The Faculty of Arts of the University of Coimbra (FLUC) hosted, in November 27 and 28, the VII Congress on Literacy, Media and Citizenship, under the theme Behavior, Narratives and Human Rights, organized by GILM (Informal Group on Media Literacy) and supported by the UNESCO Chair in Communication, Media and Information Literacy and Citizenship, of the ESCS-IPL and LIACOM, in addition to several other partners in the media field. 

The 2025 edition featured keynote speakers Adeline Hulin, Head of the Media and Information Literacy and Digital Competencies Unit at UNESCO headquarters, in Paris; Lee Edwards, Professor of Strategic Communications and Public Engagement at the London School of Economics; and Paul Mihailidis, Interim Dean and Professor of Journalism and Civic Media at the School of Communication at Emerson College in Boston (USA).

The two-day program was filled with various plenary sessions, parallel sessions, workshops, and social and cultural initiatives, bringing together experts from various higher education institutions, scientific research centers, and national and international companies, with particular emphasis on the contributions of the LIACOM members.

This was the case with the presentation, on the 27th, of the results of the initiative “Citizenship Week ‘Do I know?’. Contributions of the UNESCO Chair to media literacy and democracy”, by Fernanda Bonacho, Margarida Alpuim, Fátima Lopes Cardoso, Joana Pontes, Maria Duarte Belo, Maria João Centeno, Maria José Mata and Nélia Cruz. 

On the same day, there was also a presentation entitled “Media literacy in news desert contexts: The relevance of community media within Projeto Narrativas,” by Maria Maia, a master’s student in Journalism at ESCS, and LIACOM researchers Fernanda Bonacho and Joana Pontes. 

On the second day of the Congress, Margarida Alpuim participated in the second block of free communications with her presentation, “Psychological insights for more humane communication: Contributions from the Psychology for Journalists project.” 

Near the end of the event, Fernanda Bonacho, holder of the UNESCO Chair in Communication, Media and Information Literacy and Citizenship, coordinator of the Master’s program in Journalism at ESCS and ESCS representative at GILM, moderated plenary session III under the theme “Media, Journalism and Human Rights”. The conversation brought together Bojan Georgievski, from the Inclusive and Creative Media Education project, Matia Losego, from Amnesty International, Matteo Bergamini, from Shout Out UK, and journalist Tiago Carrasco, as well as director Vanessa Rodrigues. 

In the cultural initiatives, Fátima Lopes Cardoso, researcher at LIACOM and coordinator of the Journalism degree at ESCS, was at the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre (TAGV) on the morning of the 26th to discuss the film “Minamata”, by Andrew Levitas, with around 600 students from school groups in Coimbra. “Cinema is waiting for you” is an initiative organized by the National Cinema Plan (PNC), in collaboration with TAGV. 

The VII Congress on Literacy, Media and Citizenship, organized by GILM, brought together dozens of national and international participants with a relevant role in contributing to understanding and reflecting on the rapid transformation of the media ecosystem. It is worth remembering that the 6th edition of the GILM Congress took place at ESCS and was covered by Journalism students.