The transformative journey of Eurostat´s flagship publication: Watch
the recording of ´Eurostat regional yearbook goes digital!’
 

On 9 June 2022, the data.europa webinar ‘Eurostat regional yearbook
goes digital!’
[https://data.europa.eu/en/academy/eurostat-regional-yearbook-goes-digital]
provided insights into the Eurostat regional yearbook´s journey
 from a printed/pdf publication with a long-standing tradition to a
digital publication and modern interactive tool. 

The regional yearbook is Eurostat´s flagship publication that was
first published in the 1970s and is now among the Eurostat’s most
downloaded publications. Since 2000, the regional yearbook has been
published both as print and as PDF, but ´with changing publication
modes and users´ needs it became necessary to revisit the format of
the publication`, as explained by Bianka Fohgrub (Project Manager at
Eurostat).  

In 2020, a team made up of data scientists, data journalists, graphic
designers, and IT specialists from different Eurostat units, started
working on how to improve the regional yearbook, keeping in mind that
´the user experience shall be the main focus`, as stressed by Teodora
Brandmueller (Team Leader for Eurostat Regional and Urban Statistics).
This is why key concepts behind the renewal process included offering
users interactive visuals accompanied by short explanatory text,
allowing them to ‘explore and explain’ data. Other key aspects
considered by the Eurostat multidisciplinary team were a simple
graphic design, a mobile-friendly reading, as well as data
visualisations ´that can be easily re-used by others or as
stand-alone applications`.

The result of this renewal process is the Eurostat regional yearbook
2021, which was published not only in PDF
[https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-statistical-books/-/ks-ha-21-001],
but also as an interactive edition
[https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/digpub/regions/#total-population].
Some of the new additions that make this latter version more
user-friendly were presented during the webinar:

 	* bubble maps of Europe´s gross domestic product (GDP), where the
size of the bubble represents the GDP in millions and the colour of
the bubble reflects the GDP per inhabitants. By clicking on a certain
bubble or the legend, the visitor can also easily get more details on
the situation on a certain region in Europe;
 	* maps transforming into bar charts to catch the attention of the
user and better visualise population density;
 	* barcode maps of youth unemployment, where lines represent European
regions ordered by percentage of active population;
 	* interactive timelines, to highlight how the change in road
accidents can differ across regions. 

As pointed out by Louise Corselli-Nordblad (Team Leader at Eurostat
Publications and Statistics Explained), the 2021 interactive edition
of the Eurostat regional yearbook is characterised by enhanced
navigation, clearer embed/share functions, additional search fields,
and new indicators to take into account the effects of the Covid-19
pandemic. These new additions allowed the Eurostat regional yearbook
not only to increase the number of its visitors, but also to receive
the ´Clear writing award 2021`.

Following the success of 2021, a 2022 edition of the publication is
planned for October 2022.

Curious to learn more about Eurostat regional yearbook and its
interactive edition? Consult the dedicated data.europa academy page
[https://data.europa.eu/en/academy/eurostat-regional-yearbook-goes-digital],
where you can find the recording and the slides of this interesting
webinar! 

 

For more news and events, follow us on Twitter
[https://twitter.com/EU_opendata], Facebook
[https://www.facebook.com/data.europa.eu] and LinkedIn
[https://www.linkedin.com/company/publications-office-of-the-european-union/],
or subscribe to our newsletter
[https://data.europa.eu/en/newsletter].

Publication Date/Time
2022-06-20T08:30:00+00:00
The data.europa academy webinar focused on the transformation of
Eurostat regional yearbook from a printed publication to a digital
interactive tool