After four sunny though intense days filled with lectures, workshops, simulation exercises as well as social activities a new generation of European Digital Diplomacy Exchange (EDDE) participants was born. From 10 to 13 May the communicators from different ministries from several countries gathered in Bled, Slovenia to improve their digital communication skills. The training was organized by the Centre for European Perspective together with the U.S. Department of State.

European Digital Diplomacy Exchange is a project as well as an intragovernmental network of government communicators. The project goes back to 2017 when the first training was organized. The overall project aims to increase participants’ and members’ collective capacities to operate within the digital information space effectively.

This year the training was attended by 35 participants from 16 countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Georgia, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine).

Held by respective experts in their field, the lectures and workshops covered topics such as the development of new digital technologies and their impact on communication and public diplomacy, social media analytics and how to use data for your advantage, fight against disinformation, smartphone videography and photography, development of digital campaigns and much more. Equipped with new knowledge the participants were given a fictitious scenario for which they had to prepare a communication strategy.

Besides attaining new knowledge and skills, the participants had a chance to meet and befriend their peers also working in the field of (digital) communication. Networking and the creation of long-lasting bonds among the participants is one of the main added values of EDDE.

The end of the EDDE training was further celebrated with the release of a long-awaited guide for digital diplomacy practitioners – Be a Digital Diplomat. The publication will be publicly released soon – follow CEP’s website for more information.

EDDE Training in Bled