ECREA Barcelona 2008

From 25 to 28 November Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona will be hosting the European Communication Conference (ECREA Barcelona 2008) entitled Communication Policies and Culture in Europe. Close to one thousand communication researchers from forty different countries spanning four continents are attending this four-day conference at the International Conventions Centre of Barcelona (CCIB).

The official opening took place on 25 November at 12am with the participation of François Heinderyckx, President of ECREA; Josep M. Blanco, Dean of the UAB Faculty of Communications Studies; and Miquel de Moragas, Director of the Communication Institute (InCom-UAB).

During the opening session, the President of ECREA highlighted the suitability of UAB organising this type of event, since the Univeristy is internationally known for its research in communications and for its experience in organising such large-scaled scientific events. The Dean of the UAB Faculty of Communications Sciences pointed out the importance of debating on communication policies and culture in Europe in such changing times and found particularly important the participation of experts trained in both the fields of communication research and politics. Finally, the Director of InCom-UAB declared the conference an essential opportunity to exchange experiences in communication research and share with society the current communications scenario in Europe.

More than 700 research communications are being presented in fifteen different thematic sections, and focus on the current situation of communication means in Europe, new forms of regulation and deregulation, and the convergence of technologies, cultural industries and new public service tasks.

The ECREA Barcelona 2008 conference has been organised by the UAB Faculty of Communications Sciences and the Communications Institute (InCom-UAB), in collaboration with the UAB Foundation (FUAB). It has received the support of the Spanish and Catalan governments, the Provincial Council of Barcelona and the City Council of Barcelona. The European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) is the largest European association of communication researchers and one of the most well-known in the world. It is currently formed by a total of fifteen research sections, the same number of sections which the Barcelona Conference communications are divided into. Some of the sections include: Audience and Reception Studies; Communication and Democracy; Diaspora, Migration and the Media; Digital Culture and Communication; Gender and Communication; and Interpersonal Communication and Social Interaction.

Plenary Sessions
The opening and closing ceremonies consist in two plenary sessions; the former chaired by the UAB Faculty of Communications Sciences and the latter by the Communications Institute (InCom-UAB).

The opening session is dedicated to the conference's main topic: Communication Policies and Culture in Europe, and includes the participation of Dr Joan Manuel Tresserras, Minister for Culture and Media of the Catalan Government and Professor at the UAB Faculty of Communications Sciences; Dr Marju Laristin, former Minister for Social Affairs in Estonia (1992-1994) and Emeritus Professor at Tartu University; and Dr Philip Schlesinger, Professor of Cultural Policy and Academic Director of the Centre for Cultural Policy Research (CCPR) at the University of Glasgow.

The closing session will focus on Cultural Expressions and Universal Symbols. The Experience of Catalonia, with the participation of Paolo Fabbri, Semiologist; Xavier Rubert de Ventós, Professor of Aesthetics at the Open University of Catalonia; Josep Bargalló, Director of the Institut Ramón Llull; and Dr Miquel de Moragas, Director of InCom-UAB. The session will include the presentation of an audiovisual report on this topic created especially for the conference by Televisió de Catalunya.