Special Issue "Public Diplomacy, Social Responsibility and Place Branding: A Glocal Perspective"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xavier Ginesta Portet
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Communication, Faculty of Business and Communication, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, 08500 Vic, Spain
Interests: sports diplomacy; place branding; communication and sport; geopolitics and corporate social responsibility; local governance
Dr. Jordi de San Eugenio Vela
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Communication, Faculty of Business and Communication, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, Vic 08500, Spain
Interests: place branding; public diplomacy; cultural landscapes; humanistic geography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As a transdisciplinary research field, “place branding” is an evolution of what some authors have understood as “place or city marketing”, “place selling”, and “place promotion”. However, place branding rejects the corporate world in order to address, as positioning axes, the tangible and intangible values of a specific territory and, therefore, of managing its identity. On the one hand, the existing literature highlights how citizens’ engagement, at the grassroots level, has become a key element for the successful conceptualization and implementation of place brands. On the other hand, the current discipline of place branding is totally linked to the political order.

Public administrations become key actors in the development of place branding campaigns: in local, national, and international levels. The crisis of nation-states in a context of global regionalization, the need to adapt public policies to the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations, the need to atract new talent in order to improve regional economies, or the search for a sustainable tourism industry are some examples of the challenges public administrations are facing in the 21st century.

Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the interaction between place branding strategies and the specific design/implementation of public policies. In this vein, the analysis of the synergies among four basic concepts can make a significant and new contribution to this research field: the place brand, its purpose to contribute to sustainable planning and development, its influence on public governance decisions, and finally, its capacity to be central in the definition of public diplomacy programs outside the usual state-centric domain.

The aim of this Special Issue is to strengthen the communalities among these four research areas presented in the previous paragraph. Hence, submissions around the following themes are welcomed:

  • Place branding in the context of multidisciplinary research in Social Sciences;
  • Public diplomacy as a place branding technique, or vice versa?
  • Place branding and/or public diplomacy as a strategy of soft power;
  • Place branding at a grassroots level;
  • The interactions between place branding and sustainable development;
  • Place branding as a tool for place management and sustainable planning;
  • Place branding and its relationship with strategic spatial planning;
  • Place branding and public diplomacy for non-state actors;
  • Place branding: from physical boundaries to mental borders. A new geopolitical order?
  • Sport place branding.

Dr. Xavier Ginesta Portet
Dr. Jordi de San Eugenio Vela
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • place branding
  • sport place branding
  • public diplomacy
  • sports diplomacy
  • cultural diplomacy
  • geopolitics
  • corporate social responsibility
  • local governance
  • sustainable development

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Integrated Social Value at Universities: A Guarantee for Public Subsidies
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5975; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115975 - 26 May 2021
Viewed by 659
Abstract
The objective of this work was to monetize the integrated social value generated by a university during an academic year to justify the use of public grants received and determine their relationship with the institution’s stakeholders. Monetization allows us to analyze the efficiency [...] Read more.
The objective of this work was to monetize the integrated social value generated by a university during an academic year to justify the use of public grants received and determine their relationship with the institution’s stakeholders. Monetization allows us to analyze the efficiency in the use of received subsidies. The methodology used herein was the polyhedral model, which was applied to a university during the 2017–2018 academic year in order to reflect the financial and social accounting of the institution, its relationship with stakeholders, and its efficiency in economic and social management. The results of the study highlighted the monetization of the activity of the UVic-UCC over the course of 2017–2018, guaranteeing the economic and social efficiency and dynamization of the University, as well as information regarding the return to the Public Administration by the institution and the good use of the grants it received. The monetization of economic transactions and the value variables of stakeholders allowed us to assess the impact of the institution and the added value it created. The findings indicated that the integrated social value of the UVic-UCC in the 2017–2018 academic year was EUR 64,268,260, and this guaranteed the good economic and social management of the institution and the good use of the grants it received. Full article
Article
Transmission of Place Branding Values through Experiential Events: Wine BC Case Study
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3002; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063002 - 10 Mar 2021
Viewed by 578
Abstract
Sustainability is to promote economic growth that generates equitable wealth for all without harming the environment, becoming one of the objectives that serve as a starting point for many place branding strategies. Cultural heritage, environmental sustainability, and the valorization of the territory are [...] Read more.
Sustainability is to promote economic growth that generates equitable wealth for all without harming the environment, becoming one of the objectives that serve as a starting point for many place branding strategies. Cultural heritage, environmental sustainability, and the valorization of the territory are nowadays unavoidable elements to sustain brands. This research analyzes the transmission of place branding values through experiential events, as a formula for business improvement according to the principles of sustainable development. The research is focused on the case of wine in British Columbia (Canada). The methodology applied was based on a theoretical framework as a starting point for the study. From there, on the one hand, an analysis of the contents of the events carried out by the winegrowers of British Columbia during the harvest months in 2019 and 2020 has been carried out. On the other hand, interviews were conducted with relevant professionals and academics in the sector in order to determine the extent to which they meet the needs of promotion of the site, taking into account the impact on the sustainability of the territory. The results show the link between the events and the territory brand, which is a means to generate growth through wine tourism promoted by the wineries, thus revaluing the winegrowing landscape and, in general, the traditions of the place, among others. There is also a need to look for strategies that seek collaboration between the public and private sectors to improve the creation of integrated events that transmit the branding values of the place. Events are a tool to generate territory branding and can, if well-conceived, contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). In the case study, the results show that the vast majority of events organized by BC wineries aim to promote place branding within the framework of sustainability. A methodology that could be applicable to other territories and countries. Full article
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