Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group

The objective of this Working Group is to provide a forum at IAMCR conferences and beyond for scholars researching in the field of environmental, science and risk communication to present and discuss their research. A second objective is to provide a focal point - through the visibility afforded via IAMCR for contact and networking among scholars interested in this sub-field of media and communication research.

Co-chair: Kerrie Foxwell-Norton (Griffith University, Australia) [contact]
Co-chairMaitreyee Mishra (Manipal Institute of Communication, MAHE, India & Universität Heidelberg, Germany) [contact]
Vice-chair: Joana Díaz-Pont (Autonomous university of Barcelona, Political Science and Public Law, Spain) [contact]
Vice-chair: Pieter Maeseele (University of Antwerp, Belgium) [contact]

As environmental challenges, notably climate change and its impacts, rise exponentially in all parts of the world, communication becomes ever more critical to developing our responses to realised and impending crises. From local communities to the global network of communication and media that crisscross the globe, communication about our local places and environments is pervasive. The Environment, Science and Risk Communication working group of the IAMCR held its first session in 1988 and has since focused its attention on interdisciplinary and multi-methodological approaches to environmental and science communication, such as political ecology; social and deep ecology; feminist theory; public sphere; political theory; political economy; cultural studies; geography, science, and technology studies; history; literary studies; film studies and many others.

Deeply international in nature, we explore the role of media and other stakeholders in reporting and communicating about a plethora of environmental issues that include climate change, energy-related conflicts, conservation, and others. Examples of topic areas include: environmental and science communication, activism and journalism; social and political constructions of Nature; corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting; spin and news management of environmental conflict and scientific controversies; public understanding, participation and engagement with science and the environment; risk and disaster communication; Indigenous perspectives on Nature and the non-human.

As a WG, we are particularly committed to the inclusion of diverse ontologies and epistemologies that capture the global environmental experiences and the human/nature relations therein. Our working group pursues issues of social and environmental justice - in our own conduct and in supporting a global community of researchers who in various ways, seek the same.

See the list of all current members of the Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group. For more information about a given member, go to https://iamcr.org/members-contact (accessible only to IAMCR members).


The Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group regularly issues newsletters with information of interest to its members. The current issue includes information about IAMCR 2022, a pre-conference event, awards and a call for papers for a special issue of Science Communication.
IAMCR's Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group invites the submission of proposals for papers and panels for IAMCR 2022, which will be held online from 11 to 15 July 2022. The conference will also have a national hub at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The deadline for submission is 9 February 2021, at 23.59 UTC.
The Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group (ESR) will be holding online elections for two co-Chair and three Vice-Chair positions, for the term 2021 - 2025. The deadline to submit candidacies is 16 May.
The Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group regularly issues newsletters with information of interest to its members. The April newsletter includes information about IAMCR 2021 reviewing process, a CfP and a call for expressions of interest of an ESR webinar.
The Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group of IAMCR received 73 abstracts out of which 48 were accepted. In the end, about 240 reviews were carried out by a team of 57 of our peers whom we are most thankful for their engagement. See the list of reviewers here.
The Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group issued its first newsletter of the year with information of interest to its members, including a call for expressions of interest for an ESR webinar and reminders of upcoming deadlines.
IAMCR's Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group invites the submission of proposals for single papers and multi-paper sessions (the online conference equivalent of a panel in a face to face conference) for IAMCR 2021, which will be held online from 11 to 15 July, with a regional hub in Nairobi, Kenya. The deadline for submission is 9 February 2021, at 23.59 UTC.
IAMCR's Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group invites the submission of abstracts of papers and proposals for panels for the 2020 conference of the Association, which will be held from 12 to 16 July, 2020 at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
Proposals for papers to be published in a joint initiative of the Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group of IAMCR and the Science and Environment Communication Section of ECREA will be received until 15 February 2018. The book will be published in the IAMCR/Palgrave Series "Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research".
This report from Pieter Maeseele, chair of the Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group, was sent to the members of the group in November 2017.
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) will hold its annual conference from 20-24 June 2018 at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
IAMCR's Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group invites proposals that reflect the section's interest. 
The IAMCR Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group will run partial elections for a co-vice chair position during its business meeting during the IAMCR2017 at Cartagena.
You can find here the call and the statements.
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) will hold its annual conference from 16-20 July, 2017 in Cartagena, Colombia. IAMCR's Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group invites proposals that reflect the the section's interest. 
The IAMCR Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group invites submissions of abstracts for papers for the 2016 IAMCR conference to be held from July 27-31 July, 2016 at the University of Leicester in the UK. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2016.
The Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group invites submissions of abstracts for papers for the 2015 IAMCR conference to be held from 12-16 July, 2015 at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal, Canada.
IAMCR Hyderabad 2014Annual Conference of the International Association for Media and Communication ResearchHyderabad, India - 15-19 July, 2014
Theme: ‘Region as Frame: Politics, Presence, Practice’
The Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group invites submissions of abstracts for papers for the 2013 IAMCR conference to be held from June 25-29, 2013 at Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
The deadline for submissions is January 28, 2013.
The conference will be held under the general theme, ‘...
erythrina_caffraThe Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group invites submissions of abstracts for papers for the 2012 IAMCR conference to be held from July 15-19, 2012 at the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa. The deadline for submissions is February 14, 2012.
The conference will be held under the general...
istanbulThe Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group invites proposals for papers to be presented at the 2011 International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, 13-17 July 2011.
Papers from the full range of environment-science-risk-communication topics and perspectives will be considered, and those relating to the...
braga_2010The Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group invites proposals for papers to be presented at the 2010 International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference in Braga, Portugal, July 18-22, 2010.
Papers from the full range of environment-science-risk-communication topics and perspectives will be considered, and those...