9th ASEF Public Diplomacy Training (ASEFPDT9) – Online Course
If you are a diplomat representing an ASEM Partner and are engaged in public diplomacy and communications, this is your chance to take part in our long-running Online Course – now on its 9th edition!
Apply through your respective Ministry of Foreign Affairs or affiliated international organisation (i.e. EU or ASEC) to secure your official nomination.
What is the Online Course about?
The primary online component of ASEFPDT9 is designed and managed by DiploFoundation. Participants will read the provided lecture text, adding questions, comments and references in the form of hypertext entries on an online training platform. The course methodology is based on collaborative approach to learning, which means that the trainers and other participants will read and respond to these entries, creating interactions based on the lecture text. All course activities are asynchronous so that participants can take care of these activities whenever it is convenient for them. The only fixed activity is the one-hour long weekly session where trainers and participants will meet in either a chat room or a Zoom meeting room to discuss the weekly topic.
Focus time required per week over the course of 8 weeks: 4 hours (including a chat session)
The modules designed by the online training provider are the following:
Module 1. Public diplomacy: Concepts and methods
This module introduces participants to the theory of public diplomacy and its role in Asia-Europe relations. It looks in depth at the tools, methods and tasks needed for successful public diplomacy initiatives.
Module 2. Building the national brand with public diplomacy
This module elaborates the use of public diplomacy as a way of building the national brand.
Module 3. Public diplomacy in the context of Covid-19 pandemic
This module explores how public diplomacy can be most effective in building understanding of the domestic and global audiences on a country’s policies. Set against the backdrop of the ongoing Covid-19 challenges that every country is currently faced with, the module discusses what needs to be adapted on the part of public diplomacy practitioners to achieve policy goals.
Module 4. Interacting with non-state actors
This module focuses on how to identify, map, and engage with key decision-, policy- and opinion-makers from the non-state sector, i.e., media, civil society, the private sector, and academia. Participants will learn how to select, approach, and engage in a dialogue with relevant stakeholders to communicate their positions, and how to influence and build networks for information gathering and future initiatives.
Module 5. How to manage a public diplomacy campaign
Drawing on experience from recent successful public affairs ventures, participants will learn how to plan, organise, and manage public events ranging from business forums to academic exchanges, sports, cultural, and tourism campaigns. They will acquire skills and techniques to deal with advertising agencies, consultancies, and public relations firms.
Module 6. Digital tools and social media
This module focuses on how social media and digital diplomacy affects the practice of public diplomacy. It will provide an overview of key digital tools and platforms, and the best way to use these tools to communicate with, expand networks among, and provide services to the general public.
Elective Module: The changing face of Asia-Europe relations
This module looks at the changing realities in the context of Asia-Europe relations, and specifically at the ASEM process, focusing on how current trends and issues as well as future insights likely to shape relations between Asia and Europe.
Who is our ideal nominee?
- Early-/mid-career diplomat in a department dealing with Asia, Europe, or ASEM in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs or equivalent of the ASEM Partners
- Early-/mid-career diplomat posted by an ASEM Partner to an ASEM country who is dealing with public diplomacy
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