Thrown into a realistic crisis scenario, Digital Campus Rennes students experience communication under pressure. Over 72 hours, they shift from project creators to strategists facing the unexpected.
Total immersion in the reality of crisis communication
At Digital Campus in Rennes, learning is about more than absorbing concepts. The experience lived by DC2 and DC4 students as part of the Grand Project "Grande Cause / Remise en Cause" is a concrete example of this. It all begins with an abrupt shift: five social-impact start-ups, conceived and developed by the DC5 students, suddenly find themselves facing a major crisis — simulated, but entirely believable.
The scenarios are deliberately grounded in contemporary issues. Embezzlement, artificial intelligence misuse, exploitation of sensitive data, failures in mental health management, and professional guidance fraud: each situation is designed to reflect the real tensions that companies can face today.
Faced with these crises, students have no luxury of theoretical distance. They must react quickly, analyse, understand, and decide. Within 72 hours, they move into action mode. This approach is fully aligned with the Digital Campus Rennes pedagogy, built on a "test and learn" mindset where experimentation becomes a central driver of learning.
Learning to decide, collaborate, and take on strategic roles
In this simulation, students do not work alone. Teams are deliberately mixed across year groups to recreate dynamics close to the professional world. Very quickly, each student takes on a specific role: spokesperson, communications director, legal adviser, community manager. This division of responsibilities forces the group to structure its collective thinking.
The challenge goes beyond simply producing deliverables. Students must first qualify the crisis: understand its origin, assess its impact, and anticipate its consequences. They then build a coherent response strategy. This involves drafting a press release, creating a debunking video, and defining a communication approach tailored to different audiences.
This work calls on a wide range of skills: critical analysis, storytelling, command of digital tools, project management, and collective intelligence. But it also demands essential human qualities: composure, listening, and the ability to argue and defend a position.
At Digital Campus in Rennes, this collaborative and immersive approach reflects a strong conviction: digital careers are not learned solely in the classroom, but through real situations. Students become active participants in their own education, confronted with complex challenges that push them out of their comfort zone.
Facing the pressure: a revealing exercise
The experience reaches its peak during the final press conference. For 30 minutes, teams must defend their strategy in front of a jury, answer sometimes unsettling questions, and maintain a professional composure despite the pressure.
This exercise shines a light on a frequently underestimated aspect: the ability to stand behind a decision. Having a good strategy is not enough — you also need to know how to present it, justify it, and own it. In a crisis context, every word counts, and every statement can shape public perception.
This moment acts as a revealing test. It allows students to gauge their strengths as well as their areas for growth. Some discover their ease in front of an audience; others become aware of the importance of preparation or stress management.
This real-life scenario illustrates Digital Campus Rennes's commitment to developing agile profiles capable of adapting to uncertain environments. In a constantly evolving digital world, technical skills alone are no longer enough: you must also be able to navigate the unexpected and make informed decisions.
A formative experience beyond technical skills
Beyond the deliverables and skills acquired, this type of exercise leaves a lasting impression. It confronts students with situations close to those they will encounter in their professional lives. It teaches them to react, collaborate, and make decisions in an environment of uncertainty.
This immersion in crisis communication highlights an essential reality: in digital as elsewhere, nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Knowing how to handle the unexpected becomes a key skill.
At Digital Campus in Rennes, this pedagogical approach gives meaning to learning. It helps students understand why they are learning, and above all how to put their skills to concrete use.