Unveiling the NordMedia25 Conference Theme: “Imagining Livable Futures”

We’re delighted to unveil the theme for NordMedia25 Conference: “Imagining Livable Futures”. Hosted by the University of Southern Denmark, the conference will focus on forging paths towards alternative visions of society and its mediations. Join us in Odense from 13–15 August 2025.

The world faces a multitude of crises impacting all aspects of life. Climate change, wars, pandemics, and the damaging consequences of misinformation are grand challenges that continue to demand great effort and coordination. They force us to reflect upon our collective habits, and whether our current way of living is even possible in the future. Emerging media technologies appear to point to novel solutions, while creating new problems as well. For instance, will so-called artificial intelligence contribute to solving epochal crises? Or will these technologies exacerbate inequalities, resource consumption, and the proliferation of disinformation?

The Nordmedia 2025: Imagining Livable Futures conference aims to engage with these discussions and forge paths towards alternative visions of society and its mediations, thereby inviting research that is committed to imagining otherwise, to intervening, and even daring to advocate for alternative solutions. Through decades of research, the fields of journalism, media, and communication have generated extensive knowledge on pressing matters of mediatisation, platformisation, datafication, and the nuanced ways in which media technologies structure our everyday lives, spanning a continuum from consent to imposition. By “imagining livable futures”, we want to move from diagnosing and understanding, to pushing for constructive change. We invite scholars in the fields of journalism and media and communication studies to take the next step with their research, to elucidate its potential for impact on society and to thoroughly assess the ethical implications of acting (and not acting).

Consequently, we invite contributions that deepen our understandings of how communication, media practices, and digital technologies can be part of imagining livable futures. We welcome studies that move beyond diagnosing towards proposing actionable solutions. The Nordmedia 2025: Imagining Livable Futures conference will be held in Odense, the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, whose works famously advocated for empathy and social change. His legacy enriches the conference’s mission to imagine and support alternative journalism, media and communication futures, making the city a fitting backdrop for hopeful disruption.

About the NordMedia conference

The NordMedia25 conference is set to take place on 13–15 August 2025, with a pre-conference for doctoral students scheduled for 12 August. 

This conference is being co-hosted by Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). There will be a local organising committee and a Nordic academic committee that consists of the representatives of the national research associations from Sweden (FSMK), Finland (Mevi), Norway (NML), Denmark (SmiD), and Nordicom

NordMedia is a biennial conference for Nordic media and communication researchers organised by the national Nordic media researcher associations together with Nordicom. It was organised in 1973 for the first time.

We kindly encourage you to monitor the NordMedia Conference homepage on our platform for forthcoming updates and further information regarding the conference.

NordMedia25 Conference Welcomes You to the Hometown of Hans Christian Andersen

We take great pleasure in announcing that the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in the beautiful city of Odense will serve as the host institution for the NordMedia Conference in 2025.

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