Communication strategies of European Union funded projects: Evaluations, analyses and recommendations

AKAY GEZEN, GAYE. Communication Strategies of European Union Funded Projects: Evaluations, Analyses, and Recommendations. Başkent University, Institute of Social Sciences, Doctoral Program in Radio, Television, and Cinema, 2024. Following the civil war in Syria, millions of Syrians were forced to flee their country, aiming to migrate first to Turkey and subsequently to the European Union. To slow the migration flow through Turkey and mitigate its impacts, the European Union signed a migration agreement with Turkey. Under this agreement, the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRIT) program was launched, providing EU funds to Turkish institutions through projects. One of the key institutions involved is the Ministry of National Education (MEB), which plays a significant role in the integration of Syrians into society. Through its projects, the Ministry conducts strategic communication activities—commonly associated with public relations in the literature—with the aim of including more Syrians in the education system and increasing their participation. In this research, three of the largest and most widespread FRIT-funded projects implemented by the Ministry of National Education between 2016 and 2021 were selected as case studies. The communication activities of these projects were evaluated based on the criteria of the Pyramid Evaluation Model, one of the strategic communication evaluation frameworks. These criteria also formed the basis for the research questions. In the first section of the study, the migration process from Syria to Turkey, demographic information about Syrians in Turkey, the challenges Syrians face in education and other areas, efforts by the Turkish government and the European Union (EU) to address these challenges, the FRIT fund program provided by the EU to Turkey, the projects implemented by the Ministry of National Education using FRIT funding, and the details of the three selected case studies are presented. The second section discusses the concept of strategic communication, the stages involved in strategic communication management, and the models used to evaluate strategic communication. The third section explains the study's purpose, research questions, significance, assumptions, limitations, and methodology. To assess the criteria of the Pyramid Model, multiple data collection methods were considered. However, for this research, data were collected through interviews, as recommended by the model. These interviews were conducted with officials from institutions responsible for implementing the projects (e.g., the Ministry of National Education, United Nations Population Fund, European Union Delegation to Turkey, and Concern Worldwide International NGO), communication and promotion experts who worked on FRIT-funded education projects, and academics conducting studies in the field. The data obtained from these interviews were categorized using the descriptive analysis method and discussed by comparing the findings with the existing literature. In the conclusion section, the findings related to the research questions are presented, and recommendations are offered. Keywords: Strategic Communication, Pyramid Evaluation Model, Ministry of National Education, The EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey, Project