One year of active work in Brussels: Gaudere and strategic communication in service of democracy
Evandro Oliveira, founder and CEO of Gaudere, marks one year of sustained work in Brussels, with the first onsite trainning launched in February 2025. This milestone reflects an intense period of training, reflection, and action focused on strategic communication, social media, influence, and the role of communication in European public policy.
Over the past year, Oliveira, an academic in strategic communication and organizational studies, has designed and led a series of training initiatives and dialogue spaces for professionals from the European Commission, reinforcing Gaudere’s positioning as a reference in evidence-based public communication, citizenship, and democratic strengthening.
Impact
The work carried out in Brussels followed a clear approach: communication understood as a scientific, strategic, and applied discipline, essential for generating real impact in public policies and in the relationship between institutions and citizens.
Several trainings, courses and talks were carried out, covering key areas such as:
Audience segmentation and strategic targeting
Creative communication in institutional contexts
Public influence and impact-driven message design
Social media as political and civic communication spaces
Community building and dialogue with diverse publics
This practice-oriented approach enabled participants to directly connect theory with institutional reality and to apply key tools and concepts immediately in their daily work.
Participant Feedback
The courses and talks went beyond conceptual frameworks, fostering active learning, peer exchange, and critical reflection on European public communication. Feedback from European Commission participants highlights this impact clearly:
“Other communication courses teach you the concepts, but here I learned how to apply them—and could already use them in my work before the training ended.”
“Even after 20 years working on EU campaigns, I was able to learn a lot.”
“Best course ever organized by DG HR I participated.”
Participants repeatedly noted that the sessions helped them understand that communication is a science, not merely intuition, motivating them to continue developing their skills. Many also emphasized the value of collaborative learning:
“Great exchange with colleagues from communication teams and learning from each other during group discussions.”
“Very informative and useful.”
“Refreshing and motivating.”
Agora as a Space for Inclusive Communication and Democratic Renewal
From Gaudere’s perspective, this year of work in Brussels is closely connected to Agora and to a core belief: inclusive, diverse, and citizen-centered public communication is a cornerstone of democratic resilience.
Agora is Gaudere’s training and capacity-building space for governments and public institutions that communicate with citizens, offering in-house training and courses in communication, strategy, and public campaigns, as well as the development of practical communication skills in influencing, public speaking, and presentation techniques. Its purpose is to strengthen the ability of public actors to engage, explain, listen, and build trust.
The work led by Evandro Oliveira demonstrates that when institutions invest in strategic communication, they:
Strengthen their listening capacity,
Better reflect the diversity of their publics, and
Reinforce the link between public institutions and citizens.
Agora embodies this intersection of strategic communication, diversity, citizen participation, and democracy. The experience of this past year confirms both the demand and the urgency for training spaces where communication is treated not merely as transmission, but as connection.
This first year in Brussels is not an ending—it is a foundation for what comes next. From Gaudere, the commitment continues: advancing public communication that is more inclusive, strategic, and transformative.
If you are curious to learn more about our work, you can explore our blogs or get in touch and talk with us.
