The Coronavirus pandemic presented new challenges for reform communicators as the world worked to stop the spread, distribute COVID tests and vaccinate communities. The social, political and economic systems across the globe started undergoing an immense change, which affected the way we work and engage with each other. Even this year’s 9th annual World Bank-Annenberg Summer Institute was delivered online as close to 40 communication professionals from around the globe logged in to connect with professors from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California and University of Pennsylvania, as well as leaders from the World Bank Group. Besides engaging with the instructors, the attendees shared stories of what these past few months have been like in their respective countries as they adjusted their work to this ever-changing world. 

Typically, WBASI is held in person, but the attendees and instructors adapted to the circumstances at hand and gathered online everyday for three hours during the first two weeks of June. The 10-day program took place over Zoom, and each day was packed with guest speakers, case studies and interactive activities that required participants to build scenarios with each other in their breakout rooms. Participants were reform communicators, governance specialists and managers from 16 countries spanning the world who were able to join the program from the comfort of their own homes. 

The 2021 Summer Institute theme was timely as the program focused on stakeholder engagement and strategic communication during a crisis. As the world continues to struggle to distribute COVID vaccines and stop the spread of the newest, more contagious and extreme variants, the focus on reform communication during COVID-19 is something that leaders, strategists and advisors will continue to draw from in the months to come and apply the frameworks to their work with COVID-19, as well as other projects unrelated to the pandemic. 

The 2021 WBASI kicked off with a keynote speech from World Health Organization (WHO) Director of Communications Gabby Stern, who joined the program from WHO headquarters in Switzerland. Gabby shared how the WHO adapted and formed online narratives at the very start of the pandemic. “I think right from the get go, Gabby Stern’s [speech] was such a great opener for the program,” said External Affairs Associate Shilpa Banerji, reflecting on the most informational instructors of the program. “She is just in the thick of everything, and to see someone like her really spearhead this effort, it was just inspirational in many ways.”

Each day, the program offered three different lectures with embedded case studies that focused on a different topic in reform communication: Stakeholder Analysis and Strategy, Communication and Reform, Procurement Reform, Healthcare Communications, Interpersonal Competence and Becoming Media Savvy, Communication Technologies and Video Advocacy, Social Media and Communication Interventions, Leadership and Capacity Building for Change, and Social Movements.

Many of the lectures focused on managing misinformation on social media, public diplomacy and dealing with critics and opposing views in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic. USC Annenberg Professor of Communication Tom Hollihan led a discussion on “Dealing with Critics and Opponents”, which was especially relevant as many communication professionals struggle to fight competing narratives surrounding the virus. However, World Bank External Affairs Officer Zeria Banda pointed out that this lecture was also insightful for campaigns beyond the COVID pandemic. “[Tom Hollihan’s lecture] intrigued me as it helped me understand better what I have been going through all the 13 years managing external relations at the Bank at country level (Malawi), dealing with endless criticism based on Bank policies of the 1980’s,” Zeria stated. “The statement, ‘The past survives, it lives. It’s residues impact present decisions/opinions’ was a great “aha” moment for me. It helped clarify a lot of issues since that criticism still persists today. Now with COVID-19, critics will still arise and I feel more empowered by an understanding of the logic of dealing with opponents. I am glad that this session came after learning from WHO’s experience managing a global crisis as it helped me to mentally correlate what WHO is going through with critics and their response.”

A program focusing on crisis communication would not be complete without Professor Jessica Fishman from the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School. Professor Fishman is the director of the Message Effects Lab, which studies behavioral and social science and how communication affects behavior. Currently, the Lab is conducting research regarding how messages influence behavior around the COVID vaccine. Professor Fishman shared her research about vaccine hesitancy in society. One participant stated, “The session provided useful tips for us as communicators as we document vaccine rollouts in our respective countries.”

Despite the program being conducted on Zoom,  post-survey results show the participants felt  the program was engaging and informative. Seventy-six percent of the participants said the course was either among the best or very good in comparison to other courses they had taken. “The course provided key concepts and approaches in communication and best practices in planning, implementing and evaluating participatory and evidence-based communication interventions.” 

This year’s World Bank-Annenberg Summer Institute focused on frameworks during COVID-19, and the participants remained engaged as they looked at real-world case studies. Because [the pandemic] dictates everybody’s lives in such a direct way, it forces us to - and especially because we are talking about communications- to really bring [the pandemic] to the center of what we were speaking about,” stated Sumir Lal, World Bank Director of External Affairs.  “This year was different from previous years because in previous years, we tended to have many more hypothetical kinds of case studies and draw from real-life examples, but then construct something hypothetical and get the class to respond to that. But the pandemic made us talk about something real and something everyone had experience in, which was happening in real time. Even while we were delivering this course, communications around the pandemic in the real world were itself an evolving kind of topic, so we were literally observing something happening in real time.”

This year also served as a lesson moving forward as more topical cases might be beneficial for future Summer Institutes.  “I think we are going to have a couple of big global issues that are going to stay with us for the near future,” Lal added. “You’ve got pandemics for one, you’ve got climate, and anything related to climate. You’ve got the march of technology. So, there are a couple of these topics that are very real and current and we might focus on something very current [in the future].”

The Summer Institute finished Day 10 with a virtual closing celebration as the participants reflected on their key takeaways. USC Annenberg Professor Patti Riley encouraged them to “think like a director” and imagine a way forward. Even though the 2021 Summer Institute was delivered online, the participants still logged on each day, eager to share their own professional experiences and learn from each other and instructors.