In 2018 Poland celebrates its 100 years of independence. At the same time EU is discussing the risk of Poland breaching the rule of law. Prominent politicians and commentators are using this to put the sovereignty of Poland in opposition to the membership of the EU to gain political capital. Poles need to hear a different story - one that would place the EU membership at the very heart of Polish sovereignty.

Poland, online

European democracy is strong with its member states and their willingness to invest in European integration. Thanks to the communication and engagement campaign Poles will see the EU as key to Polish independence and thus will be more eager to take a shared responsibility for the common Europe.

For the majority of Poles EU membership will be fundamental for their definition of sovereignty. Therefore, there will be no political capital to be gained from juxtaposing Polish sovereignty and the EU. Poles will feel proud of EU membership as one of the greatest successes of Polish sovereignty.

The prevailing thinking about sovereignty in Poland is somehow nationalistic. For the celebrations of 100 years of independence we want to find ways for Poles to express their pride of being Polish while including EU membership. Using social media campaigning and fact-checking we want to build an attractive emotional and rational pro-European narrative. As activists we want to involve citizens and use state of the art techniques for researching and targeting local audiences through social media.

Given the political circumstances there is a risk that the sovereignty of Poland will be put in opposition to EU membership in the public debate. Our group sees the EU membership as one of the greatest successes of Polish independence. We want to protect a solid place for Poland in the EU.

Polish citizens - who will regain the sense of pride of being champions of European integration. Politicians - who will be pressured not to juxtapose EU membership and Polish sovereignty. The campaign will be aimed at targeted groups, selected through social research.

How to best reach and engage selected groups? What motivates you and the general public to actively defend an idea? What does sovereignty mean to you and how does the EU fit in?