To the partners of Van Belang & Partners, ‘public affairs’ covers the entire realm of actions and options open to individuals and businesses to influence decision making in the political, public, and executive domains. The clearest example being decision making regarding legislation. Van Belang & Partners takes a holistic approach to public affairs issues.
‘Public affairs’ is more than simply networking and influencing politicians via a dedicated lobby campaign. The evolution in information technology and political developments have led to a legislative environment where anyone with internet access can contribute to the debate, enabling decision makers to have a constant dialogue. Public opinion is the keyword for whoever seeks to achieve their political goal or strives to get their argument across. The lowered barriers for participation have resulted in a tidal wave of input, easily drowning out those without a strong reputation.
Public affairs starts with your well-developed core message and echoes elements of the public opinion that support the message. Only then does the real lobby start, a phase where insight into political-legislative processes and timing are crucial.
Van Belang & Partners commands this process with a unique approach based on the knowledge that public affairs only works if one takes a flexible and practical approach to politics and decision makers. Your stakeholders in the public process need to be provided the correct information at the right time in the process.
We separate the lobby process into clear and manageable steps. The discussion of your case leads to feasible and realistic lobby goals as well as clearly defined core messages. After a thorough stakeholder analysis taking into account all elements of relevance, we provide you the right lobby instruments – supported by (public affairs) coaching – to approach your stakeholders and execute the lobby campaign.