Anneli KIMBER LINDWALL

Professor Anneli Kimber Lindwall teaches at Natolin a workshop titled “Strategic Communication in a Digital Age.” The aim of the course is to deepen participants' understanding of the European Union's strategic communication in relation to its Eastern Neighbourhood and beyond, viewed through the lens of the contemporary digital communication landscape.

She is a strategic communication professional with twenty-three years of experience in the public and international development sectors within the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood. She has worked in Tallinn, London, Stockholm, Yerevan, Tbilisi, Chișinău, Kyiv, and Brussels for the European External Action Service. Professor Kimber is the author of two studies centred on debunking disinformation and enhancing EU communication in Eastern Partnership countries.

She currently holds the position of Campaigns Manager at EU NEIGHBOURS EAST, the EU’s largest regional communication project in the Eastern Neighbourhood. Her primary responsibility is to develop and manage EU communication campaigns in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. Previously, she worked in the strategic communication department at Lund University and, prior to that, spent five years as a strategic communication expert at the East Stratcom Task Force within the European External Action Service. The task force was established in March 2015, when the European Council directed the Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to formulate the EU’s Action Plan on Strategic Communication.

During her tenure at the East Stratcom Task Force, her role was to enhance the perception of the EU in its Eastern Neighbourhood and modernise the way the EU communicates within these regions. Additionally, she led the team’s efforts to support independent media and played a key role in developing and running the EUvsDisinfo communication campaign, which countered pro-Kremlin disinformation online.

Before taking up her current post at EU NEIGHBOURS EAST, Professor Kimber Lindwall served as Project Manager at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she oversaw the establishment of a new development agency in Estonia, the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), which was founded on 23 April 2021.

Earlier in her career, she worked as Press Secretary for the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a Communications Officer for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and for the UK Department for International Development. She has also served as a Press Diplomat at the Estonian Embassy in London. Her additional experience in the Eastern Partnership countries includes her work as a Senior Communication Consultant for the EU and the UNDP in Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine over the past decade.

Professor Kimber Lindwall holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Development Economics from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.