Envisioning the Future of Communication: Challenges · Trends · Opportunities

The aim of the conference is to be a meeting point for academics, researchers and professionals in the field of communication to discuss the latest developments, challenges, trends and opportunities as well as to outline the future of communication. Keynote speakers at the conference are leading academics in the field of communication, distinguished journalists and industry executives. The conference focuses -but not limited- on the following topics:

• Communication Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management
• Social Media and the Public Media
• Audience, fake news and citizen misinformation
• Corporate communication and public relations
• Political communication
• The role of mass media in shaping public opinion

The scientific conference “Envisioning the Future of Communication: Challenges · Trends · Opportunities”, held on 13-14 December 2021 at the Grand Amphitheater of the University of Western Macedonia, in Kastoria, completed its work with great success. The Conference was organized by the Department of Communication and Digital Media, the Laboratory of Digital Media and Strategic Communication and the Laboratory of Social and Immigration Studies. 

 This “hybrid” conference was attended by over 60 renowned academics and researchers from Greek and foreign universities, as well as professionals from the field of Communication, in order to outline the future of communication from various aspects. The participation both online and in person was very important, as more than 350 students attended the conference live. 

The presentations and further discussion revolved around topics related to crisis communication management, media and social media, as well as misinformation, corporate and political communication, public relations and the role of social media in shaping opinion. of the public. Important contributions approached these issues from different perspectives, inspiring further research and development. The audience watching from the Grand Amphitheater as well as the live broadcast, asked questions to the speakers who participated, some live and others online, giving a spirit of dialogue and fertile ground for constructive discussions, as interesting positions were heard. 

Invited speakers at the Conference were Ms. Bianca Fox, Professor at Nottingham Trent University and King’s College London, and Mr. Nikos Demertzis, Professor of Political Communication and Political Sociology at the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Athens and Director and Chairman of the Board ΕΚΚΕ.

In her presentation, Ms. Bianca Fox analyzed how the future, like the present, of communication is inextricably linked to artificial intelligence, while Mr. Demertzis spoke about the concept of ultra-modernity as a consequence of digital society and meta- while highlighting the dangers of the various types of information disruption on the internet.

The Conference will be available online for the next few days at the following links: