20 Years into the Future: What is our vision of media, data, and society?

• Datum: 23. October 2025 – 24. October 2025
• Street: Sandstraße 4/5, Bremen
• Location: Haus der Wissenschaft

20th Anniversary Conference
ZeMKI, University of Bremen

 

Media and communication research has traditionally focused on the present, often asking: What are the consequences of each “new” medium? How do digital media and their infrastructures impact contemporary cultures and societies? With this conference, however, we aim to shift the perspective—from analyzing present-day impacts to envisioning future possibilities. What can we learn from the current mediatization and datafication of society to imagine possible futures? What roles might media discourses, technologies, and practices play in ongoing and future societal transformations?

In raising these foundational questions, the conference is broadly situated within the fields of media, communication and information research. Topics may include: the role of media discourses, technologies, and practices in narrating and shaping the future; the importance of media policy and governance in building better futures; recent technological developments such as communicative AI and their potential role for future media environments; ways in which our narratives of the past, media history, and archeology shape our imaginaries of the future; digital gaming and emerging forms of entertainment; future media-related challenges for future sustainability and quality of life; and methodologies in media and communication research that address emerging media-related developments from a forward-looking perspective.

With discussion topics like these, the ZeMKI’s 20th anniversary conference is not about speculative forecasting but is grounded in media and communication research. We aim to explore long-term trends emerging from today’s media-related transformations and reflect on our visions of the future.

We invite those who have previously engaged with us—our cooperation partners, ZeMKI fellows, guests, and friends—and those interested in starting new conversations. Presentations may cover any area of media and communication research, provided they also address the question of where a mediatized and datafied society might be heading.

Abstracts of up to 500 words can be submitted by March 15th, 2025 at zemki-futures@uni-bremen.de

Travel

Accomodation

Bremen has a wide range of accommodation options near the main train station and the airport – Bremen has almost 30 hotels in the city center alone. You can find an overview here.