A study made by Sitra adresses the fact that institutions, organisations and other stakeholders in Finland tend to be reactive in their EU advocacy efforts (Nordström, Backman, & Konttinen 2022). In other words, instead of influencing policies and strategies early in their development, Finnish stakeholders rather react to decisions already or nearly made.

Pointing out shortcomings is of course a way of influencing as well, however, it may not be as effective and impactful as early participation. Furthermore, the EU is not looking for policymaking in vacuum without societal relevance. On the contrary, officials are there to receive input from the citizens, stakeholders and alike to jointly solve societal challenges for a better future.

From reactive to proactive efforts

As a step in the transition towards proactive and more impactful advocacy efforts, the 3UAS strategic alliance between the three largest universities of applied sciences Haaga-Helia, Laurea and Metropolia, developed an EU advocacy plan for jointly boosting the impact of research, development and innovation (RDI) activities.

The aim of the plan is to help promote the visibility of universities of applied sciences as active RDI actors and to raise awareness of the unique regional ecosystem in the metropolitan region.

The plan serves as a tool that guides the strategic alliance towards a more influential and impactful future on the European scene, with RDI in focus. The plan supports actions towards proactive advocacy efforts and early influencing.

EU advocacy plan as our compass

The EU advocacy plan will guide the alliance and its organisations to reach prospect targets and goals, and ultimately to gain competitive advantage in the race for European funding. The plan is an outline of what the three universities of applied sciences represent and a mapping of what RDI expertise they can jointly contribute with to shape the future.

In practice, the plan consists of a collective and streamlined story and key advocacy messages to be presented to policymakers in different institutions. The EU advocacy plan is the compass for navigating the broad field of influencing policymaking.

As an extension to the plan, a template for a one-pager summarizing the expertise and main messages, is also available. This practical tool is a means to extend the personal business card and to help us stick to the mind of the policymakers after engaging in meetings. The one-pager can flexibly be updated and adjusted according to agenda and topic of each meeting.

What do we want from the EU and what do we expect from the advocacy efforts?

In short, we want to increase our visibility among stakeholders and policymakers, and we expect future success in receiving funding for RDI projects to solve global challenges. Now is an excellent momentum for advocacy activities on the European arena.

This spring 2023, it is time to evaluate the Horizon Europe funding programme halfway through its period. The mid-term review of the framework programme serves as a bridge to shaping forthcoming funding opportunities and calls for proposals. In the near future, there will also be many other opportunities to influence policymaking, as the European elections in 2024 mark the beginning of a new political cycle in Europe.

Advocacy happens on many levels and every day at its best. It happens latently through networking and more visibly in targeted meetings with officials on local, regional, national and EU-levels. When approaching themes, processes, policymakers, and authors of work programmes for forthcoming funding in the EU decision-making bodies, we deliver a joint message telling who we are, when mutually advancing our RDI expertise and proposing possible solutions.

The EU advocacy plan will give us impactful advantage and grow our visibility among stakeholders, thus, boosting our impact in the RDI sector in Europe.

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