Crisis communication

lcomu2613  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Crisis communication
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
30.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Groetaers Lionel; Van Overstraeten Mathieu;
Language
English
Main themes
The course aims to address the areas of crisis and sensitive communication from an operational perspective. This will include: crisis communication, communication and sustainable development, communication on risks, communication of acceptability, communication on controversial subjects, combat communication and disinformation. Crisis communication will be the main focus of the course.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1. Design a crisis communication device for his/her organization; Public authorities, local authorities, enterprises, associations ;
 
2. Mastering crisis communication tools, including, of course, digital media ;
 
3. Organize the operation of the crisis unit of his/her organization ;
 
4. To deal with the crisis situations that he/she will have to face in his/her professional life ;
 
5. Decrypting media attention on crisis situations ;
 
6. Be able to control his/her message in crisis situations, both in external communication and in internal communication ;
 
7. Integrate the theme of sustainable development into his/her communication by avoiding the drifts of greenwashing ;
 
8. Organize stakeholder relations on corporate social responsibility ;
 
9. Deciphering communication on sensitive topics (nanotechnologies, GMOs ...).
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
The course aims to address the areas of crisis communication from an operational perspective, based on theory and examples. This will include: crisis communication, communication on risks, communication on controversial subjects, disinformation and social license to operate.
- Map risks based on occurrence and seriousness
- Map and organize stakeholder relations
- Organize monitoring and decrypt media attention
- Design a crisis or sensitive communication strategy for his/her organization
- Master crisis communication tools, including digital media
- Organize the operation of the crisis unit of his/her organization
- Be able to define and control his/her message in crisis situations, both in external communication and in internal communication.
Teaching methods
The interventions will be given in English in sessions of 2 hours. Each course will be supported by slides that will integrate the main points discussed orally.
The first hour of each session will be devoted to theory. Many examples from real-life situations will support the explanation of the key concepts of crisis communication.
During the second hour of each session, group exercises will be organized. The objective of these exercises is to confront the students with realistic crisis communication situations.
Evaluation methods
Active participation: 20% of the total
Crisis exercise (4 hours): 40% of the total
- Groups of 5
Oral Exam: 40% of the total
- 3 theoretical questions
Faculty or entity
COMU


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [120] in Multilingual Communication

Master [120] in Communication

Master [60] in Information and Communication