2023, a new EU legal arsenal came into force, called the Digital Services Act. What changes does this have in store for public communication?

Are we worried about disinformation in our daily lives? Not sufficiently so for Klimentini Diakomanoli, author of "Fake news, what is Europe doing?” published this spring. By appointing her as President of the Cap'Com Grand Prix, the network of public communicators is sending out a signal, namely that all forms of communication are now suffering from the twofold effect of the spread of fake news and widespread mistrust.