The teams of students in the core Bachelor of Communication course, COMS 330 Communication in Context, presented their original social media campaign to the Embassy of France to communicate France’s major science diplomacy initiative in 2025 – the One Ocean science Congress (3 to 6 June 2025), which was organised within the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3, 9 to 13 June 2025, in Nice, France) to spur action and implement SDG 14, the least funded of all Sustainable Development Goals. The Embassy of France to New Zealand sent 25 New Zealand scientists to the Conference, and BC students from COMS 330 designed and presented their ideas to the team of French diplomats. The French Embassy selected one of the social media campaigns as a winner. It was designed by Alexandra Scully, Teina Kotua, Scarlett Neame, Kenna Devane and Sophia Wright. The winning team met with the French Ambassador Laurence Beau and Cooperation Counsellor François Bockel to celebrate their win, when the French diplomats visited the UC on October 8.
COMS 330 is coordinated by Dr Tara Ross and the Global Communication module, in which students collaborated with embassies, is led by Prof Natalia Chaban.
