PROJECT WORKSHOP AS A RESOURCE FOR OBTAINING PROFESSIONAL SKILLS OF FUTURE PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALISTS IN THE URBAN CONTEXT

Abstract

The article describes intermediate results of work in the project workshop in the master’s degree program “Communications in the Public Sector and NGOs”, the National Research University Higher School of Economics’s framework. The workshop aims to develop professional theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the field of the urban projects’ communication. The article describes the process of working with a real regional client who is a cultural institution in Ufa (the future ZAMAN Museum of Modern Art). The workshop participants agreed with the customer to develop a film festival concept, which would help to increase the future museum recognition and search for its potential partners, as well as to activate local communities around cultural events held by the institution. The preparation of the concept became the ultimate goal of the applied project. Tasks, the results of which are described in the article, are to theoretically substantiate the importance of the role of film festivals in the development of the city and local communities; to formulate principles for the implementation of the concept of a film festival. The festival concept, developed on the basis of information from open sources, specialized scientific literature and interviews conducted with the future museum representatives and local residents, can be used by the client as a possible methodological guideline for organizing the cultural event. For the participants of the project workshop, the development of the concept of the film festival is a useful exercise for deepening knowledge and obtaining skills necessary for the successful work as urban projects’ communicators.