The Center for Social Innovation – CSI Cyprus is one of the two Cypriot partners, together with the Municipality of Agios Athanasios, of the project CLARINET – Communication of Local AuthoRities for INtegration in European Towns, which is co-funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of the European Commission. CLARINET started in January 2019 and will be completed in June 2022. It brings together a total of 18 partner organisations from ten EU countries.

About the project

The overall objective of the CLARINET project is to raise awareness among EU citizens of migrants’ positive contribution to EU societies. It seeks to empower local authorities to highlight the positive contribution that migrants make to our societies, in each specific context. In order to do this, a strong partnership has been established between 8 local authorities (municipalities, regional governments) and 9 civil society organisations located in 8 different European countries, and 2 international networks. The 8 countries involved in project activities are part of South-Eastern Europe, an area which has been significantly impacted by the arrival of asylum seekers in recent years due to its geographical position along 3 different migration routes: the Central Mediterranean route (Italy), the Western Balkan Route (Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria) and the Eastern Balkan Route (Greece, Cyprus).
 
Project activities

The project is structured around 42 months (from 2019 to 2022) and includes activities both at local and European levels, pursuing three specific objectives: to identify local authorities’ good practices in public communication campaigns on migration and integration, to empower border local authorities to implement successful evidence-based public communication campaigns on migration and integration, and to promote good practices for communication campaigns on migration and integration launched by local authorities at an EU level.

The project is supported by a strong online and offline communication campaign, including the CLARINET website, a Facebook page, Instagram account and promotional events at a European level. 

The CLARINET Award

The “CLARINET Award for the best Local Authorities public communication campaigns promoting positive narratives on migration and integration in the EU” was launched in April 2019 with the aim of promoting and valuing successful, impactful campaigns and communication activities carried out by, or on behalf of, local authorities, and which show how migration in Europe can benefit our societies.

The CLARINET Award was developed around a well-defined vision, which was spoken of in the call for projects: 

“The CLARINET Award considers migration as a structural phenomenon, which is strictly linked to the discrepancies in resources and demographic conditions between the North and the South. Migration should be neither fought nor glorified. Instead, it should be observed, understood and managed through careful consideration of its causes and consequences, as well as its geographical places of origin, transition and arrival. 

The CLARINET Award aims to give value to evidence-based campaigns which use accurate facts and figures to highlight the positive and structural contribution that migrants make to European societies. They may feature, for example, data elaborated in infographics or fact-checking techniques which facilitate the demystification of mistaken perceptions. The Award also recognises successful storytelling campaigns which make use of anecdotal evidence, and which give a voice to Third Country Nationals (TCNs) in particular, through the sharing of their testimonies.”

The call for applications was opened on that basis, inviting campaigns from the following three categories to put themselves forward: 

-    Web and Social Media: communication campaigns and activities developed mainly via online channels such as websites, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram etc.;
-    Traditional Media: communication campaigns and activities developed mainly on television, radio, printed press, and through outdoor advertising;
-    Public Events: communication campaigns and initiatives developed mainly through exhibitions, workshops, artistic or sport manifestations.

The CLARINET Award saw the coming together of an extraordinary variety of campaigns. Over the course of four months, 61 campaigns were submitted, of which 53 were eligible. Eleven European countries were represented, with 10 projects from Italy, 13 from Austria, 9 from Spain, 6 from Romania, 5 from Slovenia, 3 from Greece, 3 from Cyprus, 1 from Portugal, 1 from The Netherlands, 1 from Bulgaria, 1 from Denmark. You can find all the submitted applications and the winners of each Category in the project website.

CLARINET Toolkit

The Positive Storytelling Kit on Migration for Local Authorities takes its readers on a tour of these various campaigns, many of them highly innovative and inspiring. Its aim is to bring together the best practices, practical tips, and concrete examples for public administrations to refer to when looking to launch their own campaigns. 
 
As hate speech against migrants is becoming increasingly prevalent in the public sphere, it is fundamentally important to provide efficient tools to the actors who stand on the frontline of the debate on migration in order to empower them to reach out to European citizens, local authorities, and in particular those located in border areas where the presence of newcomers has a particular impact on the local demography. More generally, this toolkit is aimed at all stakeholders, whether public or private, who wish to tell a different story of migration by going beyond the notions of invasion and threat, to focus instead on sentiments of empathy and curiosity. 

The Toolkit is available for everyone in English and all partner languages, on the project website.

On-the-job training

At the beginning of 2021, 13 officers working in the Municipality of Agios Athanasios received training (online) in four core modules: 1. Migration and Integration awareness, 2. Public Communication, 3. Event Management, 4. Effective Communication for Migrants’ Integration. The aim of this training was to develop the skills of these public officers in order to be better equipped to develop positive and successful communication campaigns about migration and integration.

 
Artistic Residencies & Local Communication Campaign

In August – September 2021, two local artists, Iphigenia Papageorgiou and Christos Kyriakou, spent approximately 10 days in the municipality of Agios Athanasios and have taken some photographs of migrants living in the community. A total of six works of arts were created, with each artist developing three portraits of migrants. Therefore, migrants were also actively involved in this activity. After having taken the photographs, the artists developed the portraits using diverse materials and colours. 

 
These works of art were presented in a public event that took place on the 22nd of October 2021 in Irinis square in Agios Athanasios, organized by the Municipality of Agios Athanasios with the support of CSI Cyprus. The event welcomed the mayor of the municipality who delivered a speech, the two artists who presented their works of art, two of the migrants whose portraits were exhibited during the event, two musicians who delivered a music show, numerous individuals from the local public office (council members), the general public, local media – Lemesos TV, Lemesos Online newspaper, photographers. Even after the official completion of the event, other people were also reached through vigorous dissemination activities (social media posts, articles published on national newspapers, radio etc.). Approximately, more than 50 000 were reached directly and indirectly through this activity.

Project news 

CSI Cyprus participated in the final meeting and final event of the project that took place on the island of Procida in Italy on 17 & 18 June 2022 respectively. The island is also the Italian Capital of Culture 2022.

The event Migration Beyond Borders was welcomed by a representative of the municipality of Procida, a representative of the municipality of Lampedusa and Linosa, and the president of BJCEM, Mercedes Giovinazzo, the coordinating organization of the project.

The Director of Procida 2022 - Italian Capital of Culture, Agostino Riitano, also gave a short speech.
Anastasia Liopetriti, Senior Project at Center for Social Innovation, presented the results of the "Artistic Residency" activity in Cyprus.
 
The event closed with an emphasis on the ongoing need for efforts to promote a positive storytelling approach about migration. 

To learn more about CLARINET, visit the project website or the project Facebook page and CSI Cyprus’ Facebook page.