Vyber si / You Choose  (Sub-grants facility for campaigns around 2019 European Parliament Elections DEAR project “Trade fair, Live Fair)

Trvanie projektu: apríl 2019 – apríl 2020

About project: By reaching 450k people, this project aims to raise awareness of the general public and entrepreneurs and encourage the adoption of more sustainable consumption and production practices. The action will strengthen EP candidates’ interest and understanding of commitments related to SDG12.

A wide public mobilisation campaign will focus on issues such as ensuring living wages of farmers, promotion of fairer supply chains and alternative business models, such as social entrepreneurship. 

The campaign will use a mix of innovative awareness raising elements and proven methods. These will include a professional video to go viral (ice-bucket challenge style), robust social media campaign and cooperation with media. The campaign will feature public personalities such as inspiring (social) entrepreneurs and opinion-leaders to gain the momentum and ensure visibility and dissemination.   

We will leverage previous partnerships, establish new ones and initiate discussions with key-players about responsible consumption and production habits and encourage them to become role-models.

By our advocacy activities, we will reach 20 MEP and EP candidates and establish deeper cooperation with 3 of them. We will build on our experience with SDG12 campaign during 2016 Slovak EU Presidency, when we reached 450000 people and directly shaped National SDGs Strategy through advocacy activities.

Project objectives: 

To raise awareness of the general public and encourage the adoption of more sustainable consumption and production practices in Slovakia.

To build strategic SDG12 advocacy partnerships to ensure policy influence beyond the duration of the project (with Members of European Parliament and EP Election candidates, private companies and media).

Phase 1: Preparation and implementation phase: Robust mobilisation campaign and Advocacy partnerships:

• A viral video – the video will be prepared in cooperation with a professional creative agency with a track record of producing viral videos. To ensure visibility and fast dissemination, the video will feature some of the best known personalities from the business sector (including startupers and young entrepreneurs), opinion-leaders, celebrities (pro bono) and NGOs. They will point to the issues through story-telling and encourage people to adopt responsible and sustainable habits as well as to vote for SDG12-positive candidates in the EP elections. To boost the video and draw attention to the cause, we will ask all the personalities to post the video on their personal and company social media on the same day – the World Trade Fair Day, the 11th May, 2 weeks before the EP election date in Slovakia.  
• Cooperation with personalities, NGOs and companies – inspiring companies and the personalities from the business sector, opinion-leaders, celebrities and NGO representatives will support us continuously by being featured in the video, sharing our key messages, infographics and campaign related pictures on their social media. They will encourage people and other companies to share the messages, which will ensure a wider reach.
• Website – we will create a subsection on our website mvro.sk focused solely on this project campaign. It will contain information about the EP elections and the importance of SDG12 as such, the video, quotes by the personalities and companies. Website will also include a “call to action” as how to adopt sustainable and responsible consumption and production habits guidelines on how to select SDG12-positive EP candidates. 
• World Fair Trade Day – we will leverage the World Fair Trade Day to kick start our campaign. We will publish our video for the first time and prepare a press release. Our aim will be to flood social media with our key messages in relation to the upcoming EP elections, in cooperation with personalities, companies, media and NGOs.
• Cooperation with EPE candidates – we will share our messages to at least 20 EPE candidates and aim for deeper partnership with 4 of them. The candidates will start communicating SDG 12 and core topics of this call as part of their campaigns. As a result, citizens will be able to perceive EP Elections as relevant channel for influencing (sustainable development) politics nationally and on the EU level.
• Cooperation with media – we will issue at least 2 press releases with the first one being published on the World Fair Trade Day. We will cooperate with a national media outlet with which we have collaborated for years now and therefore can guarantee their interest in our key topics. Their articles will help us raise awareness, spread the messages, features quotes by the personalities and relevant firms and include a call to action. We aim not only to communicate to the public “what” responsible consumption and production are, but also “how” to adopt these habits easily.
• SDG12 Workshop for Companies – a workshop event targeting companies, social entrepreneurs, startupers, startup hubs and co-working spaces. All the companies produce and consume (in terms of their own production or consumption habits – e.g. tea and coffee in the offices) and hence impact employees’ behaviours through company culture.

Phase 2: Participation in the advocacy event and dissemination of results:

• TFLF advocacy event (Fair Trade breakfast) at the EU Parliament in Brussels – organised by the , a representative of our organisation will be send to participate in the event and the follow up activities organised by the Trade Fair Advocacy Office.
• Dissemination of results – besides our own outputs, we will also share and disseminate common digital resources.