Outreach to the stakeholders

Stakeholder Event #1

On May 31, 2021, Professor Natalia Chaban, leader of the NZ chapter of the Jean Monnet Network Reactik and Director of the Public Diplomacy and Political Communication Forum, presented at the academia-stakeholder seminar “Digital Diplomacy at times of COVID:  Innovations in cultural and public diplomacy field (case-study the European Union)” at the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW).  The seminar was organised within the framework of the Political Science and International Relations Research Seminars at the VUW.  Professor Chaban presented the key findings of the New Zealand project within the Reactik Network which focused on the digital tools in the cultural diplomacy outreach.  The seminar was attended by the VUW academics and post-graduate students from different departments, as well as European diplomats – Head of the Delegation of the EU to New Zealand HE Nina Obermaier, Counsellor (Political) / Deputy Head of Delegation Kevin O’Connell and Adviser/Communication Lead of the EU Delegation Lucy Ross, as well as Alessio Guarino, Attaché on Research and Education of the Embassy of France to NZ

Abstract of the seminar circulated at the VUW, as well as on the social media channels of the Embassy of France to New Zealand and Embassy of Ireland to New Zealand:

The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged the practice of public diplomacy -- it has curtailed face-to-face human contacts and experiences central for public diplomacy, required flexible and fast-paced adaptability of initiatives and programmes, and fast-forwarded e-diplomacy to extend the outreach and ensure people-to-people contacts.  Cultural diplomacy, often described as a “linchpin of public diplomacy”, is perhaps among the most affected variants of diplomacy at times of the major health crisis. The presentation will overview challenges and innovations in the area of public and cultural diplomacy, focusing on the case of the European Union (EU) and it Member States, in New Zealand and around the world. The presenter, Professor Natalia Chaban, is a Team Leader of the New Zealand research team within a multinational Jean Monnet Network Reactik (cReative Economy And Culture inTernatIonal link” (2018-2021) examining EU Cultural Diplomacy.  The Network is supported by Erasmus+ of the European Commission. 

Stakeholder event #2

Following the presentation of the key findings of the Reactik project in New Zealand at the academia-stakeholder seminar “Digital Diplomacy at times of COVID:  Innovations in cultural and public diplomacy field (case-study the European Union)” by Professor Natalia Chaban, at the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) on May 31, 2021, the Delegation of the EU to New Zealand invited Professor Chaban, the leader of the NZ chapter of the Jean Monnet Network Reactik and Director of the Public Diplomacy and Political Communication Forum, to brief the Delegation on policy recommendations in the focused meeting.  On July 7, 2021, Professor Chaban briefed the EU diplomats on research-informed policy recommendations. Professor Chaban presented analysis and recommendations to the Head of the Delegation of the EU to New Zealand HE Nina Obermaier, Counsellor (Political) / Deputy Head of Delegation Kevin O’Connell, Counsellor (Trade) Caroline Lambert and EUD Communications Lead Lucy Ross.

Stakeholder Event #3

To ensure regular link between teaching, research and practice and disseminate findings, methods and concepts developed in the course of the Jean Monnet Network Reactik, Professor Natalia Chaban, leader of the NZ chapter of the Jean Monnet Network Reactik, has extended the reach of the project by linking to the Public Diplomacy experts at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (NZ MFAT). 

Following their study of cultural diplomacy (see JM Reactik in the post-graduate course COMS420 Public Diplomacy), MStratCom students Laura Tretheway, Kelly Dorgan, Lucy Weddell, Shaylee Bright and Amy Morahan presented their original cultural diplomacy campaigns to Adrienne Bonell and Bhavan Bhim of the Public Diplomacy Unit of NZ MFAT on October 29, 2021. The campaigns designed by student – the final assessment in COMS 420 Public Diplomacy (coordinated by Prof Chaban) -- were selected as winners by the diplomatic jurors: H.E. Peter Ryan, Ambassador of Ireland to NZ, and Dr Simon Mark, Massey University.

Following the briefing, the reports were passed to the MFAT’s wider Communications team as well as New Zealand’s Dublin Embassy and Fijian High Commission.

The student presentations were followed by the invitation from NZ MFAT to Professor Chaban to brief its Public Diplomacy experts on the relevant research, including Jean Monnet Network Reactik.  Professor Chaban briefed practitioners on November 17, 2021, in a virtual meeting.

Stakeholder event #4