For the first time ever, 72 European Territorial Cooperation and neighbouring programmes organised a joint European Cooperation Day campaign which took place on 21 September 2012 and the surrounding week. Under the motto “Sharing borders, growing closer”, 281 local events were held in 36 countries, reaching out to more than 200,000 people. The campaign was coordinated by the INTERACT Programme with the support of the European Commission (DG Regional Policy and Urban Affairs), the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions.
The aim of the campaign was to communicate the achievements of European cooperation across borders to the general public. The local events showcased how cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation projects are reducing obstacles and disparities, while at the same time increasing cultural understanding and efficiency between European regions. All these initiatives funded by the European Union have helped to improve people’s lives along the many borders within Europe and beyond.
The campaign kicked off with an information event in the European Parliament. Other highlights of the 2012 campaign included a swimming marathon between Greece and Albania; a classical concert in a cross-border cave between Hungary and Slovakia; a project bus tour for journalists in Latvia; a project fair featuring a puppet theatre in Valencia; a cross-border football match between Finland and Russia; a project exhibition in Vienna attended by the Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn; graffiti art between France and Spain and a race between a Lithuanian horse, a Belarusian tractor, a Polish “Maluch” car, a Latvian ambulance and a Russian “Volga”.
The campaign was accompanied by a broad media strategy with a trailer video available in eight languages which was shown on various national television stations and viewed more than 10,000 times on the web. In addition, we engaged thousands of people in the campaign and invited them to participate in local events through Facebook and Twitter.
“I am very happy that the achievements of cooperation between European regions have been honoured through the European Cooperation Day campaign.”
MEP Marie-Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid
The 2013 edition
Following the huge success of last year, INTERACT has decided to repeat the campaign. European Cooperation Day will again be celebrated on 21 September 2013 and its surrounding week. All European Territorial Cooperation programmes and stakeholders are invited to support the campaign:
- Organise a local event celebrating the achievements and results of cooperation in Europe
- Become a partner of one of the local events to be organized by programmes in your area
- Disseminate information on the events through your social media, website or other communication tools
- Engage in the campaign through the soon to be released European Cooperation Day mobile application
- Attend one of the local events in your area. Information on the events will be available on the campaign website from June onwards: www.ecday.eu
facebook.com/cooperationday | twitter.com/cooperationday | youtube.com/cooperationday
If you have any suggestions or questions, please get in touch with Dorothee Fischer, INTERACT Point Valencia: dorothee.fischer@interact-eu.net, Tel.: +34 961 922 616, Mobile: +34 639736028