From 8 to 10 June, Barcelona hosted the global public relations competition, GlobCom Symposium 2026.
Organizado pela Blanquerna - Universitat Ramon Llull, a edição deste ano contou com mais de 90 participantes de instituições de ensino superior de todo o mundo. A ESCS-IPL participou com cinco estudantes finalistas da Licenciatura em Relações Públicas e Comunicação Empresarial (RPCE).

Organised by Blanquerna – Universitat Ramon Llull, this year’s edition brought together more than 90 participants from higher education institutions around the world. ESCS-IPL took part with five final-year students from the Bachelor's Degree in Public Relations and Corporate Communication.

The students Ana Catarina Guedes, António Arnaut, Catarina Carvalho, Marta Simões and João Santo participated in the international symposium. The ESCS-IPL delegation also included Professor Nuno da Silva Jorge, who supervised the students throughout the project and served on the competition jury.

António Arnaut was a member of Team 5, the winner of this year’s edition. The proposal presented by the team, which impressed the jury, was developed in response to a real brief provided by Vueling. The team conceived a conceptual partnership with Duolingo to communicate the airline’s sustainability values to its stakeholders. The idea stood out for the way it aligned with the brand strategy and partnership-building objectives.

“This achievement clearly reflects the quality of the education and preparation we receive at ESCS. Throughout all its stages, the project is an excellent opportunity to discover different ways of thinking about communication,” said António Arnaut.

The GlobCom Project has existed since 2003. It is an initiative of the Global Communication Institute that brings together students from 15 universities across different continents each year to work on real public relations and global communication campaigns. This year’s edition included participants from the United States, South Africa, Germany, Thailand, the United Kingdom, India, Spain, Australia and Portugal, among others.

“GlobCom is far more than a classroom exercise,” said Professor Nuno da Silva Jorge. “It is communication under pressure, with a real client, before a demanding jury, and alongside students who approach problems from different perspectives. It reflects the environment in which public relations professionals work and where global collaboration skills are developed.”

This year’s international symposium also featured a range of presentations, talks and mentoring sessions for students. The final presentations took place at Vueling’s headquarters in Barcelona and were followed by a visit to the company’s crisis management facilities.

ESCS has been Portugal’s representative in the GlobCom Project since 2005, with more than 200 students having participated and several teams achieving winning results over the years.

About GlobCom
GlobCom is an international network and project designed to prepare young communication professionals for a globalised world. Over a three-month period, virtual teams work together using a variety of online communication tools to address a global communication challenge set by a real client. The annual GlobCom Symposium marks the culmination of this work. Following a pre-selection process, finalist proposals are presented and the winning team is subsequently chosen.

Text and photographs by Professor Nuno da Silva Jorge.