Bijlage D m.b.t. LIFE-IP Klimaatadaptatie

ACTION E.1: Communication and raising awareness of the impact and benefits of NL- NASCCELERATE

Beneficiary responsible for implementation

MinI&W in collaboration with all LIFE-IP co-beneficiaries

Description (what, how, where and when)

What

Action E.1 aims specifically at reaching out to society, assists in public awareness and shows the

impact of the project. It is about communicating and promoting the results and benefits to society, resulting from this project. Public communication and engagement predominantly take place at the regional and local level. This is acknowledged by the fact that much of the communication and awareness raising (e.g. social media campaigns) in this LIFE IP takes place through the C actions, particularly action C2 ‘Awareness & senses of urgency’. It is also acknowledged that professionals are a key intermediary target group in reaching out to the public. This includes stakeholders operating at a national level, like banks and insurance companies, who can play a particularly important role in public communication and engagement. Through this intermediary / secondary target group (i.e. the professionals) this LIFE IP can reach millions of citizens. The professionals are connected with LIFE IP through networks of active stakeholders (both public and private) and the NAS-sectors in general. This networking will be facilitated by action E.2.

During the first six months, a comprehensive LIFE IP communication strategy will be developed, aimed at communication with the beneficiaries, networks of active stakeholders and the NAS-sectors in general. The communication strategy will consider the primary LIFE IP beneficiaries, secondary stakeholders (partners in NAS) and tertiary stakeholders (e.g. citizens, businesses and NGOs / social organisations). The communication strategy will be detailed in a communication plan for each LIFE IP project phase. Developing the plan for the first phase starts with additional in-depth identification of stakeholders, as needed to identify their interests, and subsequently design a tailor-made communication plan for specific stakeholder groups.

During the development of the communication plan for the first phase, communication will already start, using the already existing NAS communication channels, to kick-off the LIFE IP project. The communication will be facilitated by action A2 ‘Climate change adaptation exchange platform’ and by local and regional communication platforms of partners (C actions). For each subsequent phase, the communication plan will be updated and, when necessary, the strategy will be adjusted to new developments in time. This will make use of outputs from action C2 ‘Awareness & senses of urgency’ and the lesson learned in Action D.2 ‘Monitoring and evaluation of Awareness & Sense of urgency’.

How

Our approach is based on reaching citizens through professionals. The general public is an important target group for many professionals. We will support professionals in various organisations, both public and private, and bring them into contact with each other in order to accelerate their own public communication and engagement. This action will also have a positive effect on motivating citizens, businesses and social organisations / NGOs to take climate adaptation actions themselves. An example of this is placing rain barrels and replacing pavement with green.

Based on the proposed approach, a communication strategy and plan for the first phase of this LIFE IP will be developed. The communication strategy elaborates on actions, resources and planning related to the relevant activities in the project. It comprises major communication products (e.g. a newsletter, website and social media accounts), specified target groups and accurate timing of communication. It will be aligned with the NAS communication strategy and connected to existing digital platforms, such as www.klimaatadaptatienederland.nl. Furthermore, relevant (annual) network days and conferences will be identified as effective communication opportunities. This will result in effective and cost-efficient communication activities, that will be described in the communication plan.

The ‘Climate change adaptation exchange platform’ (see action A.2) will be utilized as a base for communications and sharing project developments, status and outcomes. The platform will be used as a portal to allow stakeholders and the general public to interact with the project. Given that communication amongst stakeholders of the NAS is a priority of this LIFE IP project, an additional approach will be used:

1. Existing portals of stakeholders (including LIFE IP partners) will be identified and approached to

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   help communicate the LIFE IP project using their communication infrastructure. The platform will provide links to these existing portals. This will include but will not be limited to the knowledge platform www.klimaatadaptatienederland.nl, and local and regional communication platforms of partners.

2. New and existing stakeholder groups on a variety of organisation levels are brought together in the ‘Climate change adaptation exchange platform’ (action A.2). A (more static) version of this platform already exists as a means to communicate with stakeholders about climate change adaptation. Stakeholders will be invited to engage with other stakeholders within the platform and activities will be organised (workshops, meetings, dialogue tables, knowledge exchange).
3. Knowledge stewardship will be provided for local and regional communication platforms. The knowledge steward will built and facilitate a Community of Practice (CoP), in which professionals learn from each other by exchanging knowledge and experiences about setting up and maintaining local and regional platforms. The CoP will connect platforms in LIFE IP (such as Amsterdam rainproof, Arnhem Climate-proof and Climate Campus) with similar platforms elsewhere in the Netherlands. Important elements of this approach are to create mutual awareness and understanding on objectives of each initiative, aiming at finding synergies and learning from previous experiences. 

Besides the stakeholder communication platforms, the partners will use the following methods, tools and activities to communicate about the project:

• • Notification panels: Each co-beneficiary will erect a notification board in demonstration areas at an easily accessible location, to provide information on LIFE IP project activities in the area. The LIFE and the NAS logo will be displayed on these notice boards to indicate LIFE IPs contribution to the activities.

  • Public events: In order to reach a wide audience and to reach multiple generations, partners will contribute to public events such as e.g. climate festivals. At public events, different partners will inform the public about the impact of climate change adaptation, the NAS and LIFE IP.

  • Opening event: The partners will organise an opening event to initiate the LIFE project, as part of the regular annual NAS conference. The event will be accessible to stakeholders, target audiences and any other interested parties. In order to make a wider audience familiar with the project, partners will present their activities, explain their methods and the aims of the projects.

  • Open days: The associated beneficiaries will organise open days at selected project sites for the general public interested climate change adaptation.

  • Leaflets and Brochures: To support the open days, leaflets and/or brochures will be produced, explaining the demonstration project and the LIFE IP contribution to the general public, professionals and policy makers. To reduce waste of paper, we will explore to use of digital information sharing through QR code scanning or an app for mobile devices. Digital copies will also be made available on the project website for interested parties.

  • Website presentations: All partners will publish the actual developments and results of the project on their own website, alongside presentations on www.klimaatadaptatienederland.nl. This website is already being used by the NAS and is the overall Dutch digital platform regarding climate change adaptation, see action A2. This national website is the preferred communication channel to prevent fragmentation of information and to facilitate unambiguous communication concerning climate change adaptation. Citizens who want to inform themselves also have full access to www.klimaatadaptatienederland.nl. Since climate change adaptation affects a wide range of people, the content of the website will be designed to be understandable for a wide audience.

  • Press releases: Partners will release relevant information to press agencies. Additionally, information will be shared with websites that publish on the topic of climate change adaptation and NAS sectors.

  • Social media: Partners will use existing and when applicable new social media accounts to promote the project activities and to create awareness about climate change adaptation, for example using LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep interested parties informed about project progress. These social media accounts will be linked to the website, for easy access. A social media campaign (Ads) is used to increase the reach in society.

  • YouTube tutorials: Short videos explaining what is happening at the sites and in several projects will be recorded by the partners, aiming primarily at the youth and young adults. By using images, infographics and storytelling, it is expected that awareness of climate change adaptation will increase and effective examples what can be done to adapt to climate change are shared. These videos will be posted on YouTube, www.klimaatadaptatienederland.nl and at the website and social media channels of the partners. These tutorials will also be used in presentations and during conferences. An effort will be made to involve ‘influencers’ with large groups of followers to increase the communication impact to younger generations.

  • Instruments for communication, participation and influencing citizen behaviour: A participation strategy and behavioural influencing instruments will be developed. The participation strategy will be connected to the broader governance strategy of action A1. It will identify those communicative instruments that can be used to get people more involved, effective participative measures and opportunities with other communication actions taking place in neighbourhoods (for example within the energy transition) and incorporation of the above in the monitor. It will also include a campaign as communicative action.

The LIPE-IP PMT as described in action F1 is responsible for the overall management of the communication strategy and plan. In the communication plan, a lead beneficiary for each communication activity will be appointed. In this phase the opening event will be planned. During the course of the project, communication (strategy, plan, response) will be evaluated and new developments which may deliver new communication opportunities will be identified. This may lead to revisions to the communication strategy and an update of the communication plan. The use of the LIFE and NAS logo will be described in the communication strategy and plan. The beneficiaries will use these logos on all official LIFE IP documents, presentations, websites and social media accounts to specify the LIFE contribution to the project activities. A strong visual design connecting and unifying the communication activities will be developed.

Where

As a result of the corona pandemic, stakeholders find each other much faster online and people from peripheral regions in particular can save a lot of travel time. This also applies to exchanges with other EU Member States. Communication will mainly take place digitally, at numerous events and channels, and physically at the demonstration sites and by using brochures and leaflets. All LIFE IP partners will be involved in communication of results at multiple communication channels.

When

Communication is relevant throughout the entire project period, starting with creating awareness and slowly moving towards communicating LIFE IP results and successes, illustrating impacts and benefits of this LIFE IP project. Also during the After Life period, communication remains relevant to emphasize and highlight relevance of the LIFE IP results for future climate change adaptation initiatives and projects.

Reasons why this action is necessary

Communication is essential to maximize the impact of this LIFE IP project as citizens and society as a whole are major stakeholders. Communication aims at connecting the LIFE IP actions to a larger network, so that numerous organizations can promote and integrate LIFE IP results—thus creating support and active involvement of citizens. This will requires strategic and targeted measures for communicating about the project and its results to a multitude of network partners and audiences (including the press), when possible engaging in a two-way exchange. It also includes network partners in other EU Member States. Reaching out to network partners will assist in the successful implementation of dissemination and replication.

Constraints and assumptions

• • Proven local and national channels and means will be applied and connected with LIFE IP activity, following the variety in focus of the project activities. This requires a tailor made approach and a diversity of methods applied.
  • Communication and dissemination of project results to various target groups requires skilled expertise. Although partners have their own communication and dissemination specialists, former LIFE and LIFE IP projects have shown to benefit from specific skilled expertise on communication and dissemination. As communication and dissemination are key objectives of the LIFE IP programme, external support will be obtained when deemed necessary. This support will be additional to partners’ own communication and dissemination capacities.Partners will embed the project’s visual design in their own communication as much as feasible.
  • In all publications, the LIFE IP logo will be used. In publications by third parties, they will also include the LIFE IP logo by presenting the information including this logo. Yet, the third party, in that case, will have the final say in the way the information will be presented.

Expected results:

• Ongoing activities on LIFE IP stakeholder platform (and accompanying platforms). Targeted audience: over 1.000 professionals connected to reach over a million citizens.
• CoP – stakeholder platforms: At least 10 CoP events, in which professionals exchange knowledgeand experiences about setting up and maintaining local and regional platforms (approximately 40

  persons involved).

• A minimum of 15 notification panels placed. Targeted audience: local community (over 10.000 persons informed).
• Contribution of LIFE IP partners to at least 15 public events. Targeted audience: local community (over 50.000 persons informed).
• 1 General opening event. Targeted audience: stakeholders, target audiences and any otherinterested parties (approximately 250 persons informed).
• At least 2 open days for the general public per selected project site. Targeted audience: general public (10 open days, approximately 100 persons informed per open day).
• At least 1 leaflet or brochure for each demonstration project will be produced, approx. 20 issues.Targeted audience: general public, professionals and policy makers (approximately 20.000 persons informed).
• Over 100 website presentations on project content. Targeted audience: professionals (includingthe press), policy makers and the general public interested in climate change adaptation and NAS sectors (an average of 300 website visits/month).
• A minimum of 20 press releases. Targeted audience: professionals/policy makers and the generalpublic (over 100.000 persons informed).
• Ongoing exchange at social media and newsletter channels through LIFE IP as well as connected channels. 4 social media accounts established. Target audiences: the general public and network relations. By using different types of social media, a wide audience will be reached (over 100.000persons informed).
• A minimum of 4 tutorials on YouTube. Targeted audience: professionals, policy makers and the general public interested in climate change adaptation and NAS sectors (over 4.000 persons informed).
• Instruments for citizen participation. Targeted audience: professionals (approximately 100 persons informed).

Cost estimation

PM

Betrokken partners (aantal dagen over 6 jaar):

Direct personnel
Beneficiary	Role in the project	Number of days (6 years)
MinI&W	Communication officer	50
MinLNV	Senior policy officer	30
MinVWS	Communication officer	20
RWS	Communication officer	10
KNMI	Communication officer	3
NB	Communication officer	10
Utrecht	Communication officer	10
WAM	Communication officer	10
HHR	Communication officer	3
HDSR	Communication officer	20
WVV	Communication officer	8
Waternet	Communication officer	10
Apeldoorn	Communication officer	20
Arnhem	Communication officer	10
Dordrecht	Communication officer	10
Gouda	Communication officer	10

Groningen	Communication officer	20
Rotterdam	Communication officer	20
SW-Fryslan	Communication officer	10
Zwolle	Communication officer	20
VGGM	Communication officer	10
LTO	Communication officer	10

Deliverables

Phase 1 (2022-2023)

30/06/2022 30/11/22 LIFE IP Communication strategy and -plan

01/07/2022 31/05/23 Opening event combined with regular annual NAS event 31/12/2022 31/05/23 Digital brochures and leaflets

31/12/2023 4 videos/YouTube tutorials and instruments for participation

Milestones:

Phase 1 (2022-2023)

01/04/2022 01/02/23 Knowledge steward local platforms appointed 01/07/2022 30/11/22 LIFE IP social media accounts established and online

Following phases

01/01/2026 Notification panels placed

31/12/2027 Website presentations on project content published, CoP (stakeholder platforms) events organised, contributions to public events held, 10 open days organized, press releases published

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