The first edition of the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) – Social Marketing for the Common Good

The first edition of the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) – Social Marketing for the Common Good hosted by the University of Minho in October 2025 concluded successfully, bringing together 35 students from the University of Minho (Portugal), University of Katowice (Poland), Matej Bel University (Slovakia), and the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania) in a dynamic, international, and interdisciplinary learning environment.

The program was promoted as being formally endorsed by the European Social Marketing Association (ESMA). The BIP was designed to equip future professionals with essential skills for developing strategic social marketing initiatives. The ultimate goal was to promote positive social change, inclusion, equity, well-being, and sustainability across various sectors. The inaugural theme for this edition was “Inspiring Citizen Action for Resilient Urban Water Systems.” Participants tackled a real-world challenge proposed by the municipal company for water management in Porto, focusing on developing effective strategies to encourage citizen engagement in water conservation and system resilience.

This successful event provided an exceptional opportunity to solidify and advance the role of social marketing within the academic curricula of master’s students in business schools, moving it beyond a niche topic and positioning it as a core strategic competency. The participation of students from programs such as marketing, management, social economy, public administration, and political science, public relations and also from the design of communication, clearly demonstrated that social marketing is not solely a promotional tool, but a comprehensive discipline essential for driving pro-social behaviour change and achieving common good outcomes in areas like sustainability, equity, and public welfare. This experience strongly argues for the need to formally integrate and affirm these principles in business programmes, ensuring that future managers—regardless of their specialisation—are equipped to design, implement, and evaluate effective campaigns that address societal challenges.

Programme Objectives and Learning Outcomes

The program structure aimed to train future professionals capable of:

• Applying theoretical fundamentals of social marketing for the common good.
• Developing strategic social marketing initiatives from conception to execution.
• Enabling positive social change, inclusion, equity, well-being, and sustainability through strategic communication and behaviour change campaigns.
• Working effectively in diverse, international, and interdisciplinary teams, fostering cross-cultural collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Programme Format

The BIP utilised a blended format to maximise both foundational knowledge transfer and practical, hands-on application. The online phase consisted of three mandatory weekly synchronous sessions. These sessions focused on establishing the foundational knowledge of social marketing principles and preparing the student teams for the intensive practical project phase.

The program culminated with an in-person week in five days of intensive, hands-on training and workshops. This period allowed students to deeply apply the theoretical models to the Porto water challenge, refine their strategies, and present their innovative solutions.