ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - Polymer Bank Notes of the World

On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, theECB opened its doors to the general publicon 1 June 2008. Guided tours of the building,workshops, exhibitions and games wereorganised for 1,400 registered visitors.The Cultural Days of the ECB, organised in2008 in cooperation with all central banks of theESCB, were dedicated to the EU and featuredartistic contributions from all 27 EU MemberStates. The Cultural Days programme wastimed to coincide with the ECB’s anniversarycelebrations, which were attended by EU Headsof State and Government and a number offigures who had made a major contribution to therealisation of EMU. An anniversary edition ofthe Monthly Bulletin was published, providingan overview of the first ten years of EMU andexamining the challenges ahead. The Fifth ECBCentral Banking Conference held in Frankfurton 13 and 14 November 2008 on “The euro atten: lessons and challenges” brought togethercentral bankers, academics, market participantsand the media from all over the world.In 2008 the ECB, in conjunction with Národnábanka Slovenska, organised an informationcampaign in preparation for the introduction ofthe euro in Slovakia on 1 January 2009. The logo“€ Our money”, developed by the Eurosystem,was used in all communication activities relatedto the introduction of the euro in Slovakia. TheSlovakian campaign followed the pattern of thecommunication concept developed for Slovenia,Cyprus and Malta. It aimed to familiariseprofessional cash handlers and the general publicwith the visual appearance and security featuresof the euro banknotes and coins, as well as withthe cash changeover procedures (see Chapter 3).In preparation for the launch of the secondseries of euro banknotes in the coming years, acommunication concept is being developed bythe Eurosystem central banks.192 ECBAnnual Report2008