Communication with the Public [antikvár]

FOREWORD Framework and Thematic Fields for the Research Project on Communication with the Public from the Local Government Point of View The present volume summarizes the findings of international research carried out mainly in 2011 on municipal communication at the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, within the framework of the 4.2.1/B-09/1/KMR-2010-0005 TÁMOP programme Effective State, Expert Administration, Regional Development for a Competitive Society. The overall aim of the above-mentioned Támop project was to formulate proposals for the development of Public Administration in the Central Region of Hungary. The program's leader was Professor Gabriella Ilonszki, while the presented research on Communication with the Public from the Local Government Point of View was coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Agnes Jenei. The work involved 15 participants in total, from three countries: Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands. The majority of participants were university teachers (at the Corvinus University of Budapest and the University of Bologna) but were also experts and practitioners in municipality communication (for example, the head of communications of the Municipality of Bologna, a project manager from the Urban Planning Office Almere in the Netherlands, a Hungarian expert in local government at the European Council, and a communications expert from Hungarian public administration). These participants are the authors of the articles in this volume or within Hungarian reviews {Magyar Közigazgatás, Pro Pubblico Bono and Médiakutató) or were participants at the International Conference on Municipal Communcation, held on 8th November, 2011, in Budapest, at the Corvinus University of Budapest. It is important to look at the operations of municipalities from the point of view of communication. When a mayor opens a festival or a new school, s/he does not simply deliver a speech; and citizens do not visit offices merely for a chat, either - for many people, communication is in many situations solely a tool within public administration transactions; communication is also "only" one tool within the complex marketing activity promoting tourism and attracting potential investors to a specified settlement. However, the success of such situations often depends on the fact of communication itself.