Disinformation and uncertainty are major topics at the annual meeting of Science Correspondents in Portugal

Entitled “Old Challenges and New Threats: Reporting Uncertainty and Combating Disinformation”, 9th edition of Annual Science Communication Conference SciComPt Between 23rd and 25th of June, completely online, registration is now open, Until June 18 here.

The conference will focus on researching strategies to combat disinformation and discuss the difficulties it faces in communicating with uncertainty – topics that are not new to communications professionals, but which have gained inescapable importance in the past year in the context of the pandemic. Covid-19.

In addition to providing a forum for discussion and exchange of knowledge and good practices among professional researchers – researchers and practitioners – the conference is also open to all interested in the region.

The conference will be entirely online, exploring the potential this format offers through a diverse program able to enhance Traditionalists Direct and informal communication between the participants, and at the same time, focus on the public presentation moments of our speakers.

As Vera Novis, Chair of SciComPt affirms, “There are aspects of a face-to-face meeting that we know we cannot replace, but an online conference will allow us to broaden the range of our participants, who will not have to worry about travel, accommodation, or with time restrictions.”

“What we basically want is to reach science communicators from Portuguese-speaking countries and Portuguese around the world and those who are having difficulty moving to a two or three-day initiative in Portugal,” he says.

The program for this edition includes two plenary sessions: one on the relationship between science and society, with Sarah R. Davies, author of several studies on the relationship between science and society; And others on #CoronaVirusFacts, the role of science, and Fact check In the fight against disinformation, with Christina Tardagila, founder of Agência Lupa, the first news agency specializing in Fact check Brazil.

There are also two panel discussions on communicating uncertainty in journalism and social networks as a non-institutional communication tool, with many experts on these topics.

Over the course of the three days, there will also be space for job offers. Networks, Where participants will be able to interact inFast dating“, Space for presentations in a dedicated display area and many other moments of interaction and sharing between participants.”

Submission of proposals is open until April 23rd Registrations are until June 18th.

SciComPt is an association established in 2014 from the Science Communication Initiative, to serve the community working in the field of scientific communication.

With members in the autonomous regions and from the north to the south of the country, who either dedicate themselves entirely to scientific communication or carry out it as a parallel activity, including communications coming from communications offices, science museums, the press, etc., SciComPt is representative of a heterogeneous and pluralistic society Disciplines and dynamic.

Its objectives are to promote scientific communication in all its aspects, to promote exchanges between specialists in the field of scientific communication and to promote the informed participation of citizens in all matters that include science and technology.

The culmination of this mission is to hold its annual conference, which has been held since 2013 – even before a group of enthusiasts in the region formalized the association – in various cities in the country.

Over the years, SciComPt has sought to expand the conference to include international participants, such as Spanish correspondents and science journalists, and this year also to colleagues in Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries. Information about previous conferences is available here.