Bringing industry into the classroom is one of my favourite parts of teaching. Over the past few weeks, our students in the School of Business at the University of Dundee have been learning directly from people working across community organisations, communications and the creative sector.
A live client briefing from Campy Growers
This year’s live client for our Sustainability and Digital Marketing in Practice module is Campy Growers, one of Dundee’s largest community food-growing initiatives. Maria Johnson, Chair of Campy Growers, co-delivered the client briefing and Q&A with me, and I took part in my role as a Trustee of the charity.
Being on both sides of the brief was a useful thing for students to see. The challenge came from people who know the organisation from the inside, and it asked students a real question: how can digital marketing and storytelling support a community initiative like this one?
Digital storytelling with Steven Sinclair
We also welcomed Steven Sinclair for a brilliant guest session on digital storytelling and audience engagement. Steven brought real examples from his work into the room and encouraged students to think beyond simply creating content. Who are we speaking to? What makes people care? How do we bring an audience into a story?
That last question takes me back to when I first met Steven earlier this year, alongside Dila Oral Kulturel and Daniel Wade Clarke (thanks to Susan Kinnear for the introduction). One of his case studies has stayed with me: rather than waiting until a therapeutic garden project was finished, his team documented the transformation as it unfolded, so the progress updates became part of the story and audiences followed the journey from the start. Effective storytelling is not only about showcasing outcomes; it is about bringing people along. It was great to welcome him back to share that thinking with our students.
Coming in December: a live challenge with TCA
There is more to come. In December, our students will take part in a timed live challenge with Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA), developed with Kate Masson. Students will hear directly about the organisation, then work in teams to develop and pitch ideas in response to a real challenge, with feedback on the day.
Not an extra, but part of the curriculum
These activities are not an “extra” around the curriculum. For me, they are an important part of helping students connect theory with real organisations, real audiences and real decisions.
It is also something we have been studying. In our BRIDGE framework for industry-integrated curriculum design, Kirsty Beaumont, Ruth O’Riordan and I found that the evidence did not simply say live clients are better. Client-task fit, workload, scaffolding and the capacity of the partner organisation all mattered. Working with different kinds of partner, from a community charity to a creative practitioner, is one way of putting that into practice.
Thank you
Thank you to Dila Oral Kulturel for continuing to build these learning experiences with me, and to Kirsty Beaumont for helping us strengthen the connections between our students and external partners.
And most importantly, thank you to Maria, Steven and Kate for giving your time and expertise to our students. There is a lot more to come this academic year.
Run your own live brief: the free Live Brief Kit in my Learning Lab has a brief template, fit checklist, ground rules, feedback rubric and challenge-day plan built on our BRIDGE research. Small businesses and charities can also post a problem for students on Live Briefs.
Originally shared on LinkedIn.
