Communication Manual Dear Eyper, TABLE of CONTENTS Welcome to EYP’S Communication Manual!

european youth Parliament Communication Manual Dear EYPer, TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome to EYP’s Communication Manual!

This document is designed to support you in your efforts of communicating EYP to the outside world. Communication, when done right, supports, eases and improves the core work we do. As a first step in doing a better communication, we have identi- 1 Visual Elements – EYP’s Corporate Design 06 fied a need to provide guidelines and resources for all EYP National Committees to take care of their communication in a professional way. Once this ground level of communication is established, this will then also enable us to move on to other fields 2 EYP’s Corporate Behaviour 16 of communication. 3 Communication channels 24 This Communication Manual is thus intended as a first step towards a uniform communication across the network of EYP National Committees. With the help of the manual, we want to ensure that certain standards are followed, and that the brand 4 Brand Protection & Copyright 38 of EYP is protected. This manual compiles guidelines and rules, as well as best prac- tices and templates related to communication, and we hope it will become a useful 5 Institutional Contacts 44 tool for all National Committees. As this is the first Communication Manual ever published, please feel free to always approach Mandy ([email protected]) at the Inter- national Office in case you have questions, comments or wishes for additions! 6 Facts and Figures about the eyp 48 Your team at the International Office

2 3 How to use the Communication Manual On priorities

Part 1 contains visual guidelines to create a common Corporate Design for EYP. Our resources in EYP are limited, and communication is not the first thing we think about when allocating them. However, we do communicate all the time, even if we do not re- Part 2 is a guide to Corporate Behaviour – that is, how do we act as and speak about EYP, and the flect it as strategic communication – with friends, with participants, with teachers and of values we communicate. course with partners and sponsors. Just to be aware that we communicate something, Part 3 includes guidelines for the differentchannels to communicate EYP: Mailings, letters, your even if we do other things, is a first step towards a uniform communication across the website(s) and Social Media. network of EYP National Committees. Part 4 gives an overview of rules and measures in place for Brand Protection of the EYP brand and Having said that, here are a few thoughts on priorities in using our limited communication includes guiding principles of Copyright related to EYP. resources: EYP cannot happen without participants. The most basic and most important form of EYP Part 5 contains rules for Institutional Contacts, e.g. contacts to European institutions. communication therefore is directed at schools, teachers and young people, explaining Part 6 includes information about the Schwarzkopf Foundation and how to communicate it as the thoroughly what EYP is, informing them about the opportunities EYP offers and encourag- umbrella organisation of the European Youth Parliament. It also contains a fact sheet about the ing them to take part. European Youth Parliament and does provide some general paragraphs about the organisation. Almost equally important is the communication towards sponsors and partners. They usually haven’t experienced EYP themselves and are interested to understand what EYP is and how it works. Let’s keep them well informed. The following templates and visual elements are available on the Alumni Platform as an addition to this Communication manual: The communication towards our alumni and volunteers should not be underestimated. Without their passion and hard work, EYP would not exist – we should let them know 1 Letter template about that and keep them updated on what is happening. 2 Power Point Presentation Getting covered in the media and recognised by the general public is nice, and can help 3 Word template for general documents us to reach new target groups. Once our sessions are run well and the communication to participants, sponsors and alumni is taken care of, we should allocate resources to things 4 Template for annual reports like press contacts, contacting politicians, billboards and whatever other form of external 5 Template for concepts communication towards the general public we can think of. 6 Template logo table If you are interested in implementing the website template of EYP (www.eyp.org) for your National Committee's website, please do get in touch with the International Office.

4 5 1 I. The EYP Logo II. Logo Guidelines Visual Elements – III. Colours EYP’s Corporate Design IV. Fonts This section defines EYP´s visual elements to be used in our communications and contains guidelines and information on our logo, our colours, our fonts, visual elements and the use of pictures.

Currently (summer 2015), 39 National Committees do shape the image of the European Youth Parliament by organising

events and projects all over Europe. When we communicate as National Committees of the EYP, we aim for a common look 1 Visual Elements in order to shape a brand and be visible as a European network.

Sessions and other projects often have their own Corporate Design and their own logo. On the one hand, that is good because it serves the individual character of the project and contributes to the individual skills development of the respec- The Schwarzkopf Foundation is the international umbrella organisation of the European Youth Parliament tive people in charge. On the other hand, it does make it harder to understand who the initiators of these events are to the 1 Visual Elements outside and to clearly “brand” them as events of the European Youth Parliament. However, the EYP logo should still be used and the general guidelines (like picture use) followed. We recommend the additional sentence “The Schwarzkopf Foundation is the international umbrella organisation of the European Youth Parliament” in order to explain the relation of the two organisations represented by the different logos. I. The EYP Logo In order to get the correct version of the international EYP logo and the Schwarzkopf-Foundation, please do get in touch with the International Office. 2. Logos of National and Regional Committees 1. International logo of the EYP Every National Committee has its own logo. The following policies apply to the logos of National Committees and Regional The international logo of the EYP consists of a formation of blue and yellow stars in the shape of a half circle representing Committees (Policy on Communication, sentence 8-11): common symbols of a parliamentary seating and the name of the organisation in English. It is used for all activities on the international level (International Sessions and projects carried out together with the International Office) and to represent • The logos of National Committees are distinguished by adding the name of their country in English and the national the international structure of the EYP (Governing Body, Board of National Committees, Councils, International Office). language. The logos of the National committees can also include "European Youth Parliament" in the national language if necessary. No other deviations are allowed. • In addition, the logos of Regional Committees can be distinguished be adding the name of the region after the name of the country of the respective National Committee. No other deviations are allowed. • Neither the international logo of the EYP nor the logo of National or Regional Committees can be combined with other visual elements and must stand on its own. EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT • The logo files for National Committees are provided by the International Office. Provided by the International Office, every National Committee gets a package of the following ten versions of the logo in order to have a variety of options. Each version is again provided in the formats .ai, .eps and .png:

Standard (square) version: 1 coloured on white ground; 2,5x 2 coloured on transparent ground; Clearspace 2x 3 black on white ground; 1x 4 black on transparent ground; EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT 5 negative version (white on transparent ground);

Horizontal (longish) version: 1.5x 6 coloured on white ground; 2x x 2,5x 2x 4.5x x 7 coloured on transparent ground; 8 black on white ground; The European Youth Parliament on the international level is not a legal entity itself. It is part of the Berlin-based Schwarz- kopf Foundation. Therefore a combination of the logo of the European Youth Parliament and the Schwarzkopf Foundation 9 black on transparent ground; should always be used on the international level. 10 negative version (white on transparent ground). 8 9 II. Logo Guidelines I am organising a session – how should I arrange the logo table? If you have a session logo, this can be on a prominent spot on the top of the logo table. You don’t have to have a special logo Where do I need to put the logo? for the session, as it sometimes is even more confusing to outsiders like potential sponsors and guests. The official EYP logo is mandatory to use on all communication products throughout the network. This is not so obvious as Under the session logo you put the logos of the sponsors. If you have only one sponsor, you write Funded by:. If you have 1 Visual Elements you would think and it is often the small things where the logo is easily forgotten. Here is a short list of products and com- more than one: Supported by: and then the logos. The main sponsors should be on top, the main contributor first, the oth- munication channels where the logo should not be forgotten: ers smaller in lower lines. If you want to separate between sponsors and cooperations add "In cooperation with". Digital channels and products: Website, facebook/twitter page (profile picture), videos, issue publications, Google applica- In the last line you write: Initiated by: and then indicate the initiators of the event. We generally recommend explanatory tion form, digital banner sentences in order to make it easier to understand the different organisations involved as initiators of your event. Especially

1 Visual Elements Printed products: Flyers, brochures, annual reports, resolution booklets, preparation kits, information booklets, banners, several EYP logos on a logo table might be very confusing. If your event does involve the international level of EYP, we rec- roll-ups, newspapers, business cards, calls for participants ommend the following structure:

How should I use the logo? Generally you should pick the version of the logo that fits best into the communication product and you are free to put the logo with transparent ground on differently coloured backgrounds. When you use the Logo on colored background always make sure to have a high contrast between logo & background.

Do’s The Schwarzkopf Foundation is the international umbrella organisation of the European Youth Parliament (EYP). EYP Belarus is a National Committee in the EYP network. • Use the (transparent version) of the logo on a monochrome background. • Use the NC logo which is provided by the International Office. In the same way you can structure the logos if an event is organised by more than one National Committees: You put the • Use the logo in the colours provided by the International Office which are listed below. The main goal should be logos next to each other and add a sentence like: “EYP Finland and EYP Russia are National Committees in the international to use the best readable and visually appealing version: Black on white/transparent background, coloured version network of the European Youth Parliament.” (blue and yellow stars, black font) on white/transparent background, negative version especially for dark backgrounds. I don’t have room for a whole logo table in my publication. Can I arrange it somehow differently? • Find an appropriate spot for the logos in your publication. This might be the very end or the very beginning, where the logos are separated from the content of your publication. Sometimes you won’t have a whole page to use for the logos, on leaflets or postcard flyers. Here it is fine to concentrate on the main sponsor and the initiators in text form: • Ask the office in case you have questions concerning what size or version of the logo to use best for what. “The [Name of your event] is supported by [main sponsor] and initiated by [main initiators].” Don’ts • Cook up your own new logo. Do we need an extra logo for the media team? • Merge Logos into each other. We strongly recommend to not create an extra logo for the media team. The media team is a part of the session as everyone • Invent your own logos. else and is contributing to the session as a whole. The session is already represented by the session logo or your NC logo. So • Add the contours of a country or any other shape around or in the logo. it does not make much sense to have an extra logo for the media team. • Use a differently coloured version of the logo (e.g. a pink version) which is not provided by the International Office. • Distort or cut parts of the logo. Is it useful to put the session logo as a digital watermark on the session pictures? • Save the logo under 300 ppi or generally in smaller sizes without knowing what youa re doing from a technical By using the session logo as a watermark on session pictures you might intend to “brand” the pictures in order to make perspective. clear at which event they were taken. Unfortunately, sessions logos, in contrast to the pictures you take, are used just for a very short time period and there are hundreds of new ones every year. So in comparison to your NC logos, a very small amount of people will recognise the logo after a few months or years.

Do also think about the fact that you might want to use the pictures from the session for your NC website and other PR & Communication related products of your NC. Pictures including a completely different logo - which has at first glance noth- ing to do with your NC logo - can confuse external people a lot.

Color plays an important role in the EYP corporate identity program. The colors provided in this booklet are recommended

for all EYP related publications. The palette consists of the primary colors Indigo, Blue, Gray and Yellow. The consistent use 1 Visual Elements of those colors contributes to the harmonious appearance of the EYP as a brand. 1 Visual Elements Primary Color Primary Color Indigo Yellow

Color codes Color codes

CMYK : C094 M079 Y000 K000 CMYK : C000 M016 Y100 K000 PANTONE : 2728C PANTONE : 012 C RGB : R057 G070 B146 RGB : R255 G215 B000 700 500 WEB : #394692 WEB : # FFD700

Shades Shades

900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 50 500 400 300 200 100 50

Primary Color Secondary Color Secondary Color Blue Slate Cool Gray

Color codes Color codes Color codes

CMYK : C073 M034 Y000 K000 CMYK : C073 M045 Y024 K066 CMYK : C014 M009 Y009 K023 PANTONE : 279C PANTONE : 7546 EC PANTONE : Cool Gray 5 U RGB : R092 G142 B202 RGB : R037 G055 B070 RGB : R173 G174 B176 500 WEB : #618ECA WEB : #253746 WEB : #ADAEB0

Shades Downloads Full Color Palette with all colours can be found on the Alumni Platform together with all templates. 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 50

12 13 IV. Fonts

Source Sans Pro Bold ABCDEFGHIIJKLM 1 Visual Elements The font used in our official documents on the International Level is Source Sans Pro from 1 January 2016. It is free of charge available under the SIL OpenFont License. NOPQRSTUVWXYZ There are numerous Formats in which the font is available. In order to make all the Templates work properly, please make 1 Visual Elements sure to choose the .ttf-Version of the font. abcdefghiijklm

Please follow these steps in order to install the font on your computer properly: nopqrstuvwxyz

Download it from the Alumni Platform (Link to the TTF Version of the font). Regular ABCDEFGHIIJKLM • Microsoft Windows Unzip the Folder and copy all the contents into the clipboard. Go to the Font Directory located at C:\Windows\Fonts NOPQRSTUVWXYZ and paste the font there. This will install it for the system to use. • Apple MacOS X abcdefghiijklm Unzip the Folder and select all items in the folder. Double-Click one item and the Font-Manager will open. Just click the button in the bottom to install the Font. nopqrstuvwxyz

Please note: All templates provided by the International Office use the TTF version of Source Sans Pro. If you have installed another version of it (like OTF), there might be incompatibility-issues when working with the templates. When working with EYP-Materials you can simply deactivate (Mac) or hide (Windows) the .otf-Version. Light ABCDEFGHIIJKLM

Alternative Fonts NOPQRSTUVWXYZ Unfortunately, the font family of Source Sans Pro does not include the Georgian and the Armenian alphabet. For the respective NCs we recommend to use the font Noto Sans instead. The font can be downloaded on the Alumni Platform. abcdefghiijklm nopqrstuvwxyz

14 15

Copyright: European Youth Parliament I. Words to use and avoid when communicating EYP 2 II. Tone of language III. Use of Pictures IV. Languages EYP’S CORPORATE V. Affiliations VI Monetary Behaviour BEHAVIOUR VII. Religious references VIII. Values we communicate Corporate Behaviour is the behaviour a company or organisation shows towards the public and its stakeholders. This can • “We are a volunteer-based organisation”; While we are proud of this fact, telling people this up front can sound be in direct communication (for example tone of language and words used), but we also have to keep in mind that actions like an apology for lower quality. We want people to be impressed by our quality AND the fact that it is all done by convey a message, too. Working with a specific partner and setting up a project or a session in a specific way is part of cor- volunteers. porate behaviour. II. Tone of language I. Words to use and avoid when communicating EYP 2 Corporate Behaviour Our tone is young, but professional. We are not trying to mimic the formal and sometimes excruciatingly boring tone often used by European institutions and other international bodies. At the same time, we don’t need to be forcefully youthful. Examples of good words (to use everywhere) Instead, we communicate in written language the way we would also talk to an international crowd at an EYP Session: • young,

• active, • In clear, simple English (see guidelines for national languages below). 2 Corporate Behaviour 2 Corporate • creative, • We use British English - eg. “organisation” instead of “organization”, “travelling” instead of “traveling”. • intercultural, • In a lively, not overly formal manner. • truly transnational, • Depending on the situation, you can use the pronoun “we” eg. “our methods” to talk about things you do. This • skills, makes it more personal, young and relatable. However, in a formal text, it is be better to use “the EYP's methods…” • ideas, • We prefer talking about activities and the concrete things rather than preach our values and philosophical ideas. • future. III. Use of Pictures Examples of bad words (to not use anywhere) Pictures are a very important way of communicating who we are and what we do. Well-chosen pictures bring heart and soul • Elite, exclusive - we want to be an open and inclusive organisation to a communication product. On the other hand, bad pictures quickly convey a wrong message. • EYP slang words, such as Chairs, Journos, Orgas, Teambuilding, Committee Work, etc., without explaining them. For a sponsor, it is often sufficient to talk about the “event” instead of the “session” The International Office provides EYP stock photography free to use for all National Committees. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/shumx8cmxqs9nf8/AACiPJ4Jt9QpQEdxu_Dc_qQJa?dl=0 • “EYP International” - due to legal reasons and due to the former international umbrella organisation of EYP still being indebted, we should never use the term “EYP International” in our communications. Please instead refer to the International Office of EYP or the international structure on the European level. • Abbreviations such as T4ET, BNC, GA, NC and so on. Always use the full words and explain shortly what it is about.

Examples of difficult words (to use in the right context)

• “The leaders of tomorrow”: This can be a good selling point towards sponsors, but can paint a too elite picture towards schools and the general public. • Somewhat youthful, informal language can (and should) be used when addressing young people, e.g. on a Session Facebook page, but is of course not suitable for sponsor communication etc. • “Europe”. Europe and all things European are not necessarily popular with everyone. Depending on the audience, it is sometimes advisable to highlight our independence from the EU institutions and focus on expressions such as “transnational”, “diversity”, “bridging divides”. Of course, in other circumstances, being truly “European” can be a selling point. • Technical terms: • From the field of education, terms like ‘peer-to-peer learning’ and ‘non-formal education’ can be good towards schools and public institutions, but difficult towards young people, the general public, and also some sponsors. • From politics, abbreviation such as committees (“EMPL”) or details about European institutions can be good towards European politicians, but are often too technical and appear a bit nerdy in other communication. 18 Copyright: European Youth Parliament 19 For using photos, here are some reminders: • How far do you want to translate English terms used in EYP? Make sure you talk in understandable terms and explain where necessary.

Do use pictures showing: • Which elements of gender-sensitive language do you want to use? • young people;

• faces, ideally smiling and/or passionate; often, a few faces work better than a large crowd; V. Affiliations 2 Corporate Behaviour • teambuilding activities; especially shots taken in mid-action; • committee Work discussions; ideally catching people mid-conversation; Regarding political affiliations, our Policy on Communication states: 1 EYP is a politically and religiously neutral organisation. • passionate speaking poses; EYP is all about expressing your opinion; 2 EYP does not associate itself with the opinions of political parties, national governments, international organisations • diversity, colours, flags; EuroVillage /EuroConcert are always great.

2 Corporate Behaviour 2 Corporate and NGOs in order to guarantee that EYP remains an independent, non-partisan educational programme. 3 Volunteers in EYP are obliged to act in a politically neutral manner when holding official roles at EYP sessions or Don’t use pictures showing: representing EYP. • people sleeping, e.g. in GA; 4 National Committees are not allowed to express any political opinion in their official communications. • alcohol - tell the journalists / photographers to keep this in mind;

• people smoking; While other affiliations are not mentioned here, there is good reason to carefully choose partners for EYP on all levels. • obviously rich young people; • try to avoid showing brands (Apple is a good example); • No partnerships with companies selling alcohol, tobacco, adult entertainment and weaponry/arms. • avoid showing too many young people in suits; if using formal pictures, combine them with more casual pictures; • Careful with companies that are clearly linked to a political party, a specific government or religion. • careful with blindfolded and circle teambuilding pictures. • Companies often sponsor EYP because it is a good PR move for them, which is fine. However, be attentive, to remain independent and not turn into anyone’s PR tool: Even when we partner with a company, that does not mean we share all their values and take them into account when creating our programme or topics. Why? We don't want to come across to sponsors, partners or parents as a male, elite, cult organisation. The ideal image to convey is that of interested young people, of all kinds of backgrounds, having fun and engaging actively. VI. Monetary Behaviour

We do not only communicate with words and sentences, but with our actions as well. Which venues do we use? How much participation fees do we charge for our events? How fancy are we dressed? These factors can be summarised as “monetary IV. Languages behaviour”. We should be aware that very often, the way we set up our events is as important as how we communicate directly. • EYP Sessions can be held in a local school hall and in the most prestigious venues in Europe. But we do not define As of 2014, the only official international working language of the EYP is English. In addition, all national languages of EYP ourselves by the venues we use. So keep in mind that holding a session in a five-star hotel and wearing suits all the countries are official languages. This means that International Sessions are held in English. National Committees can de- time can convey a message of EYP being a very elitist organistion. cide in which language to communicate nationally and whether to have a national-wide or regional event in the national language of the respective country. • EYP Sessions should be accessible to as many people as possible. We thus make participation fees as low as possible. In many countries, you will receive better results to contact schools, politicians and the media in the national language and not in English. Often, a mix is a good idea to show that we are both an international network and locally present. Please take your national context as well as the international image into account when planning your communication and website.

When communicating in your national language, make sure you consider the following points and make a decision according to the culture of your country: • When do you want to use formal and informal elements of your language? In some languages for example, there is a polite version of “you”. Do not forget to use the most appropriate form when you address sponsors, guests, teachers etc.

20 21 VII. Religious references • Decision-makers ; • The general public; There is clearly a high priority on target groups, sponsors and alumni. In practice EYP is a religiously neutral organisation. This rule does also apply for our external communication, e.g. when posting on Facebook or sending out Christmas cards. Instead of writing “Merry Christmas” which does refer to the Christian

holidays, you could use a phrase like “EYP Norway wishes you a happy festive season and all the best for the new year 2016.” Why should people believe us? 2 Corporate Behaviour • We keep our promise: EYP works and there are thousands of young people to prove it. • We have 28 years of experience, and we have energetic young people who reinvent our organisation and improve it every day. VIII. Values we communicate • We have the power of a large volunteer network, where people return to the organisation to allow others the same

2 Corporate Behaviour 2 Corporate experience they had.

Communication does not exist on its own, but is based and should reflect the values of the organisation. Communication experts have established a number of questions organisations need to answer in order to do this. How do we communicate (look and feel)? We have answered these questions for EYP as follows: • We look professional, yet young and fresh. • We aim to maintain a proper and unified look throughout our network, without cutting down on creativity. What is our product/brand? • We want to communicate that we are a volunteer organisation, but we do not use this as an excuse for being unprofessional. Rather, we want people to be impressed by our professionalism AND by the fact that all this is done • Our key product are our sessions and the underlying event format and methodology. by volunteers. • Through our sessions, we offer young people a unique experience, combining intercultural encounter with political discussion. Where do we communicate (media and channels)? • We also offer young people the chance to be part of a great and special network. • Social Media is nowadays our biggest, most important communication tool, both internally and externally. • As a brand, we are: • We have internal tools to stay in touch with our alumni. • independent, • We have websites as the main sources of information. • truly transnational, • We aim to be present in the traditional media, although we do not prioritise this. • active all over Europe, • Person-to-person communication is incredibly important for EYP and should not be underestimated. • politically neutral, • focussed on education. What are our means (budget, resources)? Our resources, especially our financial means, are very limited. What do we want to say? • We have a strong resource in our volunteers – though at the same time, communication is not always the first thing • EYP is the place for young Europeans to express and discuss their own opinion about European issues, while • meeting others and having fun. on their minds (and rightfully so). It will be important to develop a culture of good communication in EYP – similar to the good culture we already have • EYP works: it attracts thousands of young people every year and it has been proven that it makes them more • aware of European issues. in other areas (this also includes realistic goals).

Who is our target group? • Target groups we want to reach in order to gain participants: • young people, • teachers/schools, • parents, • Sponsors, Supporters; • Alumni; 22 23 3 I. Emails II. Letters III. Website COMMUNICATION IV. Social Media CHANNELS I. Emails We recommend the following structure:

Emails are everywhere - and for EYP, they are the most important tool for constructive cooperation across ample, physical --- distances. As an active part of the EYP network, email correspondence amounts to a considerable part of your work. Due Krista Simberg to this fact, it is advisable to keep the following points in mind when sending emails. Even though many emails are sent Executive Director | European Youth Parliament “internally”, i.e. to other EYPers, some rules concerning internal communication should be applied. Sophienstraße 28-29 Tel.: +49 (0)30 97 00 50 96 3 Communication Channels 1. Structure 10178 Berlin, Germany E-Mail: [email protected] Subject www.facebook.com/EuropeanYouthParliament | @eypej

www.eyp.org | www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de It is helpful to insert a useful subject that immediately states what the e-mail is about. A good example for a subject would be “EYP: Questions regarding the meeting on Monday, March 12, 4 pm”. In many cases it makes sense to keep the same subject for a

3 Communication Channels 3 Communication conversation in order to better locate it later in your inbox. Attachments

Formatting and structure It is advisable to always check twice whether a mentioned attachment is actually attached to the email. Moreover, you should take care of a correct designation of the documents and, for example, not use dates, abbreviations or internal terms. A good example would be “Concept National Selection Conference 2013” instead of “Shortconcept_NSC_KM_0305”. In professional communication, you always keep the text of the email you are answering below your answer text. This is to Externally, you should only send out pdf files, unless the correspondence concerns the revision/further development of a ensure that everyone can retrace the email communication. document. Should the size of the file be too large to send, the standard format .zip should be used instead of some random data compression program. For attachments over 3 MB it might be an option to upload the file to the homepage and then It is advisable to mention the purpose of the email as early as possible and (if needed) refer to previous communications. send a link afterwards. Moreover, KISS (Keep It Short and Simple) is always a safe guideline to follow.

For emails, please agree on a uniform use of font type, size and colour within your NC. When highlighting certain aspects, 2. Language and expression do not use garish colours as this shows a lack of professionalism. Source Sans Pro is not mandatory as an official font for e-mails. Orthography

Moreover, you should pay attention to a clear structure of your email. You should think about how to start and how to separate sections with different content, for example, by using paragraphs and blank lines. Emails for internal communication It is important to use correct spelling, grammar and orthography. This also includes proper capitalisation. It is always useful are often “disguised” to do lists. In these cases, especially, the use of dashes, bullet points, headlines and bolding is very to read through your email before sending it, even if addressed to a fellow EYPer. valuable. Emoticons If you want to discuss a new (and longer) topic with a person you already have an email conversation with, do consider to also write a new message with a new subject instead of adding it to the ongoing conversation. It facilitates communication In official emails, smileys and ^^ do not convey a professional image to partners and sponsors. Frequent use of them should and helps everyone involved to keep the overview. be also avoided in internal email communication.

Signature Form of address and salutation

In official communication you should always use a signature including your contact details and the organisation you are In all email correspondence, a correct greeting (keeping in mind title, address etc) and a polite salutation is essential. This representing. It is your digital business card. Avoid pictures or other visual elements in your signature. Be aware that having also applies for internal communication. Once you begin to receive a significant number of emails per day, you will appreci- pictures or other visual elements in your signature might often be the reason why emails do end up in spam folders or are ate a well-crafted email. not delivered in the layout you intended.

26 27 Style II. Letters

Generally, we are very polite to external agents and address them as “Dear Mr/Ms” and close with “Yours sincerely/Best regards”. The more you are communicating with the same person, the more likely it is that the tone gets more relaxed until Even though most communication takes place in form of emails, there are circumstances where you might have to send a first names are used for addressing the recipient. Nevertheless, this informal tone is never initiated by a member of our letter, e.g. to formally contact a sponsor or partner, to invite a politician to one of your events or to formally address schools team as most communication takes place with senior people in higher positions. for new cooperations. A general letter template is included in the materials attached to this manual.

3. Recipients Addressing, form of address and subject 3 Communication Channels

Main recipient All points concerning language and expression which were already mentioned for writing emails are generally very important and also apply for letters. Mistakes in this field are considered as a lack of professionalism. You should always double-check the recipients of every email. Be careful with the “reply to all” function. If you have re- ceived an e-mail adressed to you and someone else in carbon copy (cc) always make sure to "reply to all" in order not to It is especially important to address the letter correctly using an appropriate greeting and salutation. When inserting the loose anyone from the discussion. address in the address field, always state first the institution and then the name of the person being addressed. As concerns the form of address, you should pay attention to a polite tone, as well as the correct designation of the position and (if ap- 3 Communication Channels 3 Communication Carbon Copy “Cc” plicable) title of the person addressed.

Often some members are not directly concerned by a certain email but should nevertheless know about its content. In this Furthermore, it is important that letters (as with emails) contain a subject. The request should be summed up clearly. For case you use the Cc-option. When sending an email you should always think carefully about the field, in which you put each example: “Rental car sponsoring for international youth conference in Amsterdam”. recipient. Proofreading Blind Carbon Copy “Bcc” Every letter that is being sent out to an external recipient should be proofread by a second person. For this purpose, the let- There are two reasons for which you can choose to opt for “Bcc”. The first is the main recipient of your email should not ter should be send as a Word document to the proof-reader, so that he/she can then correct the document using the mode know that there is a second recipient of the email. A second reason can be that you like to maintain the privacy of each “track changes”. recipient (esp. for mass emails).

Read receipt and auto responder III. Website We do not send emails with a read receipt and recommend a “high priority”. If you are planning to go on holiday and you will not be able to respond to emails for a longer period of time, you can enable an automatic response along the following lines: The International Office provides the website template of www.eyp.org to all National Committees. As the process of implementing the template is a bit more complicated, please do get in touch with the International Office if you are interested to get the template. We will help to set everything up. “Dear Sir and Madam, Thank you for your email. I am on holiday until March 7, 2012 and only have limited access to my emails. I will The rules laid down in parts 1, 2 and 4 of course also apply to your website. respond as soon as I am back. In urgent cases please contact my colleague Werner via [email protected].

No matter what kind of website template you are using, every website should provide some basic information. Kind regards,” XX About

Emails v. personal conversation/phone/Skype call The “About” is a section to explain what the European Youth Parliament is, to introduce the Network of National Commit- tees and to introduce your National Committee. Here you can also explain the structure of your NC (“governance”) and Of course, an email can never be a substitute for a personal conversation. This is especially important to keep in mind with introduce the volunteers working for your organisation and their contact details (“team”/ “board”). regards to previous misunderstandings. It is difficult to straighten out misunderstandings via email. Hence they should always be dealt with via phone/skype or personally. Emails can serve well as summaries for phone/skype calls after the conversation took place. 28 29 Events / Sessions IV. Social Media

A section presenting the events you are currently organising and you plan to organise in the future is absolutely mandatory Social Media have turned into one of our most important communication tools. It is cheap and easy to use and very close to for every website. It might seem obvious, but do not forget to mention the dates, the venue and if applicable themes and our main target group, young people. special elements of the session. First of all, the rules laid down in parts 1, 2 and 4 of course also apply to Social Media. Don’t forget to link/upload/embed calls, prep-kits and information booklets of the sessions on your website. Thereby you can easily gather all information in one place and if needed send links to teachers, parents, partners and sponsors. In addi-

tion, it is also a way to get a lot of visitors to your page. 3 Communication Channels 1. Facebook

Get involved Facebook page: your NC

Young people are most interested in getting to know how they can become a part of EYP. As you are always interested in new participants it pays off to have a section explaining how new people can become a part of EYP. • Use your official NC EYP logo as profile picture and a nice, professional and relevant cover picture.

3 Communication Channels 3 Communication Contact information

Don’t forget to indicate the contact information of your NC and if applicable your office.

Optional: News

If you have capacities in your NC to regularly update your website (at least once per week), you can also consider a news section on the main page. Here you can present the latest news and events of your NC: show pictures from the last session, introduce new board members and share calls for upcoming events. • Make sure that your “About” section provides clear information about EYP and your National Committee. Briefly explain what our main aims and values are, what we do and stand for. Important to indicate is that we are a politically neutral organisation and do not support any parties. You may also include links to EYP and your NC’s website.

Facebook page: a session or event • Consider if your event is big enough to make a separate page for it: maybe it can be promoted through your NC page? Or maybe it is more suitable to create a Facebook event page? Do keep in mind, that a temporary Facebook page might have a considerable amount of likes which you “lose” again after the event. Promoting an event through your NC page would be a much more sustainable solution. • The first thing people are looking for are the dates of your event so do not forget to include them in the short de- scription in the “About” section. Below specify also the city, umbrella topic, number of participants, etc. You may also include a paragraph about EYP and your National Committee for the people who are not acquainted with EYP. Make sure that the information you provide your visitors with in this section is accurate, relevant and understandable both for EYPers and non-EYPers. 30 31 • Do not forget about the page when the session is over: • Use photos rather than links - this looks better and will increase your reach substantially. • Make a post about receiving updates via your NC page and make sure this is the last one so that people who randomly arrive on this page see it. • Do not delete the page if it has photos.

Facebook events 3 Communication Channels • If you already have a page for your session, there is most probably no need to create an event as well since you can invite people to like pages as well as to attend events, and simply because you share exactly the same information. • Making an event is suitable for small events, while a page might be desirable for a big session. Examples of small events: meetings, informal events, alumni weekends, one-day events. • Make sure that your events look professional and are clearly linked to your NC: • Create the event from your page, not from a personal account. 3 Communication Channels 3 Communication

• Add clear information and a banner/photo with logo on your event. • You can put links in the post text itself, shortening it with https://bitly.com/ • Use photos with a lot of smiling young people on them, and tag people as well as other pages for more reach.

Posts • Post regularly. • Make sure to check your posts for typos, grammar and spelling. • It is okay to add the text of the post in your own language, but do not make it confusing for international likers. • Try to avoid posting the same kinds of posts all the time. • Don’t post about exactly the same thing twice in a row. 32 33 • Do not like your own posts, this looks unprofessional. As an Admin or Editor of a page you can change from page • Don't come up with random, irrelevant things just to post something. If you have no inspiration, take a look at the perspective to personal perspective easily. Do not forget to tell this to all your page administrators and editors. international EYP page who has several posts per week or other EYP NC pages. • Consider if your NC page is the right channel for different kinds of messages. Always bear in mind our values and interests of the tagret audience. • Hide spam messages, they make your page look unprofessional.

Photos

• Ideally, start your albums with a photo that shows what it is about. 3 Communication Channels 3 Communication Channels 3 Communication • Do not make informal posts, remember that you are professional organisation.

• If you want to share a post, you can either create your own with a link to the original source, or share it while adding a couple of words. This will increase the reach and possible the audience's engagement.

• Give your albums a clear name and add a date or year, for example: "Spring BNC Meeting 2014" or "Barcelona IS 2014- Teambuilding". • Remove page posts if there are several about the same album, or your whole page will be full of these posts. This will happen when you add photos to the same album with a time interval. • Keep an eye out for inappropriate photos, such as photos showing: • alcohol, • smokers, • drunk people, • inappropriately dressed people, • too many expensive things like lots of Apple laptops, cameras, • Make sure that your text is clear and concise not using unnecessary words and repetitive sentences. • only people in suits, looking serious.

34 35 2. Twitter • Use hashtags and mention relevant people. In case you want to establish a hashtag for an event or a project communicate it on time beforehand. • Only create a Twitter account if you are planning to use it and have someone responsible. • Use your NC logo as profile picture and an appealing, professional photo as cover picture. • Attach nice photos of young smiling people or VIPs. 3 Communication Channels

• You can automatically link Facebook posts to be tweeted, however if possible try to avoid having these as your only 3 Communication Channels 3 Communication posts. Facebook messages often come across strangely in “Twitter etiquette”. Tweets should be short and powerful • • Retweet others (alumni, VIPs) who tweet about your organisation or events and try to engage with the audience. statements.

• It´s good if you do not only tweet in your own language. • Try to have some variation in your tweets.

36 37 4

I. Brand Protection Brand Protection II. Copyright & Copyright I. Brand Protection The media team products at sessions & other events

Media teams are quite productive and often produce hundreds of pictures, a considerable amount of articles and often also By communicating well, we establish EYP as a brand. While the EYP brand is democratic and bottom-up, there are instances videos. As NC’s are often interested in using these materials for further promotional purposes and the International Office where it needs to be protected in order to protect our good reputation. is always interested in new material for the stock photo catalogue, we recommend to agree with journalist on how to use their creative products after an event. The below examples illustrate cases when we need to protect our brand: This can be done through a consent form.

• Theft and trademark violation: We need to protect our brand when someone steals our name and trademark (“Eu- ropean Youth Parliament”) and acts as a copy-cat. Session logos as a digital watermark on session pictures • Unacceptable behaviour on EYP-related websites and social media outlets that can be damaging to our reputation. In extreme cases, we will ask the unacceptable material to be taken down. Examples include: 4 EYP Brand & Copyright By using the session logo as a watermark on session pictures you might intend to “brand” the pictures in order to make • Behaviour such as drinking and drug use being displayed, including drunk delegates; clear at which event they were taken. Unfortunately, sessions logos are used just for a very short time period and there are hundreds of new ones every year, so in comparison to your NC logos, a very small amount of people will recognise the logo • Extreme political statements, even if used as a joke; after a few months or years. • Inappropriate behaviour which goes against our values and aims; • Channels of communication: Clearly mark official channels of communication so that it is clear where “EYP” com- Do also think about the fact that you might want to use the pictures from the session for your NC website and other PR & 4 EYP Brand & Copyright 4 EYP Brand municates, and where not. Communication related products of your NC. Pictures including a completely different logo - which has at first glance noth- ing to do with your NC logo - will confuse external people a lot. Any brand protection issues should be reported to the International Office of the EYP – just send an email to [email protected].

Accordingly, it is not recommended to use the session logo as a watermark. If you want to make sure that it is easy to recognise where the pictures were taken, do consider to include a note like “Berlin 2015 – Regional Conference of EYP Germany” as a watermark on the picture. This is a much better explanation. Do also keep a “watermark free” version of all pictures in II. Copyright order to use them for other PR & Communication related things or to provide them to the wider EYP community as stock photos. Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work (e.g. articles, pictures, etc.) exclusive rights to decide on use and distribution of his own creative work. EYP respects national law for copyright and recommends to look into copyright issues in your country. Pictures & graphic elements from external sources

Model releases (minor participants & 18+ participants) When you want to use pictures found through Google or other search engines, you have to make sure that you are allowed to use them freely. Usually pictures found online are not in the public domain and cannot be used. In order not to violate the international copyright law, try to use either pictures taken by EYP members or use the websites that allow a free use of A model release is a legal release signed by the subject of a photograph granting permission to publish the picture in one their resources. As for the latter ones, you may check such websites as: form or another. Regarding the organisation of sessions and other events, we especially recommend to have a look at your national law regulating taking pictures of minors. • http://www.freeimages.com You might consider a paragraph in the session consent form and thereby inform and agree with parents of minors on the • http://www.morguefile.com/archive use of pictures of their children. • https://www.flickr.com In any of the cases do not forget to mention the source of the picture. A standard paragraph can look like that: “As part of the [name of the event/session] in [city], I transfer the right to one’s own picture of my son/daughter and use of his/her name in the resolution booklet to [name of your NC] as the sole representative of the European Youth Parliament in [name of your country] and agree to their usage by other members of the European Youth Parliament Music in videos network. I give my consent to my son’s/daughter’s potentially being interviewed by journalists.” Same as with pictures, before using a song in your video, you have to make sure that the author gave their permission for Accordingly, we recommend including a paragraph granting permission to use the pictures of participants over 18 in the a public use of their piece. Many musicians choose to do so by releasing their songs under Creative Commons licenses. general consent form: Creative Commons is a new system, built upon current copyright law, that allows you to legally use “some rights reserved” “As part of [name of the event/session] in [city], I transfer the right to my picture and use of my name in the resolu- music, movies, images, and other content — all for free. CC offers free copyright licenses that anyone can use (without a tion booklet, to [name of your NC] as the sole representative of the European Youth Parliament in [your country] and lawyer) to mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. For instance, a musician would use a Creative agree to their usage by other members of the European Youth Parliament network.” 40 41 Commons license to allow people to legally share her songs online, make copies for friends, or even use them in videos or other compositions.

Several sites offer music published under Creative Commons’ flexible copyright licenses. Here are some: • CcMixter • Free Music Archive • Jamendo • Magnatune • Simuze • BeatPick 4 EYP Brand & Copyright • CASH Music • SectionZ • Opsound • Podsafe Audio

4 EYP Brand & Copyright 4 EYP Brand • AudioFarm • Internet Archive’s Netlabels Collection

Furthermore, you need to make sure that what you want to do with the music is OK under the terms of the particular Crea- tive Commons license it’s under. For example in some of the cases you are not allowed to change, transform, or make a derivative work using the music.

Also, make sure to properly credit the musician and the track, as well as express the CC license the track is under. For example, you might include text like this at the end of your video: “This video features the song “Desaprendere (Treatment)” by fourstones, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.”

Source: http://creativecommons.org

This is a nice and easy way to fill a page with a big picture for a booklet.

42 43 5 Institutional Contacts More and more NCs are regularly inviting politicians to their event, which is a great development. However, this increased activity also creates the potential for overlapping invitations and a general lack of coordinated effort especially towards politicians on the European level. Thus, here is a set of simple guidelines to coordinate this better, to avoid having several invitations addressed at the same person at the same time.

• National Committees can freely contact any national (or local/regional) politicians, who are not primarily active on the European level. • National Committees can always contact a politician from their own country who is active on the European level (e.g. EYP Belgium contacting a Belgian MEP), but following these guidelines:

• NCs are always free to contact MEPs from your own country. Note: The International Office standardly invites all MEPs via email to visit all International Sessions.

• NCs can (and should) contact and invite the European Commissioner coming from their country, but you should 5 Institutional Contacts get in touch with the International Office when doing so – ideally before you send out the invitation. • Note: We at the International Office standardly invite all European Commissioners to visit all International Ses- sions.

• Regarding Commissioners, we recommend they are invited as patrons only for your main events and not smaller or 5 Institutional Contacts 5 Institutional regional sessions. Alternatively you could invite your Commissioner as a patron of your National Committee. • NCs can contact European-level politicians from other countries, but should talk to that politician’s respective NC and the International Office before doing so. National Committees should, however, primarily focus on their respective European-level politicians. • As noted above, the International Office standardly invites all European Commissioners and MEPs to the Interna- tional Sessions. Additionally, we invite a number of representatives from the Council of Europe. This we will con- tinue doing also for all future International Sessions. However, if we would want to invite a certain European-level politician for another event, we will coordinate this with the respective NC. • Patrons & Comité d’Honneur • Lastly, it should be noted that any international patrons or members of the international Comité d’Honneur are those of the whole of EYP, and we definitely encourage you to reference these patrons, but please always make sure you use the same phrasing as on our website. • You can find the current list here: www.eyp.org/about/patrons Copyright: European Youth Parliament

46 47 6 I. What is the European Youth Parliament? II. The European Youth Parliament in numbers Facts and Figures III. The Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe I. What is the European Youth Parliament? II. The European Youth Parliament in numbers

The European Youth Parliament (EYP) is a unique educational programme which brings together young people from all These numbers have been compiled from all National Committees for the year 2014. Each year the International Office over Europe to discuss current topics in a parliamentary setting. Its mission is to support the development of young people sends out a questionnaire to all National Committees in order to update these numbers. into politically aware and responsible citizens by involving them in European political thinking and promoting intercultural • 493 events understanding. • 39 countries The EYP is a non-partisan and independent programme. Its methods are based on non-formal education and peer-to-peer • 783 days of EYP learning. Thereby the programme facilitates the learning of crucial social and professional skills; and encourages independent thinking and socio-political initiative. • 83 training events The EYP is a pan-European organisation which does not limit itself to the current political borders of the European Union. As • 1452 committees/resolutions a network of independent associations, EYP is currently present in 39 European countries, enabling contacts across borders • 20 567 unique participants and beyond frontiers. The EYP thus offers a platform for intercultural meetings, fosters mutual understanding and makes a • 28 294 total participants vital contribution towards the uniting of Europe. • 2412 active volunteers

• 1407 schools involved 6 Fact Sheet Facilitating intercultural learning in a parliamentary setting • 1042 teachers The European Youth Parliament’s main events are parliamentary simulation sessions, ranging from one-day local events to • 65 000 facebook likes 10-day international sessions. 6 Fact Sheet 6 Fact • 144 decision-makers attended events

Teambuilding During Teambuilding, experienced-based pedagogy is used by performing outdoor and indoor activities in order to form III. The Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe international teams and establish principles of cooperation. Since 2004, the Berlin-based Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe (Schwarzkopf-Stiftung Junges Europa) is the international umbrella organisation of the European Youth Parliament and the legal representative of EYP on the international Committee Work level. The established common ground then enables the young people to come up with their own suggestions and ideas for Eu- The non-partisan Schwarzkopf Foundation was founded in 1971. Since then the Foundation aims to support the develop- rope’s most pressing challenges during the Committee Work. The results of the different committees are compiled into the ment of young people into politically aware and responsible citizens. The Foundation focuses specifically on: form of unanimous resolutions. • reinforcing the European project, • advancing pan-European understanding, Cultural Programme Throughout the whole session, a Cultural Programme gives the participants the possibility to get acquainted with each • strengthening democratic civil society other’s cultures and traditions. This results in increased cultural awareness, self-confidence and mutual understanding, • the fight against racism, right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism. while at the same time tackling xenophobia and prejudices.

With a big variety of events, seminars, debates, visits to embassies, background discussions and conferences about Europe, General Assembly including direct exchanges with key personalities from politics, economics, culture and civil society, the Schwarzkopf Foun- The committees come together to debate all of the resolutions during the General Assembly, following a standard parlia- dation offers young Europeans a platform for discussions. mentary procedure. One of the biggest programmes of the Schwarzkopf Foundation is Understanding Europe with its EU Crash Courses: a 4-hour interactive seminars in schools, based on a peer-to-peer approach, conveying basic knowledge of Europe. Through fruitful partnerships with the European Youth Parliament the programme could also establish active trainer-teams in some Empowering young volunteers European countries. Each year more countries join our international team of Understanding Europe. By taking part in the European Youth Parliament’s activities, young participants improve their participation skills and en- Just like the EYP-Programme, also the Schwarzkopf Foundation is a fundraising-based organisation, seeking for external gage in active European citizenship. To support the personal development of these young volunteers, and further their skills funding for all projects and events. development to take up various roles within the organisation, the EYP organises capacity building training courses focused on a diverse set of skills, such as facilitation, leadership, communication, fundraising, organising, project management, inclusion, outreach, and intercultural dialogue. More about the Schwarzkopf Foundation: EYP thereby prepares these young European citizens to not only take an active role in our network, but to also use these • www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de skills to the benefit of society as a whole. In 2014, the EYP organised 89 training events, spanning over 191 training days, • www.facebook.com/schwarzkopf.stiftung involving almost 1900 participants. • www.twitter.com/SchwarzkopfStfg 50 51 Published by the International Office of the European Youth Parliament September 2015

European Youth Parliament Sophienstraße 28-29 10178 Berlin, Germany [email protected]