Promotional activities carried out by National Focal Points

The purpose of the InfoDay is to publicise the current Annual Work Programme (AWP) to the general public in each country. The event is typically held by the NFP or team of NFPs.

As an example, the Austrian NFP hosts an InfoDay where they present the themes and objectives of the AWP and its upcoming calls for proposals in an online InfoDay that is usually held shortly after publication of the AWP.

Duration: The event lasts around 90 minutes in the afternoon

Content of the InfoDay held in Austria:
1. EU4Health overview: Annual work programme (particularly themes & objectives of Action Grants) & tentative calendar
2. Project presentation: Presentation of outstanding projects and sharing of practical insights into project preparation and implementation
3. Alternatively: Overview of EU4Health funding instruments and support available from the national focal point

Language of the event: mainly communicated in the national language, with some sections in English

Belgium and Ireland are some of the countries who host national InfoDays for governmental bodies.

At the first Study Trip, they presented their learnings from switching to more direct communication with the governmental stakeholders.

The initiative for the NFP is divided in three activities:

• Interactive Information Sessions: Organizing thematic briefings fosters engagement, peer exchange, and clarification on key health topics.
• Targeted Informational Materials: Creating concise one-pagers and call fiches simplifies complex information for specific audiences and policy domains.
• Partner Search and Networking: Facilitating partner matching and supporting nomination processes helps public authorities engage in EU projects.

Recommendations:

• Have bilateral meetings with each relevant department
• Keep the sessions short
• If possible, prioritise face to face meetings
• Choose which Joint Actions and action grants are relevant for the department, instead of presenting all

• Promote an open discussion: Is this a current priority? Is there sufficient capacity to take this on? Is there another player that should take this on?

The German NFP team hosts national InfoDays devided into specific topics. Once the Annual Work Programme is public, the German team split the calls within the team, this way each colleague internalises their calls and becomes the in-house expert. This of course requires a team of NFPs or around the NFP.

Structure of the InfoDay:

• Project lifecycle with current dates and deadlines
• One fact sheet per call, identical structure
• Step by step through the Funding & Tenders Portal
• FAQs answered up front, before the open Q&A

The follow up includes sharing slides and fact sheets, answering questions which could not be answered during the meeting and with a satisfaction survey.

In some countries some of the NFP work is handled regionally. The Andalusian Public Health System is one of the partners who hold targeted promotion of Action Grants and Procurements.

The regional office is responsible for matching calls to specific potential partners, training and capacity building within EU4Health as well as comprehensive end-to-end support for consortium search and proposal preparation.

A lot of NFPs operate with newsletters to their local stakeholders. The newsletters are used in different ways, both aiming for smaller and bigger target groups.

A newsletter gives the NFP control over messaging and timing and makes it possible to communicate in local language and context. This reinforces the visibility of EU4Health.

• An example from Norway, shows the groups of recipients of their EU4Health newsletter:
• Ministry and national authorities
• Health trusts (administrative bodies)
• Academic institutions and research institutes
• Municipalities
• Interest groups
• Health tech
• Consultancies
• Private companies and other providers
• Individual actors
• Employers’ and workers’ organisations
• Representation offices

When building a newsletter, it is important to remember GDPR compliance and offer clear value (updates, opportunities, insights).

The Norwegian newsletter also includes updates from projects (e.g. Joint Actions) that Norway participates in as well as information from HaDEA, new calls for proposals, tenders and deadlines, and invites to surveys, webinars and info meetings.