Public Relations and the Sustainable Development Goals

This collection of case studies focuses on the role of strategic communications in helping organisations to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Public relations is not considered here as a tool for corporate self-aggrandisement but as a vital, inseparable element of the sustainability goals themselves. When responses to sustainability issues range from co-operation to hostility, strategic communications that identifies audiences and their issues to engage in effective, dialogic communication with them is paramount.
The 12 case studies in this book were each selected, researched and written by a member of the 25th student cohort of the M.A. in Public Relations. Each was chosen according to the student’s sectoral, personal, or other interest to use the case to illustrate how effective strategic communications can help bring to fruition a campaign that addresses a sustainable development goal. The focus, therefore, is on the communications that inform and motivate actions and behaviours rather than the intrinsic nature of the goals themselves. With each addressing a particular goal, there are case studies from Ireland and abroad, reflecting the diversity of the cohort.
While the cases are written to make them accessible to readers approaching public relations for the first time or to time-constrained practitioners, the more advanced public relations student will see where they may be applied to illustrate advanced theoretical concepts. A short series of questions at the end of each case study will be helpful for educators as a teaching tool for further exploration and reflection, while three intermezzo chapters by the book’s editors offer additional critical interpretations to stimulate deeper considerations.