As we are closing in on the official announcement by the European Commission of the 2023 nominees for alliance fundings, drafting a short-term communication strategy for AcrossEU had become an immediate priority.

To that end, the first AcrossEU meeting on communication & marketing was held this past week at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland. During three days, participants from all 9 member institutions, communicators but not only, covered an exhaustive range of strategic communication topics, such as deadlines and priorities, press releases, visual identity, social media strategy, communication tool-kit, audiences, editorial content, structuring a future network of AcrossEU communicators…

The meeting also benefited from the feedback and expertise of a representative of an existing European Alliance – comforting the group on their various upcoming recommendations – and of one of the Swiss students who attended the recent student forum in Rovaniemi. As the identity and the core missions of AcrossEU will have to reflect their concerns and expectations, both academic and social, communication will have to be shaped accordingly.

Confronting ideas and practices from across the membership has surely ensured that AcrossEU can build a global communication strategy while also adapting targeted messages for the member institutions and their engaged communities.