With the emergence of social media and its power to amplify messages, persuasive communication in the form of advertising and PR campaigns has strengthened its impact on society. The main clients - and, thus, beneficiaries -of these campaigns are businesses, which increasingly have a voice in shaping social values and norms, in convergence with their for-profit objectives. With the know-how of the persuasive communication industry, businesses are in the position to go beyond their traditional role, i.e. providing goods and services in the marketplace, and they (re)present themselves as actors in the arena for social change. Universities, through specialized programs and research on strategic communication, develop the knowledge-base of the professional services offered by advertising and PR agencies; however, since there is a great pressure on universities correspond to the demands of the labour market, strategic communication teaching is tailored for the needs of businesses. 

The aim of this BIP is to re-appropriate this knowledge for the purpose of social change, i.e. to use strategic communication to serve the local needs of communities and, thus, to contribute to furthering the public interest.

The physical mobility part will be running from 18 to 22 November 2024 in Bucharest, Romania.

The physical part of the course merged as follows:

• Lecture on social change and strategic communication.
• Workshops - students (in teams) will start solving the communication brief with Q & A sessions.

Monday 18 November

• Welcome Session & Introducing the Teaching Method - 11.00-13.00
• Lunch break - 13.00-14.00
• Lecture „Strategic Communication: Principles and Practice” - 14.00-16.00

Tuesday 19 November

• Lecture „A Critical Perspective on Strategic Communication” - 11.00-13.00
• Lunch break - 13.00-14.00
• Workshop for Solving the Communications Brief - 14.00-16.00

Wednesday 20 November

• Workshop for Solving the Communications Brief (morning session) - 10.00-13.00
• Lunch break - 13.00-14.00
• Workshop for Solving the Communications Brief  (after lunch session) - 14.00-17.00

Thursday 21 November

• Workshop for Solving the Communications Brief  (morning session) -10.00-13.00
• Lunch break - 13.00-14.00
• Workshop for Solving the Communications Brief (after lunch session) - 14.00-17.00

Friday 22 November

• One day trip to Sinaia to visit Peleș Castle

The virtual component of the course will be running from 21 October 2024 to 24 January 2025. Moreover, the virtual component of the course includes:

• Seminar focused on the presentation of the actual communications briefs with the NGO stakeholder, review of the stages of a communication campaign
• Workshop linked to the learning outcome of using transmedia storytelling
• Lecture and workshop related to service learning, connected to the outcome of understanding and solving the problems of a community
• Follow-up seminar: students will present their work, which is linked to the learning outcome of demonstrating how to solve a communications brief

The schelude of the virtual part of the course merged as follows:

• 1st week online (between 21-25 October): 
• • Day 1: Welcome & Introducing the communications brief (4 hours) 
  • Day 2: Briefing/ Debriefing (2 hours)
• 2nd week online (between 28 October- 1 November): 
• • Day 1: Introducing Service Learning (4 hours)
  • Day 2: Introducing Transmedia Storytelling (3 hours)
• 3rd week online (between 4 -8 November): 
• • Service Learning: Problem Solving (4 hours)
• 4th week online (between 11-15 November)
• • Transmedia Storytelling Project Development (3 hours)
• 5th week online (between 13-17 January)
• • Intermediate assessment (tutoring) (4 hours)
• 6th week online (between 20-24 January)
• • Final assessment: Students` presentations (4 hours)