Ateneo - UPO

The course has a dual ambition. Firstly, it aims to introduce the topic of public communication through traditional lectures, examining the key actors, strategies, needs, as well as regulatory and moral frameworks. It will also explore the boundaries—sometimes sharp, other times blurred, and at times almost non-existent—with other forms of communication: political communication, public journalism, institutional communication, and environmental risk communication. Secondly, through interactive teaching methods, the course aims to address the specific issue of public communication of climate change.

The professor will upload a coursepack to the DIR platform containing selected book chapters and academic articles. The core texts from which these materials are drawn include excerpts from the textbook Comunicazione Pubblica by Lovari and Ducci (Mondadori Università, 2022), Italian translations from The Handbook of Public Sector Communication, edited by Vilma Luoma‐aho and María‐José Canel (John Wiley & Sons, 2020), Italian translations from Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere by P.C. Pezzullo and R. Cox (6th edition, Sage, 2020), and Italian translations from Effective Climate Communication: Turning Eco-Anxiety into Eco-Action by A. Desinova (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025).

These materials will constitute the required exam readings for non-attending students.

Regularly attending students (who attend at least 7 out of 10 lectures) may instead choose between the standard exam based on the coursepack or an exam focused on a specific topic, with readings and assessment methods to be agreed upon in class with the professor.

Basic Expected Learning Outcomes: Acquire the fundamental tools for the analysis of public communication (knowledge and understanding); Apply the theoretical knowledge acquired to real-world processes in contemporary societies related to environmental risk and the climate crisis (applying knowledge and understanding). Advanced Expected Learning Outcomes: (Knowledge and understanding): Know the main theoretical approaches to public and risk communication; (Communication skills): Present the acquired knowledge clearly and correctly, demonstrating full mastery of the discipline's terminology and vocabulary; (Making judgements / Independent judgement): Critically compare the different theoretical perspectives analyzed, also in order to develop an independent view of public communication within the contemporary media environment; (Learning skills): Acquire sound text analysis skills, including the ability to make connections between different topics.

No specific prerequisites are required. However, reading at least one book on climate change is recommended to gain a clear understanding of what it is and how it can be addressed. For a clear introductory overview in Italian, the book Cambiamento climatico. Perché avviene, come avviene, cosa fare by Jacopo Pesotti (Scienza Express edizioni, Trieste, 2020) is suggested.

The course will adopt a blended teaching methodology: traditional lectures, open discussions based on shared readings, and short group work.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-physical-or-learning-disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The exam will be oral and will cover the course materials. Grades are awarded on a 30-point scale based on the following criteria: 1. Knowledge and understanding of the main topics covered: up to 18 out of 30 points (minimum passing grade); 2. Ability to present the acquired knowledge clearly and effectively: up to 7 out of 30 points; 3. Ability to make connections between the topics covered and examine them critically and with independent judgement: up to 5 out of 30 points.

The course aims to introduce students to public communication and its key themes and concepts, while at the same time putting them to the test through the study of climate change and environmental risk communication. Climate change provides a particularly demanding stress test for public communication: it requires institutions to communicate about an issue that unfolds over the long term, is scientifically complex, emotionally charged, socially unequal, politically contested, and marked by disinformation, vested economic interests, and uncertainty.

The course is organised into ten three-hour units, combining lectures with interactive activities. It will address a broad range of topics, a non-exhaustive overview of which is provided by the following twelve questions:

* What is public communication? How does it differ from other forms of communication, and what are the key issues that define it and the main regulatory frameworks that govern it?
* Who has the mandate to communicate? How do legitimacy and reputation differ, and what moral principles should govern public communication?
* How is trust built through public communication, and what role does transparency play?
* When does institutional communication serve the public good, and when does it become a means of promoting the institution itself, the government, or a political leader?
* How can citizens be meaningfully engaged in public-sector communication?
* Under what conditions does strategic communication serve the purposes of the public sector?
* How is an environmental problem socially constructed? In what sense can climate change be said to become a public problem through the ways in which it is represented?
* What are the key pillars of environmental risk communication, and what can public communicators learn from them?
* Journalism and climate communication: what can public communication learn from critical scholarship on journalism?
* Science and climate communication: what can public communication learn from research on the public communication of climate science?
* Know the enemy: denial, delay, greenwashing, and disinformation. How does climate disinformation operate?
* Publics between reason and emotion: how can the seriousness of the problem be communicated without generating avoidance, helplessness, shame, or fatalism?

Basic Expected Learning Outcomes: 1. Acquire the fundamental tools for the analysis of public communication (knowledge and understanding); 2. Apply the theoretical knowledge acquired to real-world processes in contemporary societies related to environmental risk and the climate crisis (applying knowledge and understanding). Advanced Expected Learning Outcomes: 1. (Knowledge and understanding): Know the main theoretical approaches to public and risk communication; 2. (Communication skills): Present the acquired knowledge clearly and correctly, demonstrating full mastery of the discipline's terminology and vocabulary; 3. (Making judgements / Independent judgement): Critically compare the different theoretical perspectives analyzed, also in order to develop an independent view of public communication within the contemporary media environment; 4. (Learning skills): Acquire sound text analysis skills, including the ability to make connections between different topics.