LIFE 2021 in review

LIFE transitioned in 2021. Firstly, the European Commission increased LIFE programme funding by almost 60% for 2021 – 2027, and our budget now stands at around €5.4 billion. LIFE also expanded into four new sub-programmes: nature and biodiversity, circular economy and quality of life, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and clean energy transition. And on 1 April, we moved from EASME to CINEA – the European Green Deal agency.

Despite these changes, we managed to communicate effectively and below are some highlights.

Website

With the move to CINEA, we created a brand new website, which keeps a lot of the old content but has been refreshed to include new elements and initiatives that now come under the LIFE umbrella like the new Clean Energy Transition sub-programme, EU Sustainable Energy Week and the Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum.

News articles

Our news articles show our audience what LIFE projects are doing across Europe, inform about Calls for proposals and highlight notable events happening throughout the year, among other topics.

Our most viewed news articles of 2021 are unsurprisingly about available funding and various Calls for proposals. Other top performers include pieces about the recovery of lynx populations, winemakers adapting to climate change and how football matches are cutting emissions.

Events

Events are always key for LIFE, and 2021 was no exception. Over the past 12 months, we have involved LIFE in around 20 third-party related events like the EU Clean Air Forum and the International Peatlands Congress. Our participation at these events usually involves setting up a branded CINEA or LIFE stand and having key speakers in relevant sessions.

We also provided content for numerous LIFE info days to encourage programme participation at national level. We held welcome meetings for new LIFE projects to familiarise them with the programme. And various platform meetings took place on critical topics for our planet, like ecological connectivity.

In June, the LIFE Awards ceremony recognised the most innovative, inspirational, and effective LIFE projects in three categories: nature, environment, and climate action. They were held during EU Green Week 2021 – Europe’s most prestigious environmental event.

At the end of October, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen opened EU Sustainable Energy Week 2021. At the event, it was highlighted that the LIFE Clean Energy Transition sub-programme will play a key role in advancing Europe in this area.

And in November, we held a major LIFE in the New European Bauhaus hybrid event. Some 5 000 people across Europe watched proceedings online, with others attending in person.

We promote all events intensively on our website, which is a highly effective means of boosting participation. Some of the most popular event notices this year were on the LIFE Call for proposals Q&A session and the LIFE in the New European Bauhaus hybrid event.

Social media

The best performing posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook were again about funding, but the public didn’t forget our birthday, and they fell in love with bears and marvelled at dazzling seagrass meadows.

Since January, we have had nearly 40 000 total interactions on our Facebook and LinkedIn channels alone. Also, we recorded 4.6 million impressions across all three channels. And in July, we reached the milestone of having 30 000 Twitter followers.

Publications

We produced several factsheets over the year. Examples include LIFE supporting the circular economy, ecological connectivity and energy.

We also created infographics on themes like how LIFE is helping to reduce marine pollution and how it is helping to bring nature back to life.

These were promoted at key events, on social media and in news articles. They help our audience understand complex themes as they are presented in an easy to digest manner.

So that’s about it for 2021. We will be back in 2022 to update you on what’s in store for the year, including LIFE’s 30^th Anniversary, our newly funded Integrated Projects, the LIFE Awards 2022 and much more.

All that remains is to wish you a very Merry Christmas.