Hosted by the South African Research Chair in Science Communication
On 11 November 2022, we hosted our Eco Communications: Interdisciplinary Southern/African Encounters Symposium at the CREST Auditorium at Stellenbosch University. The symposium brought together various stakeholders such as ecologists, scientists, educators, policy experts and media, communication & creative industries researchers and practitioners.
The symposium drew from important provocations of Antonio Lopez in his 2021 book, Ecomedia Literacy. There, he compellingly argues that research and pedagogy in media literacy in specific, and arguably in communications research broadly conceived, require a new theoretical language that integrates the ecological and environmental. Instead of studying media as part of culture and politics – that is, as constructions of human endeavour and society and thereby, as dualistic in relation to nature – they need to be conceptualized as inherently part of it.
Professor Iqani, the Research Chair in Science Communications, highlighted the significance of the symposium by stating that the field of ecomedia has mostly stemmed from global north scholarship while global African perspectives remained underrepresented. There is a huge opportunity to consider the nexus of eco-communications in greater theoretical and empirical detail from African perspectives, which the symposium aimed to address.
Our keynote speaker, Dr Fortunate Phaka, spoke about the importance of transdisciplinary approaches to ecocommunications as it is necessary for the inclusivity of communities who speak different languages and use various skills and approaches to the environment which will make the field richer in research and in practice. He emphasized that at the heart of the field is learning from different communities and understanding their insights as there are multiple interpretations of knowledge.
Symposium presenters shared video abstracts of their presentations which provide a broad overview of what they had presented. The videos can be viewed on the Imidibaniso YouTube Channel. There are plans currently underway for publication opportunities which will encompass speakers’ presentations and invited collaborators.