Western Balkans Environment Programe

Advocacy Meeting

Communications and Advocacy Workshop was held on 14th and 15th February 2008, in Kolasin, Montenegro. Participants at the workshop were communication officers from each of the participating countries/territories, together with National Project Coordinators/Assistants. The expert input at the workshop was provided by the Communications Associate from UNDP Montenegro, and the Regional Communications Specialist from UNDP Regional Office in Bratislava.

The purpose of the workshop was to discuss about the ways of communicating the main programme/projects messages to different stakeholder groups, as well as to define the main communications/advocacy actions for 2008, for each of the countries/territories, and for the regional component.

The concrete issues discussed/agreed were:

Communications and Advocacy Strategy - each country/territory, as well as the regional PMU, will prepare communications and advocacy strategy for their part of the programme. Each strategy should have several main elements: objectives, target audience, messages (hooks) and actions.
Visual identity of the Programme - the main goal of creating unique visual identity is to transfer the values and the goals of the Regional Environmental Programme. The visual identity should be designed to create a consistent, strong Programme-wide identity, while embracing the individual character and goals of each Programme segment.
Web site - the main goal of the regional web site development is to transmit consistent and clear advocacy Programme messages; to induce positive interaction among stakeholders, partners and citizens in the Western Balkans region and wider; and to offer adequate and timely information.
Data base of Practitioners - data base will be integral part of the regional web site and will gather information about practitioners/experts in different field related to the remediation activities, such as: civil engineering, hazardous waste, EIA etc, from each of the participating countries/territories.
Production of the Documentary Movie - while preserving a consistent Programme-wide identity, the objective of creating documentary movie is to address the issues and problems tackled by the Porgramme. As part of this effort, the documentary will also bring to the forefront the achievements and contributions made by each Programme segment, with highly compelling stories in an effort to put a human face to the magnitude of the problem.
The highlights of this documentary will be: moving and motivational, colourful and fact paced, noting stories of nine hot spots locations and stories of dozens of regional community members of all profiles as they work to remediate the hot spots, strengthen cooperation or raise awareness of the need for education and support for this important cause.
The agreement was made to hire one production house/company which will prepare documentary on each remediation site, follow implementation of the Programme in each country/territory in three phases.
Regional activities - NPCs were introduced with the activities which will be organized on the regional level, emphasizing the role of communication officers in disseminating the proper messages in the region afterwards.