The course focuses on the strategic management of public issues and the implementation of campaigns around these issues. Public information campaigns play an important role in educating, informing and affecting change. Discussion of the effectiveness of these campaigns and the channels used to communicate with the target audience will be part of the conversations in the classroom. The stakeholder theory, the role of coalitions and the tools for public policy implementation will be used in the analysis of campaign outcomes. The course will include environmental scanning and intelligence to highlight the need to contextualise an issue: a public issue does not stand alone but is placed within an ecosystem of variable factors, associated with ambiguity and complexity.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Identify key issues in the strategic management of public issues
- Discuss and contrast different approaches to public issue campaigns
- Frame issues to be relevant to different stakeholders
- Assess the relationship between policy inputs and campaign outcomes
- Formulate frameworks for citizen engagement and change management
According to a World Health Organisation report in 2018, road traffic injuries are now the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years. Since implementing the national helmet law in 2007, Vietnam has saved an estimated USD 3.5 billion in medical costs and lost output, and an estimated 500,000 head injuries and 15,000 fatalities have been prevented, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee. Statistics show that 75.8% of road accidents in Vietnam are motorcycle-related. Although the child helmet law was passed in 2010, child helmet use is still low. The Vietnamese Government is committed to increase child helmet wearing to over 80% by 2030. Working closely with AIPF on this issue, students identified key issues in the strategic management of such policies, and proposed communication strategies and campaign plans that encourage citizen engagement and change management.