European structural funds actively support projects in Germany’s Länder (federal provinces) and on local level. Little is known, though, about the character of the projects which receive funding and the European strategies which are the basis for the distribution of these financial means.

To cast a light on regional EU funding in North Rhine Westphalia pressto on behalf of the European Commission’s Regional Representation in Bonn organized a press trip for 20 journalists.

The bus trip started at Düsseldorf Main Station and presented three different projects comprising various important strategic fields of EU-policy.

In Neuss we visited the „Werkstattjahr“ at the Kolping Bildungswerk. This project aims at the integration into the job market of young people who out of various reasons have not yet managed to successfully complete any professional training. During our visit the group had the chance to talk with project managers, teachers, trainers and, of course, young participants in the educational program which is supported by the European Social Fund.

Our second destination confronted us with environmental challenges in the Ruhr Area. The river Emscher and its effluents had been ecologically destroyed and misused as drains for decades. The EU invests large sums in the recovery of these watercourses. We visited parts of the project in Essen and during lunch discussed details with the project managers of Emschergenossenschaft.

Duisport, Duisburg’s inner port and a major trans-shipment centre of international importance, was the final sample project presented to our group. We discussed economic and logistic issues with technical experts and visited one of the large terminals located in the port facility which as the Emscher project is funded by the European Fund for Regional Development.

A concluding coffee break in the “Schifferbörse”, a restaurant in the harbor area enjoying a long tradition, gave the participating journalists the opportunity to discuss any open questions with the experts accompanying the tour: Dr. Stephan Koppelberg, head of the Eu-Commission’s regional representation in Bonn, Steffen Schulz and Kerstin Streich, press officers for the representation and Robert Sedlak, audiovisual consultant on behalf of the EU-representation and project manager for pressto.

pressto
agentur für medienkommunikation
Walter Liedtke
fon +49.(0)2 21.88 88 58.12
fax +49.(0)2 21.88 88 58.88
liedtke@pressto.de

During the last couple of years the way people use media has changed very much. Due to the internet, consumers did not only get more and more used to the interaction of text and video contents but also developed certain expectations regarding media formats on the internet. The risen expectations do not only concern classic information media, which especially in the online sector put more and more emphasis on video material. Also for institutions, companies and other organisations videos are an important element regarding public relations. The advantage of videos: They convince because the contents can be grasped immediately. They emotionally engage the viewer and signal: We know about trends.

pressto offers its clients the necessary creative and technical know-how to realize complex video productions. The work starts with the development of a screen-play via choosing the film locations and protagonists up to editing and dubbing the material in a studio. pressto always has the target group and the clients’ requirements in mind: image film, web clip or podcast – through our long-standing experience in video production as well as the close cooperation with experienced directors and competent service providers pressto delivers custom-made products. The German representation of the European Commission in Bonn has assigned pressto with realizing eight short films about different projects that have been supported with European subsidies. The videos can be watched at: http://ec.europa.eu/deutschland/commission/offices/bonn/projekte_de.htm.

pressto
agentur für medienkommunikation
Walter Liedtke
fon +49.(0)2 21.88 88 58.12
fax +49.(0)2 21.88 88 58.88
liedtke@pressto.de