EU aid dept’s €387k metaverse meets real-world critique

The European Commission’s foreign aid department has spent €387,000 on a metaverse to spread the word about its notoriously underunderstood “Global Gateway” investment plan.

It unveiled the platform on social media in mid-October, though some of the department’s own staff, who shared their impressions with Devex on condition of anonymity, were less than impressed by the 31-second promotional video.

“Depressing and embarrassing,” said one.

“Digital garbage,” said another.

“We were [like] … WTF? Who validated this?” said a third.

A fourth, told the price tag for the entire metaverse campaign, responded: “Jesuuuuus”.

Then again, they are not the audience. That would be 18-35 year olds “who identify as neutral about the EU and are not particularly engaged in political issues,” a commission spokesperson emailed Devex this week in response to written questions.

According to the spokesperson, the promotional post’s purpose is “to intrigue that audience, primarily on TikTok and Instagram, and to encourage them to engage with the broader substance of the campaign, which will increase awareness of what the EU does on the world stage among an audience that is not typically exposed to such information.”

Launched in December 2021, partly as a response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Gateway is the brand the commission has chosen for much of the spending under its foreign aid budget through to 2027. It aims to “mobilize” €300 billion in that time, though that figure relies heavily on the commission’s own projections on its ability to crowd in billions from other investors — something the EU Court of Auditors cast doubt on in a 2020 report.

Concepts such as “digital,” “green,” “connectivity,” and “infrastructure” are de rigueur for the commission these days, though the Gateway policy document from December 2021 also mentions development staples like health, education, and research. For now, it is not clear, including to staff charged with rolling out the scheme, what does and does not fit within the Global Gateway “framework” as the EU commissioner responsible for development policy, Jutta Urpilainen, referred to it this summer. In that sense, communicating what the Gateway means in practice is sorely needed.

As for the digital platform, the commission spokesperson described it as “a dedicated metaverse where one can explore what the Global Gateway means through a series of ‘hero’ stories in a virtual environment.”

Once logged on, users adopt an avatar resembling a multicolored paperclip and roam around a surreal tropical island. Stories about EU development cooperation are playing on video screens in various locations. There is a 24-hour beach party pumping four-on-the-floor beats while presumably computer-generated figures dance on elevated platforms. A giant red statue prepares to hurl what looks like a coronavirus molecule. Dolphins jump through the air. Drones hover, carrying multiple screens flashing words such as “education” and “public health.” There is an open book art installation on a liquid floor as a “symbol of the human journey towards knowledge”. You can walk on water.

There are also a series of events, such as an upcoming “gala” on Nov. 29 where, the spokesperson said, visitors will be able to “interact with each other as well as explore the long-term benefits of global EU investment in the four campaign themes: digital connectivity, education, healthcare and climate change.”

Devex found the experience, on mobile and laptop, rather stilted — perhaps an indictment of internet quality in Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union.

It’s much easier to wave and dance at other people’s avatars than strike up conversations, which arguably crimps the potential to forge connections.

In one exchange Devex was able to strike up, a stranger found wandering about asked us, “is this official development assistance?” — a reference to the OECD-approved spending that donors can count toward their aid targets.

The commission spokesperson confirmed that the €387,000 price tag for the platform — which includes production and operating costs — does not count as ODA.

Still, last month’s launch met with a skeptical response online.

“There is a massive drought in East Africa, UNHCR doesn't have enough funds for food for refugees in camps, etc etc and THIS is what you choose to spend money on?” one Twitter user wrote to the department.

Responding to that, the commission spokesperson told Devex: “It is the European Commission’s duty to inform EU citizens about its ongoing activities. This campaign fulfils that duty and, through innovative communication means such as the metaverse, aims to reach an audience that does not access the EU’s traditional sources of information.”

Devex also asked what the uptake has been of the initiatives and events that the campaign is meant to promote? “As the campaign is ongoing,” the spokesperson responded. “It is too early to give a verdict.”