European Documentation Centres’ Training Seminar Report from the workshops

Abstract

The European Commission laid the groundwork for the new Partnership Agree- ment between 2014 and 2018 in a consultation with nearly 400 EDCs, iden- tifying shared aims and challenges to the networks’ implementation of their activities and building on common ground in the pursuit of common goals. The results of this process revealed that a majority of EDCs wish to engage more closely with other Commission networks in their region and find it important to take an active role in promoting discussion on European affairs, yet often face uncertainty and limited resources in executing outreach activities. To assist EDCs in reaching the level of ambition set out in the Partnership Agreement, participants were encouraged to identify and reach out to university depart- ments working in fields associated with Commission activities, and to engage in dialogue with the academic community for the promotion of research on European integration. They were also exhorted to take a proactive stand in organising citizens’ dialogues with members of the public, and invited to set up priority visits to EU institutions for key targets groups such as researchers and journalists with the help of the Commission visitors’ centre. To facilitate the shift towards a more outreach-oriented role, the Commission stressed the importance of close cooperation with other local EU networks, and especially the EUROPE DIRECT Centres, as a key support measure in the organization of joint activities and smooth integration into a wider European network of re- gional networks. The Commission also proposed to produce an official letter of support for EDCs to assist them with reminding and further encouraging host structures to support actively the expanded range of outreach tasks expected of signatories to the new Partnership Agreement. The speakers for the session were Niklas Noaksson and Alessandro Giordani from the Directorate-General for Communication of the European Commission.