Strategic partnership project within ERASMUS+ Program

AGREEMENT No. – 2018-1-RO01-KA202-049449


Implementation period

October 1st, 2018 – September 30th, 2020

Participating organizations:

  • “Mihai Viteazul” National Intelligence Academy (MVNIA) – Romania
  • University “Rey Juan Carlos” (URJC) – Spain
  • Kentro Meleton Asfaleias (KEMEA), Center For Security Studies – Greece
  • Ministry of Internal Affairs, Directorate for Information and Public Relations (MAI-DIRP) – Romania

Project abstract

CRESCEnt creates a training platform and a set of communication and cross-sectorial strategic communication instruments, which aim to capacitate institutional spokespersons and journalists from security and LEA fields, in order to use media reporting to the public in a conscious and ethical manner.

CRESCEnt addresses the challenge of social polarization created by the propagation of disinformation and fake news. It is a proven fact that fake news have created in Europe, and in the three countries participating in the project, an acute miscommunication and lack of trust between the two targeted professional categories. As the media has been pressed into reaching large audiences, institutional spokespersons were forced into communicating what is necessary and not divulging aspects which could jeopardise security investigations and public safety. A gap of trust and efficient communication was, thus, created and later on widened by the phenomenon of fake news. While it is indeed the media professionals that shape the way information is delivered to the public, they themselves might get trapped in particular “narratives” and share common mental frames. Recognizing that the media professionals are themselves the locus of potential influence by external actors is crucial to developing strategies to combat misinformation and hostile influence. CRESCEnt aims to address this divide through innovative solutions and multiplication of best practices of both spokespersons and journalists.

Objectives:

  • to develop a toolkit of techniques, methods and instruments for institutional spokespersons and journalists who communicate on issues related to security and law enforcement, as support in their professional activity;
  • to enhance key-competences and skills of the spokespersons and journalists so that they become resilient to fake news, build an ethics of reporting, perform double fact checking, provide and obey ethical grounds in handling sources, report security threats and handle truth for the preservation of democracy and the rule of law.

Target groups

CRESCEnt’s main target group consists of spokespersons in the field of national security and LEAs. The secondary group is represented by (young) journalists who are active in the field of security.

FIRST TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT MEETING

“Mihai Viteazul” National Intelligence Academy (MVNIA) organized during December 5th – 6th, 2018, the kick-off meeting of the CRESCEnt project.

The agenda of the meeting addressed administrative aspects, such as budget and financials details, project oversight and quality control plan, risk plan, reporting and working flows, deadlines, the structure of the management board, communication and dissemination, and the establishment of the research activities for the next period of time.

 

The CRESCEnt project is part of the ERASMUS+ program and it is funded by the European Commission.