#GetConnected - Media, Culture and Society

The programme #GetConnected has roughly two tracks; communication about societal issues from an organisational and PR point of view (brand activism), and bringing about change from the point of view of the grassroots, i.e. activist communities.

These two tracks are divided into 4 modules, Brand activism and the PR professional (BAPR), Inspire the PR professional (IPR), Changing the Game (CG) and Skills.   

Modules 

• During the BAPR module you focus on doing research into the PR professional and his knowledge about brand activism. What is a PR professional exactly, what do they know about brand activism and what knowledge do they want to gain? Based on the insights you make a choice for a medium you want to create. This can be an eMagazine, a podcast, a platform, or something alike, that’s up to you.
• During the IPR module you start creating content which is based onarticles about topics related to brand activism. Needless to say that this content aligns with the needs of the PR professional you determined in the BAPR module. Your goal is to inspire the PR professional!
• The module Changing the Game (CG) consitst of three parts. Part  one and two are related to the international Ad Net Zero Competition (https://edcom.eu/students/https-edcom-eu-students-ad-net-zero-competition-2025/) in which you will participate. You start with conducting research into the advertising industry and brands related to enhancing sustainable behaviour of consumers. Your insights will lead to a video that will explain how you think that advertising can encourage more sustainable, positive consumer habits. Part two focusses on how you can influence these habits by applying a behaviour change model. The third part is all about developing a serious game, through which the desired behaviour change can be achieved. This can be a board- or online game. On Game Day, at the end of the programme, you are going to play each other’s games.  
• Last but not least the ‘Skills’ module will teach you how to execute a convincing pitch and  how intercultural awareness can support you when working in international teams.

A general working method we use at our Communication programme is the 3 Cs. Context, Concept, Content. All assignments should be approached according to these three steps. You analyse the context of the problem, based on the outcomes you develop a fitting concept and finally you create the content needed to translate the concept to the target audience.

Brand Activism and the PR professional 
This module encompasses the context and concept phase for the IPR module. During six weeks you and your publishing team will conduct research on what brand activism contains, why organisations should or should not commit themselves to an issue, and in what way brand activism can be implemented. At the same time you will talk to PR professionals to assess what they are interested in regarding the topic and in which way they prefer to be informed. The module ends with a presentation of the insights of your context analysis and the concept of your chosen medium. You conduct research according to our research design model. A visit to a PR agency and guest lectures about related topics is part of the module. 

This is a team assignment.

Inspire the PR professional
With your publishing team (3/4 students) you will work together to unravel the central topic of the week. When it comes to the content part, we do not use traditional lectures. You will study relevant articles by yourself and discuss them with your group and present the key messages in class during peer lectures. After the peer lectures you will start creating the content for your medium. On Thursdays during consult you will receive feedback on the content.

Changing the Game
You will pick a topic related to one of the SDGs and will analyse how brands or agencies can contribute to a more sustainable behaviour of their target audience. Advertising has a lot of influence on consumers, so how can they use that power to change the behaviour of the consumer in a better way. The output is a video in which you will convince the advertiser/brand to impact the consumer’s behaviour. This is an individual assignment.

You then analyse the behaviour of the consumer using a behaviour assessment model and decide based on your research, what kind of game would support the behaviour change you addressed in the video. This is an individual assignment.

The final part of this module focusses on developing and creating the board- or online game.

The necessary knowledge and skills for the gamification part you will gain through (guest)lectures and workshops from professionals and workshops in our City- and/or Fablab.  

Skills
As for Pitching and Intercultural Awareness you will be offered different (guest)lectures and workshops.  You will also organise a live podcast for second year Dutch students during which you explain an Intercultural Awareness theory. These are two individual assignments.

Study trip
Part of the programme is a four day study trip to an interesting European city (London and Berlin were previous but maybe not future destinations). The trip is not mandatory, if you stay in Rotterdam, you will be expected to attend a substitute programme.

Type of assessment

• Presentations
• Group assignments
• Individual assignments

For more information, see the separate module descriptions on this page.

If you have successfully completed this exchange programme then you are able to:

1. You select and apply relevant communication theories/models to analyse the situation
2. You design and execute reliable and valid research that fits the research questions for the context analysis
3. You describe a target audience and determine specific desirable behaviour based on the conclusions and insights of your research.
4. You conduct valid and reliable desk research to find out all relevant elements for behavioural change according to the Behaviour Change Wheel model
5. You formulate conclusions and insights based on your research relevant for choosing interventions.
6. You create a fitting and attractive game for the target audience.
7. You design and conduct reliable and valid research to test and improve the efficacy of your game.
8. You explain how the game can influence or change the chosen behaviour.
9. You ignite enthusiasm and positive response about your game and its desired behavioural change among its players and thus add value.

After completing your exchange programme at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, you will receive a:

• Transcript of records