This course aims, firstly, to develop an understanding of key concepts and frameworks such as corporate citizenship, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, social license to operate, stakeholder engagement and participation, ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance of organizations), sustainability and sustainable development – and how to communicate about it (including strategies, tactics, campaigning, issue management, reporting. corporate activism, storytelling and framing).

CSR and Sustainability communication is essential to achieving social, cultural, and political transformation not only on an organizational, but also on an individual and social scale. CSR and Sustainability communication are complex tasks requiring a deep understanding of ethical concepts, responsibility, agency, morality and values, as well as communication skills and proficiency across a diverse mix of media and strategies to effectively achieve action for sustainable development.

Overall, the course focuses on how organizations account for their behavior through communication and thus how (much) CSR and sustainable behavior is facilitated through and manifested in communication.

This course aims to equip Master of Business Communication students with requisite communication, management, and leadership skills to excel in the global workforce who can add value to organizations, be outstanding professionals, and achieve their career goals in any organization. In this course, students gain interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary experience in communicating about and for sustainability across the trans-media landscape, with various communication strategies and a range of advocacy mechanisms. 

The course has the following learning goals:

Knowledge: Students should be able to identify and apply current knowledge of disciplinary (communication) and inter-disciplinary (management, strategic planning, environmental management, sociology etc.) on social impact and professional communication practice in organizational settings in diverse situations and contexts.

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: Students should be able to identify, research and analyze complex issues, crises and problems in the dimension of social and environmental impact and develop appropriate and well-justified communication solutions for the given context.

Communication: Students will be highly effective communicators in complex social environments. They should be able to produce written and oral forms of strategic communication and to communicate complex ideas and information to an intended audience. 

Ethical, social and environmental responsibility: Students should be able to reflect on their own responsibility as communicators, the implications and impact of their own action, and their leadership knowledge and styles, and to assess ethical, environmental and sustainability considerations in social impact decision-making and related communication processes and practices. 

Thus, after successfully completing this course, you should be able to:

Please take into account WU's regulations for PI classes (maximum of 20% of class time can be missed). Active participation is required as part of your grading.

The course will work with a range of teaching and learning methods, which include:

• Lecture & guest lecture(s)
• Easy to access, interactive online learning material (short videos, podcast, webinars, academic literature, stakeholder mapping tools and practical examples)
• Role play
• Case Studies and examples
• Pitch / presentation

Case Study (40%)

Pitch/CSR Comm. Strategy (40%)

Active Participation (20%)

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