Project/funding identification
UID/PRR/00736/2025
Funding programme
UID 2023/2024 PRR Evaluation
FCT, I.P.; Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), ‘Recuperar Portugal – NextGenerationEU’ Mission Framework. Investment C05-i13 – Scientific Research Units (PRR) (recuperarportugal.gov.pt )
Lead institution:
University of Minho
Coordinator:
Madalena Oliveira
Description of the R&D unit:
With over 20 years’ experience and a strong commitment to interpreting communication as a process central to the organisation of societies and the promotion of participatory communities, the Centre for Communication and Society Studies (CECS) is a leading R&D unit in the field of Communication Sciences. Based on an inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary approach to communication phenomena and practices, its mission combines fundamental and applied research with civic engagement involving broad interaction with institutions, public officials and citizens in general. Bringing together a dynamic, entrepreneurial and creative team of researchers with diverse expertise in the social sciences and a commitment to fostering critical thinking, the CECS pays particular attention to the challenges facing contemporary societies, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Activity Plan 2025–2029:
In line with its established track record and a consistent programme focused on promoting safer, more inclusive and creative communities, the CECS has drawn up an action plan for the period 2025–2029 aimed at proposing a new ecology of communication. With a view to analysing the effects of the globalisation of information technologies and the new risks and challenges posed by the ‘platformisation’ of societies, this unit’s strategic project for the coming years combines fundamental and applied research within a holistic approach to current communication systems. The contribution of communication technologies and networks to the acceleration of work rhythms, the extension of algorithmic control to all dimensions of life, and the perversion of a development model obsessed with economic gain have inspired a conceptual proposal centred on the principle of ‘slow and reflective communication’ that promotes social and cultural detoxification. By seeking to demystify the notion that the hyper-production of information content is synonymous with progress, the CECS is committed to rethinking communication as a common good, as the key to shaping more balanced societies, governed by an ethic of care, empathy and solidarity.
Objectives:
Within the framework of the seven action-research infrastructures established in previous years (MilObs, PolObs, BIP, Communitas, Passeio, the Virtual Museum of the Lusophone World and CreateLab) and building on the work of three groups (1. Media and Journalism; 2. Culture, Arts and Communities; and 3. Strategic Communication, Organisations and Territories), this unit presents a research agenda focused on four general objectives: a) to critically examine the concept of ‘slow communication’ and its relationship with the promotion of social balance; b) to promote the curation of works that favour the preservation of cultural heritage; c) to participate in the formulation of public policies that promote inclusion and participation; and d) to establish benchmarks for a communication ecosystem tailored to the necessary rebalancing of social and cultural development.
Total eligible cost:
€142,230.00
Implementation period:
1 January 2025 to 30 June 2026
List of equipment purchased:
©Universidade do Minho. Todos os direitos reservados. Com apoio do FCT.
O website da cecs.uminho.pt foi desenvolvido no âmbito do projeto UID/CCI/00736/2013, financiado pelo COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007560 e pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), sendo atualmente apoiado pelo projeto UIDB/00736/2020, financiado pela FCT.
