Council of Europe

CONTEXT

In the context of a broader evaluation mandate led by independent evaluation partners, Another Narrative was brought in to contribute a public perception and media analysis perspective. Our role focused on examining how high-level political commitments translate into public discourse, and how institutional narratives travel beyond policy circles into wider societal conversations over time.

OUR SOLUTION

Together with the Geneva-based agency Stiefel, Irvin & Associates and alongside the evaluation firm KEK-CDC, we contributed to the evaluation of the implementation of one of the Council of Europe’s recent initiatives – the Reykjavík Declaration – by assessing its relevance through a public engagement and sentiment analysis.

We assessed how the Declaration was received across traditional and social media. Our task was to understand how the Council’s messages landed with the public, and what that says about the power – and limits – of institutional communication. We assessed public attention, sentiment, and engagement with regard to the Declaration and subsequent steps and initiatives taken by the organisation following the Reykjavík Summit in May 2023 up to the end of 2024.

The methodology employed a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative metrics like reach, impressions, and engagement with qualitative analyses of content value and sentiment polarity. It combined social media monitoring using Talkwalker, an AI-driven platform for social and online media analysis, with traditional media coverage. Data was collected from social media platforms and traditional media outlets, primarily in English and French.