Chiara Valentini

• PhD in Organizational Communication and Public Relations, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 2008
• MA in Public Relations, University of Udine, Italy, 2003

• Public Relations and Relationships management
• Public Diplomacy and Political Communication
• Public Communication and Public Governance
• International/ Intercultural Communication
• European Union

Research Projects

• New media at the service of the citizens: Italian public administrations and e-democracy projects (2007- 2008).
  The aim of this study was to analyze how certain Italian public administrations applied policies on e-democracy and e-governance into projects that facilitate citizens’ participation and involvement in local decision-making. Three relevant projects were chosen and analyzed. These were Iperbole of the municipality of Bologna, Mo-Net/Unox1 of the municipality of Modena and Partecipa.net of the Emilia- Romagna Region. This project was developed in joint cooperation with Dr. Giorgia Nesti, University of Padua, Italy.
• Promoting the European Union. Comparative analysis of EU communication strategies in Finland and in Italy (2004-2007).
  This research was an analysis of how the European Commission and its DG for Communication, the Finnish and Italian representations of the European Commission and Finnish and Italian EU offices at the regional and local levels communicated with their different publics during the period 2001- 2006. The research was based on a multi-level (European versus national) and comparative (Finnish versus Italian) approach standing on organizational communication and public relations theories but including as well some of the theories of public diplomacy, community relations and marketing communication. The methodologies applied were based on a triangulation of different techniques such as content and document analyses, qualitative analyses of an online survey and of face-to-face interviews and a meta-analysis of existing public opinion reports. The main qualitative empirical study consisted in five parts: the study of five EU documents on information and communication policies developed between 2001 and 2006 and their effects on member states’ implementation; the Finnish and Italian communication strategies through the analysis of EU officers’ activities at the local level; the analyses of different Eurobarometer surveys about citizens’ EU perceptions; the study of EU media relations and the examination of some EU information campaigns as a tool for enhancing organizational image and trust and citizens’ support.
• Comparing professions. How Italian journalists and public relations practitioners perceive their and the other profession (2007).
  The aim of this study was to analyze, understand and rationalize how journalists and PR practitioners perceive themselves and value the other profession; how they evaluate their professional roles, working methods and relationships and their opinions on Italian news. This study was conducted with the support of FERPI (Italian Federation of Public Relations) and FNSI (Italian National Press Federation). It was based both on qualitative data, collected through face-to-face interviews with 6 senior PR practitioners and 6 journalists, and on quantitative data gathered through an online questionnaire. The quantitative sample consisted of 562 people. This project was developed in joint cooperation with Dr. Toni Muzi Falconi, University of LUMSA, Rome, Italy.
• The activities of the Italian centers 'Europe Direct' for the involvement of civil society (2007).
  The scope of this investigation was to study which tools and actions the Italian centers 'Europe Direct' developed and implemented between September 2006 and May 2007 for establishing stronger relationships with the organizations of the civil society and for a more active involvement of these organizations in EU debates. This study had two priorities: first, to know the status of the Italian civic activism in relation to the activities developed by the centers 'Europe Direct', and second, to examine how these centers improve their interaction capacity with the organizations of the civil society on the basis of the results obtained. The methods applied were content analysis of documents produced by 38 centers 'Europe Direct' and a qualitative analysis of phone interviews with the main responsible person of each centre. This project was commissioned by the Italian Representation of the European Commission, Rome, Italy.
• The Communication Quality of Kuriiri Project (2004).
  The aim of this study was to analyze the communication quality and management of a public organization that administers international projects. Specifically communication quality was considered as an indicator of functionality and efficiency of Keski-Suomen Yhteisöjen Tuki (KYT) - the Supporting Association for Third Sector Organizations in Central Finland - towards their international partners. The data were gathered through personal interviews with the main officers of KYT, content analyses of briefing and minutes’ material, field observations and an online questionnaire sent during the summer 2004 and were analyzed through a new re-elaboration of the balanced scorecard for public institutions. The project was commissioned by Keski-Suomen Yhteisöjen Tuki.
• The Euro 2002 Information Campaign: Analysis and Evaluation of the National Advertising Campaigns (2002- 2003).
  The aim of this research was to analyze and compare the national advertising campaigns developed by twelve EU countries for the introduction of the euro. The twelve countries, which introduced the new currency, were divided by communication strategy adopted and compared each other by media evaluations and communication effects (message content), and then assessed mostly on the basis of “recognition”, “recall”, and results achieved.
  

Academic experience

• Assistant Professor, Department of Language and Business Communication, Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University, Denmark, 2008-
• Researcher, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 2004-2008
• University mentor, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 2004-2008
• Lecturer, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 2004-2005
• Guest-Lecturer, Department of International School of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, Finland, 2004-2005
• University tutor for Italian culture and language by Laurentian University, Sudbury, Canada, 2001-2002

National and international memberships

• EUPRERA member (European Public Relations Education and Research Association)
• ECREA member (European Communication Research and Education Association)
• ICA member (International Communication Association)
• AMEC member (Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication)

Service

• Member of the Pride Committee of NCA (National Communication Association)
• Reviewer of the scientific papers submitted to the Public Relations Division for the Annual Conference of NCA (National Communication Association)
• Reviewer of the scientific papers submitted to the Public Relations and Political Communication Divisions of the Annual Conference ICA (International Communication Association)

Awards

• Outstanding Academic Achievement for the Master thesis “The Euro 2002 Information Campaign: Analysis and Evaluation of the National Advertising Campaigns”, awarded by the Committee of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Udine, Italy, 2003
• Recipient of the Erasmus Mundus Full Year Scholarship, granted by the University of Udine, Italy, for studying at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Canada, 2001
• Four times recipient of the ERDISU Scholarship for Outstanding Students. This scholarship is yearly granted to university students who distinguish themselves for their academic merits. Granted by the centre ERDISU of the University of Udine, Italy, 1998-2001

Professional activities

CONSULTING ACTIVITIES

• Providing support and advice to different organizations, institutes and professional people in the fields of communications and public relations by working on specific project-related tasks (2004 -)

OTHER PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES

• Media analyst at the research institute Media Tenor AG, Zurich, Switzerland, 2007-2008
• Communication Officer for DG Communication, Representation of the European Commission in Rome, Italy, 2007
• Localisation tester/employee representative by LionBridge, Tampere, Finland, 2004-2005
• Project manager by Tulossilta Ltd., Tampere, Finland, 2003
• Manager assistant by the International European Movement in Brussels, Belgium, 2002
• Market researcher by S.P.P.A. Partners, Verona, Italy, 2001
• Journalist for the Public Relations Faculty newspaper, Gorizia, Italy, 2001