Strategic Leadership for Social Economy Organisations through the 8Ps of Marketing

Course Type: Flavour School

 

Duration and Learning Format

1-week short mobility format, hosted on-site at Santarém Polytechnic University (IPSantarém), Portugal, with selected online participation from partner faculty and external stakeholders.

• Total workload: approximately 50 hours (2 ECTS)
  Synchronous online activities: approximately 5 hours
  • On-site (physical mobility) activities: approximately 25 hours
  • Independent and group work, including preparation, teamwork, reflection, and final outputs: approximately 20 hours
• Dates of:
  • On-site component: 24-28 May 2027, Santarém, Portugal

 

Credits and Certification

On successful completion of the course participants will receive 2 ECTS credits and a certificate of attendance.

 

Organising Institutions and Teaching Staff

Lead and Host Institution

Santarém Polytechnic University (IPSantarém), Portugal
Teaching staff:

• Pedro Oliveira (IPSantarém)
• Frederico Albuquerque (IPSantarém invited lecturer)

 

Partner Institutions

Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Spain)

• Jordi Regi (UFV)
• Pedro Rincón (UFV)

Goce Delčev University (North Macedonia)

• Natasha Miteva (UGD)

 

External stakeholders

Municipalities, NGOs, cooperatives, social care organisations (e.g., IPSS), and social enterprises.

Course Overview

This Flavour School explores how leadership and marketing strategy can help Social Economy organisations respond to real management challenges. Working in international and interdisciplinary teams, students will engage with real stakeholders and use the 8Ps of marketing as a practical framework to improve value creation, stakeholder relationships, communication, access, and organisational processes.

The course combines workshops, challenge-based learning, mentoring, and collaborative problem-solving to help students design realistic and socially meaningful action plans for organisations working for public and social impact.

Learning Journey

 

Onsite sessions

Students will take part in hands-on workshops, faculty-led sessions, stakeholder engagement moments, challenge-based teamwork, mentoring, and validation activities. They will diagnose an organisational challenge, redesign processes and stakeholder engagement strategies, prototype solutions, and develop an SDG-linked Action Plan with priorities, risks, resources, and a 90-day roadmap. The week will conclude with a final demo/pitch and feedback from faculty and stakeholders.

 

Follow-up / reflection
Learning is consolidated through short reflective learning logs, a final team pitch/demo, a Team Action Plan, and an individual reflective portfolio.

Learning Objectives

Specific learning objectives include:

• Diagnose a real management or marketing challenge in a Social Economy organisation using a Problem-Based Learning approach.
• Apply the 8Ps of marketing as a management framework, not only as a communication tool.
• Redesign key processes, stakeholder relationships, and value delivery mechanisms.
• Produce an SDG-linked Action Plan with priorities, resources, risks, and a 90-day roadmap.
• Demonstrate purpose-driven leadership through explicit decision criteria and responsible communication.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Analyse a real organisational challenge in the Social Economy sector.
• Apply the 8Ps framework to support strategic decision-making and organisational improvement.
• Co-design realistic and impact-oriented solutions with stakeholders.
• Communicate and defend an action plan through a professional team pitch.
• Work effectively in intercultural and interdisciplinary teams.
• Reflect critically on leadership, ethics, impact, and responsible communication in practice.

 

Which students would find this course useful for them?

This course may be suitable for students from ACE²-EU partner universities enrolled in postgraduate programmes (especially Master’s level), and also for final-year undergraduate students, in fields such as management, marketing, Social Economy, communication, social sciences, public administration, entrepreneurship, and digital/business support.

This course may be suitable for those who have an interest in leadership for impact, stakeholder engagement, organisational strategy, social innovation, challenge-based learning, and working with real organisations in international teams.

Recommended Language Level

English B1–B2

Application Process

Interested applicants should

🔗 Apply here: https://forms.gle/gugoWUB2DcZCjXJX7

 

Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee a place on the programme. Participating institutions apply their own internal selection procedures.

Prior to the start of the course, selected participants will receive a welcome email from the ACE²-EU Alliance containing detailed information and instructions specific to the programme.

 

Further Information

For any further information or queries related to the course, please contact:

pedro.oliveira@esg.ipsantarem.pt