The II European Communication Conference organized by the European Communication and Education Research Association (ECREA) was celebrated in Barcelona, 25-28 November 2008. This conference aimed at bringing together specialists studying the role of communications and media in society, with a special emphasis on European challenges.
Read below Professor Claudia Padovani's report on the 2008 ECREA Conference.
ECREA Conference in Barcelona – Short Report
By Claudia Padovani
Dear IAMCR member, it is my pleasure to write a few lines to let you all know that the II European Communication Conference organized by the European Communication and Education Research Association in Barcelona has been a success.
I have been asked by Annabelle Sreberny to follow the event also on behalf of IAMCR, since the two organizations are developing joint initiatives and, as François Heinderyckx, President of ECREA, put it in the Opening Plenary, they are in fact “sister associations”. Actually quite a number of IAMCR members from the European region attended (total attendance was well above 600) and they will certainly be able to tell you how efficient the whole organization was and how nicely we have been welcomed by the local organizers, Miquel de Moragas director of InCom and Josep-Maria Blanco Dean of the Faculty of Communication at UAB.
As you may recall, ECREA was established in 2005 and held its first Conference in Amsterdam that year. At that time the membership was of about 150 scholars, while now the Association counts 1500 members, 15 thematic sections and 2 networks. These numbers prove the intense and fast growth of an entity which already represent a well consolidated reality for academic European community, offering a space of dialogue and scientific debate. And yet ECREA is definitely interested in strengthening its cooperation at the international level, with IAMCR and ICA as well as with other regional and national associations.
The conference title “Communication Policies and Culture in Europe” was addressed in plenary and semi-plenary sessions; and we enjoyed interesting presentations concerning the Catalan culture, creatively staged also through video shows, and engaging discussions about the relevance and role of communication scholars in the European context, including in relation to the EU policy environment. Lively thematic panels have been stimulating settings for encounter between western and eastern European scholars, but also for colleagues coming from other regional contexts.
At the Assembly held on November 28 the membership voted to confirm the ECREA board, led by François Heinderyckx and coordinated by Nico Carpentier, and now composed of a number of estimated colleagues who will perform several tasks, including mapping media and communication studies in the region, outreach and networking.
Finally I would like to mention that the President of ECREA and the local organizers invited us to celebrate our colleague and friend Ole Prehn during the Closing plenary session, as a sign of friendship to him and the whole IAMCR family.
To learn more about the conference, to see the programme and download the abstract book, please visit the conference official website .
Claudia Padovani
Download this report as a PDF file.