Effective communication is a cornerstone of modern public administration. As governments across the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia advance reforms, strengthen European integration processes, and respond to increasingly complex societal expectations, communication teams play a critical role in ensuring that citizens and stakeholders clearly understand policies, services, and reforms.

Public institutions are operating in an environment characterised by rapidly changing information flows, increased demand for transparency, growing expectations for citizen engagement, and the need to communicate complex policy processes in an accessible and meaningful way. In this context, communication professionals need both strategic capabilities and innovative tools to design impactful communication approaches, engage diverse audiences, and enhance public trust.

This two-day practical programme is designed to strengthen the capacities of communication teams from public administrations across the Western Balkans and Eastern Neighbourhood administrations by combining two complementary areas: strategic communication planning and the practical application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in communication work.

The programme responds to the evolving needs of government communicators by providing participants with practical methodologies, tools, and approaches that can be directly applied within their institutional environments.

The overall objective of the programme is to enhance the capacity of public administration communication professionals to plan, implement, and improve strategic communication activities while effectively leveraging emerging digital tools.

Specifically, the programme aims to enable participants to:

• strengthen their understanding of strategic communication principles and their role in supporting institutional objectives and citizen-centred governance;
• develop more structured, evidence-based communication plans tailored to specific audiences and communication goals;
• improve their ability to define messages, select appropriate communication channels, and organise communication activities effectively;
• explore practical applications of AI tools to increase efficiency, creativity, and quality in everyday communication tasks;
• develop responsible approaches to integrating AI into communication workflows, while considering ethical, security, and professional standards.