EUPRERA: Public Relations Education and Research organisation

The European Public Relations Education and Research Association, "is an autonomous organization that aims at stimulating and promoting the knowledge and practice of public relations education and research in Europe." This association considers the academic staff and researchers as their basic target group.

The mission of EUPRERA is to inform their members about the new trends in the educational field and the most recent developments concerning research.

EUPRERA's objectives are the following:

• Collecting, communicating and exchanging all forms of public relations research among those who are involved or interested in such research.
• Encouraging fundamental and applied research.
• Examining the education models in the different countries in order to connect this type of education with the world of practice.
• Studying public relations methods as well as their promotion

Today, there are currently 55 institutions accross Europe who are EUPRERA members.
Euprera organises a series of conferences and congresses in order to discuss and "unify" the type of practices that each country uses and promote research and Public Relations Education.
I trully find it fascinating the way that EUPRERA tries to bring together the academic thought along with practical experiences from Europe in order to provide PR Practitioners with information concerning the evolution in the PR industry. For this Association, Education and Training is the best solution for better practices.

The Euroblog 2008, EUPRERA Spring Symbosium is an upcoming event where EUPRERA members will discuss about the Social Media and the future of PR
To know more about about EUPRERA: www.euprera.org
To know more about Euroblog 2008: www.euroblog2008.org

CIPR : The guardian angel of PR Education?

The CIPR is considered as the "eyes, ears and voice of the Public Relations industry". With 9000 members worldwide the institute "represents and serves the interests of people working in public relations in the UK and abroad. " The CIPR fights for a better, "healthier" public relations profession. 

 It is "committed to enhancing professional standards in public relations through the emphasis on education training and lifelong learning initiatives in their strategy".

As a worldwide-based institute it has managed to provide to young people who want to enter the industry the CIPR Diploma which is taught in more than 13 countries around the world.

As Lis Lewis Jones, President of the CIPR stated:"The CIPR Diploma provides practitioners with the knowledge and understanding of theory and practice to develop as effective and efficient professionals" 

The Institute also has the ability to approve university public relations degrees both Bachelor and Master degrees in combination with the publishing of a number of books concerning the public relations practices.

With a range of research and surveys it has proved that having a pr degree or certificate,young PR Practitioners can easily be employed in comparison to a PR Practitioner who has not got a PR degree.

Mark Ramsdale, head of education policy of the CIPR believes that : " Graduates from these courses show a real commitment to their chosen profession. They also hit the ground running when they start their PR Careers and ,because their training gives them a real insight into what it's like to work in PR"

The CIPR focuses on education and training for its members. It makes PR Education important for young PR Practitioners and at the same time it gives the profession greater status.

Can the CIPR be the guardian angel of PR Education? It certainly makes a big effort in making PR Degrees an integral piece of the PR world