As many as 270 students of the National University of Sciences and Technology attended the third and final session of Shabash Pakistan, held at the main campus of NUST here on Tuesday.
Shabash Pakistan is a nation branding movement started by NUST and School of Leadership. The movement had been aimed at reviving patriotism and “Pakistaniyat” in the youth of the country and to inculcate among them a sense of contribution towards nation building. Shabash Pakistan was a series of three one-day sessions scheduled for four universities namely NUST, Bahria, COMSATS and Air University. The theme of the third and final session was Social Action Projects.
While building the capacity of the youth through Social Action Projects, this campaign had also been striving to create a positive image of Pakistan in the international arena.
The participants were to come up with action plans for the problems they had identified in earlier sessions. The session specifically emphasized on “Leadership in Action not Position” campaign.
Subsequently, there ensued a discussion with project leaders about their experience of bringing in positive changes. Talking about the difficulties they faced while making efforts to achieve their goals, the leaders presented their project reports.
These reports proved important in establishing authenticity of the project and provided a platform for the youth all across the world to join in with their efforts even if they were not a part of the Shabash Pakistan programme.
An interactive session titled “Showcasing Pakistani Legend” followed the discussion and included stories from a number of fields like sports, arts, science and technology, and music.
The session was aimed at inspiring and motivating the youth not to underestimate their potential but to strive hard in order to carve out a niche among those who have excelled in the same circumstances they were facing now. The important part of the main event revolved around the topic of nation branding. With the example of different brands, the participants were told about the power of perception and the way the brands created influenced the minds of consumers.
Connecting this to the concept of nation branding, the importance of communication was emphasized in a sense that the message being given out was in fact the reflection of the nation brand and all were the PR agents and brand ambassadors of the nation. During the session, it was emphasized to leverage the social and digital media for creating the image of the nation as a brand throughout the world. The session ended with the review of “Plan Action” by the participants for sustaining their current projects, while also helping each other understand the ways they could involve the society in their projects for the benefit of all.