Turning member knowledge into a communication programme the whole association can use.

An annual programme has to do more than fill a calendar.

EUMEPS works in a politically exposed environment where technical performance, circularity, energy efficiency, affordability and public perceptions of plastics intersect. Communication therefore needs to connect policy timing with evidence from the sector, while giving members practical ways to participate and activate shared messages nationally.

The difficulty was not a lack of possible topics. It was choosing what mattered most, organising the relationship between campaigns and recurring content, and making member participation operational rather than symbolic.

1. Start from the association’s real strategic tensions

The work examined the mandate, political environment, priority audiences and the issues on which EUMEPS needed to be recognised as a credible contributor. This created a common frame for deciding where communication should lead, support or deliberately remain selective.

2. Involve the people who hold the knowledge and the ownership

The communications team, management, members and working groups contributed to the process. Their perspectives helped connect European ambitions with national realities, sector expertise and the practical capacity to contribute content or activate campaigns.

3. Turn priorities into a connected programme

The emerging direction was structured across complementary blocks: signature campaigns, publications and video storytelling, digital platforms, internal communication and member support. The aim was to make each action reinforce the broader narrative rather than compete for attention.

4. Define roles and governance

The workshops clarified how the Secretariat, leadership, members, working groups and agency partner could contribute. For social media, this resulted in a task-force model with allocated roles, a shared editorial logic and a practical basis for coordination.

A shared framework for European visibility and national activation.

• 01

  A strategic vision connecting reputation, policy relevance and member value.

• 02

  Campaign foundations linked to major European debates and sector priorities.

• 03

  A coherent relationship between campaigns, publications, video, digital tools and recurring communication.

• 04

  Clearer opportunities for members to contribute expertise, examples and local activation.

• 05

  A social media task force with defined responsibilities and working practices.

• 06

  A basis for review, learning and adaptation rather than a fixed list of outputs.

Communication becomes collective capital — not a service delivered at the edge of the association.

The resulting programme gives EUMEPS a practical frame for making choices, demonstrating value to members and building continuity across communication activities. It also creates a clearer path from European strategy to national use: members can see where they contribute, what they receive and how their participation strengthens the common voice.

Most importantly, the strategy remains EUMEPS’s. The workshops made the organisation’s expertise, priorities and responsibilities visible; the programme turned them into a system that can be proposed, governed and activated.