The 8th European Communication Conference of ECREA will be held in Braga, Portugal, 2-5 October 2020. The Local Organizing Committee is based in the Communication and Society Research Centre (Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade - CECS) of the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Minho.
The University of Minho looks forward to hosting the ECREA 2020 conference in the historic Roman city of Bracara Augusta (now called Braga), close to the birthplace of the Portuguese nation in the 12th century, the city of Guimarães. The University of Minho is in the Northern region of the country (bordering the Spanish region of Galicia) and it has two main campi: Braga and Guimarães, 20km Kms apart. The closest international airport is Oporto.
The main theme of the conference is ‘Communication and trust: building safe, sustainable and promising futures’. The conference theme aims to draw attention to vulnerabilities shaped by the speed of technological change and new communicative practices. How can reliable and quality information maintain its relevance in a highly volatile context? How can citizens’ trust in the media be promoted? Which policies should be designed and implemented to restore people’s confidence in public institutions? How to ensure meaningful inclusiveness? What role should media education and literacy play in activating citizenship? How to regulate media conglomerates and internet giants‘' activities and to enforce transparency and the defence of the public interest?
The feeling of fear and uncertainty is expanding and affecting citizens’ confidence in the future. Information and communication technologies are faced with suspicion for what they also mean in terms of surveillance and control. To improve trust in and through communication is a critical concern for present-day and future societies. The role of communication technologies – so often presented as wholly benign – is now being readdressed as a source of additional noise and as a promoter of new risks. The manipulation of information, and the security and the violation of privacy are dangers that cannot be ignored. Far from being synonymous withof transparency and qualified content, information abundance and the access to multiple channels of communication today require additional competences to distinguish between opportunities and threats.
In this conference, communication scholars have the chance to meet and to discuss the relationship between trust and social engagement. It is the right time to discuss the responsibility of communication organizations and professionals forin the production and distribution of consistent, well-intentioned and non-toxic content which is the crucial foundation for promising futures.
The city of Braga and the University of Minho are vibrant locations and we believe that the conference will be challenging in scientific terms but also a rewarding cultural experience.
