10 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM E S A r e c e n t l y l a u n c h e d t h e “Embracing the Power of Nature” communication campaign which was set up without any ESA branding. All campaign materials were shared with the ESA members so that members could adapt the material to their needs. ESA has regular exchanges with its mem- bers on the development of the campaign and is expecting a continuous growth of engagement for 2018. European Seed asked several of the national seed associ- ations throughout Europe how they have implemented the campaign. The feedback indicates that the ESA members are all engaging on different levels, with some sharing the ESA messages directly on their social media channels, some are using the materials independent of any ESA activities, and some are even trans- lating the materials for their own national outreach. It was also clear that not all ESA members are equally active on social media, but those who are active are really committed to engage in the campaign. EMBRACING THE POWER OF NATURE IN SPAIN “Following the communication plan designed by ESA, ANOVE is conduct- ing a campaign on its social networks. Mainly on Twitter and Facebook, through the daily launching of con- tents in Spanish, supported by the info- graphic materials of the campaign. In addition, the video of the campaign has also been prepared in Spanish (https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdFLN- JCnJtQ ) to help its spreading in our country. And we had a day with plant breeding innovation experts with a great participation of the press and stake- holders (http://fundacion-antama.org/ petra-jorasch-esa-si-las-crispr-se-regu- lan-como-transgenicos-afectara-a-la-in- vestigacion-europea/ ). Until now we have launched about 30 tweets with an average of 10 likes and 10 retweets.” Antonio Villaroel , Gen eral Secretary of the Spanish Plant Breeders Association ANOVE EMBRACING THE POWER OF NATURE IN TURKEY “At TSUAB, we firstly believe that a strong seed industry is the insurance for nature, the environment and of course human- kind. Because of this, in every platform we declare that good quality seeds are the warranty for the global agriculture and rural development. If we wish to reduce hunger, excessive water consump- tion, pollution etc. we must firstly start from plant breeding, then producing the best varieties and then we must provide free movement of seeds of these vari- eties all over the world. TSUAB, which is a member of the Turkish Seed Union (TURKTOB), is supporting a project implemented by TURKTOB and seven sub-unions. TSUAB is the one of the big- gest supporters of this “social responsibil- ity project” called as “In Search of Seed”. The brochure is accessible at: http://www. turktob.org.tr/uploads/plugo/Tohumun_ Izinde-21x21cm_New_V01_print.pdf .” Müfit Engiz, Secretary-General of TSUAB EMBRACING THE POWER OF NATURE IN GERMANY “BDP highly appreciates and fully sup- ports the campaign at multiple levels for example by informing and involving our members and integration of cam- paign material in our daily social media activities. BDP has been quite active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube since 2012. During that time, we have engaged a relevant community that regularly picks up our messages and forwards them. Until now we post and tweet mainly about cur- rent and future global challenges and the contribution plant breeders may provide to address them. With our experience from practice and the results of the ESA social listening exercise, we are now able to better adjust our own activities and tailor them to the reality of the inter- net as well as German characteristics. With its high quality of both the visual appearance and the content, the cam- paign material ESA offers is a valuable resource for our national online activities. We now need to ensure that the platform MIND THE GAP! HOW THE ESA MEMBERS ARE IMPLEMENTING THE CAMPAIGN. BY: MARCEL BRUINS