The annual Issue Calendar will be released for the eleventh time in the week of December 17. The Issue Calendar 2019 is the overview of all social issue days, weeks and months that take place in Netherlands are organized. The aim of the calendar is to clearly draw attention to social initiatives. Many organizations use the calendar to focus on relevant moments during the year.
The Netherlands had more than 400 issue moments in 2019. The month of October is, like every year, the busiest month with 56 moments, closely followed by March (50). The fewest issue moments occur in July and August (10) due to the summer holidays. This year there are again a number of newcomers to the calendar, including the National Week without Meat from 11 to 13 March and the Week of Happiness at Work from 23 to 29 September.
With more than 100 issue moments, the UN is the largest initiator on the calendar. Many of these days are also activated in the Netherlands. According to Nathalie Sanglier of De Issuemakers, we increasingly see that organizations not only declare an issue moment, but also link a concrete campaign to it. ”Take as an example the International Day against Violence against Women that takes place on November 25. The global Orange the World campaign, which draws attention to this violence, has also been set up in the Netherlands in recent years by UN Women Netherlands,” says Sanglier. “A campaign can put an issue permanently on the map. This ensures that you add value and that people start thinking about the issue or perhaps even act differently.”
The issue calendar not only shows at a glance what is happening and when, but also offers social initiatives that put issues on the agenda a platform for the work they do. Sanglier: “Especially in an information society that is dominated by flashy 'news moments', it is important that attention is paid to larger social issues. Without a news moment or news hook, there is often little or no reporting about this. As an agency, we attach great importance to constructive communication, so identifying problems but also looking at what can be done to solve those problems. Making people or organizations visible and encouraging people who put an issue on the map plays an essential role in this.”
The Issue Calendar is published annually by De Issuemakers because it wants to present social initiatives in a more transparent manner. The calendar gives companies, organizations, media and private individuals an overview of issues that will arise in the coming year. The calendar can also be viewed and downloaded online via www.issuekalender.nl. You can also follow the Issue Calendar via Twitter (@Issue Calendar). The printed Issue Calendar is printed in a limited edition on 100 percent recycled FSC paper (A1 format) and distributed in the week of December 17.
