Kantar Public launches European research centre and training academy
Consulting and marketing research agency Kantar has launched two new business lines within its Kantar Public arm. The Kantar Behaviour Change Academy will provide training schemes aimed at creating better behaviour insight in public communication campaigns, while the 'Centre Kantar sur le futur de L’Europe' will focus on research activities in the political space.
The Kantar Behaviour Change Academy, which will launch in Sydney, Australia, early in 2017 and in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in the Spring, will be led by Kathy O’Donoghue, Executive Director of Kantar Public Australia and, according to the firm, an industry leading expert in the application of behaviour insight in public communication campaigns. The Academy will give clients from the public and commercial sectors the opportunity to attend short residential courses to explore current global best practice in citizen behaviour change programmes from around the world. The Faculty will draw together Kantar experts from Australia, the UK, and the Netherlands.
With the move, Kantar Public wants to advance the application of behavioural insight techniques, a method that is across the world increasingly being used by governments to deal with their toughest public policy challenges – from public health, to democratic engagement, to community resilience and environmental challenges.
Commenting on the launch of the Academy, Kathy O’Donoghue says he is excited with the prospect of being able to lead the Academy, adding “With a wealth of experience in delivering behaviour change programmes around the world, the new Kantar Public Behaviour Change Academy is an excellent initiative to harness this expertise. We will exemplify and share best practice and new thinking to deliver the best work for our clients.”
Kantar’s new Paris-based 'Le Centre Kantar sur le Futur de l’Europe' is a research centre focused on the future of Europe and brings together a pan-European team of researchers with expertise in political and opinion polling, social and economic trends and migration. The unit will be overseen by Edouard Lecerf, Global Director of Political and Opinion research at Kantar Public.
The centre aims at contributing to the quality of public debate, through, among others, the provision of publications, white papers and surveys for journalists and researchers worldwide. “A series of seismic social and political events, from the movement of refugees, to the British referendum on its membership of the EU, are driving significant change in public opinion and political outcomes across Europe. In such times, policy makers need high quality and timely empirical evidence, in order to shape their response. We know we can make a contribution in this area and believe that it is important that we do”, says Michelle Harrison, Global CEO of Kantar Public.
Edouard Lecerf adds: “Europe and its institutions are facing unprecedented turmoil. The question of Europe is now central to elections in every European country, contributing to changes taking place across the political landscape. Yet other indicators show that Europeans are still attached to the European project. It is in this context that I’m pleased that Kantar Public is investing in the Centre Kantar sur le futur de l’Europe.”
Kantar Public was launched earlier this month by Kantar in a bid to focus its services to Government and Public Sector clients.
