For the first time, we implemented a practical part into our Global Health Summer: The Campaign Skills Lab aims to link theory and practice.
Over the last decades, the diversity of digital technologies has broadened the opportunities to activist enormously. Using digital media gives us the chance to spread social/political messages in a completely different way and mobilize people all over the world. Therefore we need skills in communication strategies and creative ways of expressing a message. Beside this theoretical level successful campaigning and activism needs a broad knowledge of digital technologies and social media. In our skills lab we both worked on the theoretical and practical level of how to develop a successful campaign.

Objective
While students gained knowledge about Global Health in general and pharmaceutical industry in particular during the Summer School and Conference, they had the chance to become active themselves in a three-days full-time Skills Lab. The objective was to give an introduction to activism and campaigning – including soft skills (basics in activism, criteria of a good/bad campaign) and hard skills (digital tools, new media). The Skills Lab aimed to answer the question: “What are the tools and trends, the opportunities and challenges of activism both on a practical and theoretical level”? By the end of the workshop participants created a campaign on the Summer School topic by themselves with full support from campaign experts.