Central and Eastern Europe and its citizens need easier access to trustworthy information! We need to bring experts and analysts from NGOs and academia closer to people, talk about our common challenges together and teach experts how to communicate with broader public in more approachable manner.
Prague, Czech Republic, Tallin, Estonia, Budapest, Hungary
The need for our project derives from the absence of any platform that would provide the interaction between the security affairs community in the Eastern Europe and broader public. We consider this a serious gap. IRSEC Hub will benefit both NGOs (by bringing more public attention to their activities) and citizens (by creating a one-stop shop for trustworthy information and opinions).
Recently, Central and Eastern Europe has woken up to the realization that information can be misused in propaganda by outside actors. Therefore, it is increasingly important to facilitate platforms where credible and trustworthy information and opinion are easily accessible by broad public. Deeper cooperation and publicity for leading think tanks and researcher centers is essential to tackle this problem.
There will be a number of successful outcomes:
• An interconnected network of NGOs, think tanks, academic institutes and researchers from Visegrad and Baltic countries that focus on international relations, security, EU development, democracy, human rights and other related topics.
• The staff of IRSEC Hub partners will gain capacity and knowledge on how to deliver their ideas, opinions and activities to public through the use of new media and internet.
• Therefore, the platform will gather high-quality and trustworthy information that will be easily accessible and user-friendly.
• PR campaign that raises awareness among broader public about the project.
• Overall, the project aims at elevating the level of public education and information exchange in Europe.
• Meet with IRSEC Hub potential partners in Baltic States - NGOs that focus on international relations, democracy, EU development, regional challenges.
• Invite these NGOs and experts to join the IRSEC Hub platform
• Bring IRSEC Hub partners from Visegrad and Baltic region together and organize 2 roundtables in Prague (autumn 2015, spring 2016) – facilitate meeting with experts on social media, PR and strategic communication.
• Capacity building of participating NGOs and staff – responding to the question: How can relevant information be more accessible by young people and broader public? How can former Communist-bloc countries fight propaganda on the Internet?
• Extensive PR campaign and propagation of the IRSEC Hub project in media, on social platforms and through other relevant channels