Empowering local communities through the Just Transition Fund (JTF)

 The Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) has enlisted ICF Next to develop a comprehensive communication strategy aimed at engaging local communities across five key European regions. With a focus on raising awareness about EU’s financial support for economic growth and community development, ICF Next developed a series of communication actions aimed at showcasing successful stories of Just Transition Fund (JTF) beneficiaries.

DG REGIO wanted to highlight the technical assistance available to keep five regions—Midlands (Ireland), Saxony (Germany), Konin (Poland), Norrbotten (Sweden), and Jiu Valley (Romania)—economically active while fostering a sustainable future. The campaign needed messaging that would truly resonate with its audiences, which required tailoring the approach to fit the unique needs of each region. Some areas are just at the beginning of their journey, others, such as Sweden, are further along in the process. Some regions are experiencing mine closure, while others heavily rely on peat extraction. The campaign messaging needed to be regionalized and adapted to the local reality—not just translated.

ICF Next was also tasked to work closely with the Managing Authorities (the entities administering the funding at the regional level) in co-creating the campaign and activities at the regional level to ensure consistency with governmental communications and alignment with activities already supported by the local authorities.

Solution

Our team conducted focus groups with residents to discover the most effective way to reach different communities and foster a positive attitude towards the EU. What we heard was a need to diversify our approach by not engaging only with traditional media.

We also adapted language, visuals, and slogans to fit each region. For example, we used different wording in the campaign slogan—"Supporting our community through change," “Together we shape the future of the region,” and “Helping you shape your future”—depending on the local preferences and the political connotations associated with the terminology. And we carefully selected images that would resonate with each region, ensuring the brand book and stock imagery would speak to the community.

Our national partners met regularly with local and national authorities to ensure our proposed activities matched their priorities and were consistent and complementary to the efforts they were already making in communicating the funding. All activities have been endorsed by the Managing Authorities.

By piggybacking on existing networks supported by the Managing Authorities, we were able not only to get the interest of traditional media but also to diversify our approach. We used face-to-face activities with the communities and being present on the ground (e.g., in universities, schools, business venues) to feature local trusted figures and influencers and foster active community engagement.

We executed nine influencer activations, five radio campaigns, four media partnerships, one press trip, three masterclasses, one business breakfast, and one exhibition. Through these efforts, we achieved over 50 earned media results, with an estimated potential reach of approximately 1.1 million people.

Additionally, our campaign reached 560,000 people via influencer content, around 730 people engaged in our events, and over 2.6 million people were reached through the radio campaigns. In addition to the impressive results, we saw strong active engagement from the people we reached. Attendees actively approached us after events, and more than 1,500 people shared positive feedback about our influencer collaborations—further amplifying the impact of the campaign by fostering the sense of community and belonging.