How VEP works

Due to update works being in progress on the VEP portal, some of the below screenshots and/or technologies may slightly differ from what is offered on the portal, but the core concepts and services remain the same. We are working on straightening this out as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience.

Contents

VEP Activities – Objectives

  • The objective of the VEP Activities within this trial project is to create the possibility to communicate on different levels on EU matters. Users with different points of interest and engagement can participate on our platform.
  • The users are EU Citizens as well as Members of the European Parliament. In this way we maximize feedback and participation and we are able to aggregate different kinds of feedback to create the topic page.
  • For activities to discuss more in detail an event page is set up for the issue addressed in accordance to the actual agenda of the European Parliament.

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Language of the website

The English language used to communicate with and amongst a young audience is very different than all the languages used within the European Parliament. The style of communication on the VEP website will be adjusted to a younger audience.

The use of English can be a barrier to get involved, especially when asked to express an opinion. We have to evaluate if the implementation of the portal in the native languages of the regions is not feasible, while using English for communication between the regions Lulea, Barcelona and Flanders.

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MultiMedia

People can copy/paste text-based articles and comments anywhere on the website. They can have their own text-based blog up and running in 10 minutes’ time. But it’s not that easy to find a video conference/chatroom about a certain topic. The portal will create added value to its users by providing easy-to-use video conferencing services and a planning tool to discuss certain topics at fixed moments. Online conferences will be recorder for later use within the conclusion reports or as marketing material.

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USAGE OF THE VEP TOOLS

The VEP Portal, http://www.virtualep.eu is an aggregation platform of different tools.

The VEP Activities as well as an overview of the tools are available at this website.

Within this trial project we provide a number of tools to create e-Participation. Here we explain you the use of our different tools, available on the website.

  • 1. Binary Poll

    At the homepage a binary poll may appear. Sometimes we also set up polls during certain events on the event pages.

    Here you can vote for or against a number of choices. You can only vote once by clicking with your mouse on the item you prefer. Then you can confirm your vote by clicking on the icon “Vote”.

    For example:

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  • 2. Ranking Poll

    At the homepage a ranking poll may appear. Sometimes we also set up polls during certain events on the event pages.

    Here you can rank a number of choices by your preferences. You can rank your votes by clicking your mouse on “add” in the order of the item you prefer as first choice, second choice, etc. Then you can confirm your vote by clicking on the icon “Vote”.

    For example:

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  • 3. Mobile Voting

    At events or other public places the VEP participants can also vote via their mobile cell phone. The question appears on the screen with the possible answers to send to the mobile phone number.

    The questions appear in the sms-gateway in the VEP database, which visualizes the results in seconds to the website.

    For example:

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  • 4. Post a new comment

    When you click on an article to read it, you see that you can comment on the subject. You can also bookmark it and indicate that you like to debate about the content. You can share interesting documents and other information via the copy-paste method.

    For example:

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  • 5. The Innovation Jam Forum

    Within the Innovation Jam you can share your thoughts on the forum. You can start a discussion and discuss the presented topics with other VEP participants. The discussions are archived for future references. Topics and discussions are being posted on the forum. Each topic has its own posts, replies or comments.

    For example:

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  • 6. Flash Meeting

    During events or occasions where it’s an opportunity to debate with other VEP participants through video-conferencing, we use the flash meeting tool. Here you can debate via chat and webcam/camera with other users within the 3 different regions.

    For example:

    You can type in a username and click on “Enter Room”:

    In the room you can chat with other participants via chat, audio and your webcam/camera:

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  • 7. Mega Conference

    The Mega Conference provides access for users at home, embedded in the website.

    A stream with an active speaker via Windows Media Server will be received. The user at home will be able to participate in the debate via chat in real time, wikis, the forum and the rest of the website tools before and after the Mega Conference.

    For example:

    Here you can see a speaker from Sweden showing his presentation to Belgium and Barcelona.
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  • 8. People’s voice

    At each physical location you are able to talk about a topic of your concern via the People’s voice that has been set-up. You can record your voice message in front of the camera. Afterwards the most interesting confessions might be published on the website.

    For example:

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  • 9. Social Networks

    Within the web 2.0 environment it’s also possible to follow updates on VEP via these networks:

    We have a VEP group and a VEP Page on Facebook, we have twitter updates and our latest pictures are shown on our Flickr account.

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