Territorial communities of Lviv Oblast continue their work within the framework of the Experience Sharing Network “Creation of a Communication Plan for Changes in the Community”, which was initiated in the “U-LEAD with Europe” Program. Representatives of Zabolottsivska, Skolivska, Slavska and Skhidnytska communities took part in the online training “Key elements of communication”, which took place on the basis of the regional office of U-LEAD in the Lviv region.
As the head of the regional office Halyna Khrushchak reported, this training became the epicenter of the educational component of the initiative to develop a plan for communication of changes in communities.
“Next, a series of individual meetings and consultations with U-LEAD experts await the territorial communities. Such meetings will give a start to the practical development of communication plans for changes in communities,” said Halyna Khrushchak.
Andrii Kulakov and Milena Komar, experts of the NGO “Internews-Ukraine”, worked with community representatives, who explained to the participants of the event the process of defining the portrait of the target audience for communication and taught them how to form maps of interested parties.
According to Milena Komar, when communicating with a certain group, you should first draw a portrait of this target audience and define its role. The expert advises communities to use several tools for this, including “Customer persona”.
“This tool is more suitable for business and commercial organizations, but its functionality can also be used when planning communication in the activities of territorial communities. This approach will make it possible to understand the needs and expectations of the target audience, personal hobbies, fears and other important information, which will help to establish an effective communication process,” said the specialist.
Training participants practiced creating a portrait of the target audience with whom they communicate in their territorial communities. The importance of finding effective channels for communication that would be suitable for different target categories depending on their age, profession, hobby and other factors was emphasized.
Andriy Kulakov noted that the key to successful communication is the analysis of the needs of the target audience and the formation of a matrix of stakeholders.
“Ideally, it is necessary to communicate with all categories of stakeholders, but often communities do not have enough resources for such a scale. In this case, it is necessary to focus on the most important stakeholders who show a desire to influence certain processes and have the necessary leverage for this,” the expert emphasized.
Representatives of communities participating in the initiative should develop strategic communication goals that will be included in the future plan for communication of changes. We would like to remind that in general, 48 territorial communities have been selected for participation in the Experience Sharing Network “Creating a plan for communication of changes in the community” in Ukraine, which will work with U-LEAD experts for six months on the creation of quality plans for communication of changes in various spheres of activity.
The Ukraine Program for Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development “U-LEAD with Europe” is jointly funded by the EU and its member states Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Slovenia to support Ukraine on its way to strengthen local municipality. U-LEAD promotes transparent, accountable and multi-level governance in Ukraine that meets the needs of citizens and empowers communities.