What connects AI, GenZ, the Theater Rotterdam, the Lifeversity initiative at EUR, Coca Cola ads, and Crisis Communications in times of war? The answer emerged over two days of insightful sessions at the UNIC Communications Staff Week on the EUR campus. From 3 to 5 June, there was a unique perspective on impactful communications informed by strategic connections, research or initiatives within the university.
Organised collaboratively between the UNIC European University team and the Marketing and Communications (M&C) Department at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), the Staff Week brought together 35 colleagues from 15 universities across Europe for workshops, plenaries and guided brainstorms. The participants were largely communications experts and marketing / branding managers, with the common goal of defining a "narrative" for the emergent idea of a "European University", and to be inspired by the diversity of communications approaches thriving within the EUR.
About UNIC
UNIC is an alliance of European universities rooted in ten specific post-industrial urban ecosystems, dedicated to unlocking new models of European learning, working and researching that will shape the university of the future.
Inspiring sessions
These included a keynote on "Marketing to GenZ" by Aleksandra Stuip at the Erasmus School of Economics, an overview of AI in Communications by the agency iO Digital, an introduction to the Rotterdam Brand Alliance "Make it Happen". At the iconic Theater Rotterdam, a workshop on inclusive communication delivered by the IDEA Center and the Rotterdam municipality (where we deconstructed two Coca Cola ads), and an "information fair" on student engagement. This fair featured the Community for Learning and Innovation (CLI), Lifeversity, Engagement Hub, Student Wellbeing, and Studying with a Functional Impairment (Team SMF). Participants also joined an architecture walking tour through the Rotterdam City Center, visited the DIT Day 2024 conference on "how to transform a university", and heard from key stakeholders in EUR including president Prof. Dr. Ed Brinksma.
The sessions were anchored by a guided brainstorm led by Employees of the M&C Department Ernst Bakker and Jorian Waleson, and capped with a moving sharing session on crisis communications from UNIC’s associate partners in Ukraine, including the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
New communications approaches
The sessions highlighted the important work being done in forging closer links between university and city, and highlighted the skills, diligence and openness essential for impactful communication. By bringing together this multitude of voices, EUR's strategic projects and marketing professionals remain key participants in an ongoing Europe-wide discussion on new communication approaches and at the forefront of communicating impact in a changing Europe.
- More information
Raghav Krish, email: raghav.krish@eur.nl or visit the UNIC webpage.
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