EXECUTIVE MASTER IN EUROPEAN PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATION

This programme could change a little bit for the academic year 2022/2023.

Europe is everywhere. The European Union has an ever-increasing say on the law and policy of each Member State, in many different areas. It is the main player and cannot be ignored. The bloc gives impetus, produces standards, awards subsidies, promotes mobility, and encourages cooperation among countries and regions. The ‘EU machinery’ also powers tens of thousands of skilled jobs.

The EU offers numerous employment opportunities: the European institutions themselves (Commission, Council, Parliament, etc.) plus a multitude of bodies linked to or benefiting from them, such as lobbies, European NGOs, regional and local authorities, European communication agencies, information centres, European media, event organisers, and technical agencies, to name but a few.

This European labour market is growing. It requires advanced qualifications. It now also needs a broad range of skills covering communication techniques and European public affairs. Communication in European policy is clearly a promising niche market!

One year programme 60 ECTS, generally Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday evening (18.15 – 20.15 or 21.15) and two Saturdays (in person – 10.00 – 16.00) per month. 

PROGRAMME : 6 CLUSTERS

1. EU INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT• 35h • 10 ECTS

2. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EU PUBLIC AFFAIRS •60h • 10 ECTS

• Introduction and EU Narrative 3h
• Communication Strategy  15h
• Stakeholder Relations 8h
• Content and Social Media 12h
• Managing communication campaigns and activities 9h
• Working with the media 20h
• Protagoras Masterclasses 9h

4. EU PUBLIC AFFAIRS & COMMUNICATIONS CAREERS • 79h • 10 ECTS

• Written & spoken communication skills 17h
• Public Affairs Skills 13h
• Media Training 12h
• Career coaching 5h
• Cultural Intelligence: How to boost your intercultural competence 10h
• Visual Facilitation 12h
• Filming with your smartphone 10h

Evaluation: skills based testing in class

5. Group project • 25h • 10 ECTS

GROUP PROJECT 2  PA or COMMS group project

Antoine Rivet and Alan Hardacre

Dates: From March until June 2022

The students have the choice between a project in Communication (lead by Antoine Rivet) or Public Affairs (lead by Alan Harcadre) 5h coaching and group presentation delivery

GROUP PROJECT 2 EU Event (Organising a EU event) 20h

Julia Manuel lead

Dates: From January 2022 until June 2022

The objective of this group work is to organise a real event around the topic of your choice. All aspects of this event will have to be taken care of by the student group:

• choice of topic
• guest selection
• choice of format and location (a challenge in these times of COVID 19) digital/ live/ Hybrid…
• search for partners / sponsors / budget etc…
• communication around the event

6. Individual project • 10 ECTS

You have the choice to submit as individual project, one of the three options below:

• A Supervised Thesis or,
• A Detailed and Analytical Professional Report (in the frame of an Internship performed during EPAC Programme) or,
• A Detailed and Analytical Professional Report (analysing your own job/mission evolution thanks to the programme if you already have a job)

10 KEY ADVANTAGES

There is no requirement for applicants to have done any specific ‘field of study’ in order to take this course, which includes ‘European public affairs’ and ‘communication techniques’. You can enrol on the Executive Master in European Public Affairs and Communication via a master’s degree, for example, in law or political science, or via a master’s in journalism, public relations, communication science, humanities and social sciences, and so on.

Our pedagogical approach favors training in small groups. The number of places will be limited to 30 people.

3,550€ for the entire course.

Applications to be sent to IHECS Academy and to Laura Leprêtre, teaching coordinator.

This programme give you access to the ‘Congés éducation payés’, please check if you meet the conditions

Classes are each Tuesdays and Thursday evenings from 18.15 to 20.15 or 21.15

As well as 2 Wednesdays (from 18.15 to 20.15 or 21.15) and 2 Saturdays per month (10h to 16h) in alternance

From September 2022 to June 2023

Final evaluations in September 2023

IHECS Academy
27 rue des Grands Carmes
1000 Bruxelles

Diploma 60 ECTS credits

APPLICATIONS FOR 2022/2023 ARE OFFICIALY OPEN.

This course is open to students from the European Union or third countries (outside the European Union).

Master’s degree from a university or high school.

There is no requirement for an applicant to have completed any specific ‘field of study’ in order to take this course, which includes ‘European public affairs’ and ‘communication techniques’. You can enrol on the Executive Master in European Public Affairs and Communication via a master’s degree, for example, in law or political science, or via a master’s in journalism, public relations, communication science, humanities and social sciences, and so on.

If an applicant does not have a diploma in a second-cycle university degree (master’s or similar), a bachelor’s university degree or higher may also be accepted, provided the applicant can prove they have gained professional experience that is appropriate for this course.

By professional experience, we mean the jobs and professions directly linked to Europe or communication. The governing body of IHECS will make its decision on a case-by-case basis, based on a detailed file, together with the required certificates. In general, the experience mentioned there must provide guarantees of competency and skills equivalent to those required by second-cycle (master’s degree level) studies. It is the responsibility of the applicant to prove that the experience mentioned is genuine. The applicant can do this by all legal means (employer certificate, contract, evaluation report, recommendation, certificate of registration in the commercial register, certificate from a public authority, tax-related document, etc.).

Level of English

The entire Executive Master course is delivered in English.

On their application form, applicants are invited to demonstrate they are sufficiently proficient in the English language. Knowledge of other languages than English is an additional advantage.

A ‘good command’ means a sufficient level of understanding in reading and listening, as well as a sufficient skill level in writing and speaking. To test your level of English, you can do a free test here.

The level of English must be at least B1 (intermediate).  In order to integrate more easily French speakers, the final Thesis can be written in English and in French.

The right motivation

In the application, the applicant must set out why they want to do this course, especially in terms of European issues. They must also say what they hope to get out of this course, both personally and professionally.

APPLICATIONS FOR 2021/2022 ARE OPEN FROM 1st of APRIL TO 24th of SEPTEMBER 2021.

The number of places is limited to 30 students. Please note: when the Executive Master is full, the enrolments is closed.

The application form should be returned to IHECS as soon as possible by e-mail or by post to this address:

IHECS ACADEMY – Anne-Laure Armand, ‘Enrolment EPAC’, IHECS ACADEMY, rue de l’Étuve, 58-60 – 1000 Brussels, BELGIUM

Applicants are selected in a two-stage process:

Administrative and technical evaluation of the application​

​Checking the application form is complete, as well as checking the diplomas and certificates are appropriate.

Qualitative evaluation of the application

Evaluation of the application file.

Applicants will be notified in several stages:

• Confirmation of receipt of their application.
• Acceptance by IHECS after the ‘technical evaluation’ stage. If any documents are missing, the applicant will be informed.
• If the technical stage is accepted, applicants will be notified as soon as possible once the ‘qualitative’ part has also been accepted.
• If an oral language test is required, the student applicant will be notified.

After IHECS confirms the acceptance (technical and qualitative), the enrolment will be considered definitive, following the payment into the IHECS account of a deposit of 1,000€. Under no circumstances will this deposit be reimbursed.

In order to be complete, the application forms must include these documents:

• A personal details form, click here for the template.
• A detailed covering letter.
• A detailed curriculum vitae.
• Photocopy of the identity card and/or passport.
• Full description of academic career.
• Copy of the diploma(s) with an indication of the grade achieved.
• If the student can prove they have a Bachelor’s degree as well as professional experience linked to Europe and/or the communication professions, please send a detailed note about this experience together with any documents proving this experience.
• An identity photo in high quality (jpeg format) for your student card.

Any other document that may be required at a later date by the IHECS authorities