Research projects MIRKKOMM and DECIPHER presented current results at "Crisis7" in Gothenburg

The latest findings from the research projects MIRKKOMM and DECIPHER were presented by the groups Media Studies (MW), Public Relations and Technology Communication (PRTK) and Computational Communication Science (CCS) at TU Ilmenau on October 5 and 6 at the seventh international conference of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) Specialist Group for Risk and Crisis Communication in Gothenburg, Sweden. Researchers from around the world discussed the topic "Crisis Communication from a Citizen Perspective - Urban Risks and Crises" at "Crisis 7."

Prof. Martin Löffelholz, Kathrin Schleicher and Johanna Radechovsky from the MW group presented the first results of their representative survey on municipal risk and crisis communication conducted in April 2023. The survey is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the MIRKKOMM consortium.

Martin Löffelholz and Pauline Gidget Estella presented findings from an international comparative study funded by the German Research Foundation to analyze government communication strategies for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Johanna Radechovsky, Kathrin Schleicher and Yi Xu also participated in the study.

Andreas Schwarz and Francis Alpers from the PRTK group spoke at the conference on "The mediated societal threat and efficacy in public health crises: A seven country study of COVID-19 from a risk communication perspective." Andreas Schwarz further participated in a panel analyzing the relationship between research and professional practice in the field of risk and crisis communication. In addition, Jingyuan Yu from the CCS department presented findings from a computer-based analysis of government crisis communication on social media.

More than 100 scientists participated in the ECREA conference in Gothenburg. This international networking began in 2009, when Mar-tin Löffelholz and Andreas Schwarz organized the world's first international conference on risk and crisis communication at the Ilmenau University of Technology.

Team der Crisis7
From left to right: Johanna Radechovsky (TU Ilmenau), Bengt Johansson (University of Gothenburg), Pauline Estella, Kathrin Schleicher, Martin Löffelholz, Jingyuan Yu, Francis Alpers, Andreas Schwarz (TU Ilmenau), Audra Diers-Lawson (Kristiana University College, Oslo) and Deanna and Timothy Sellnow (University of Central Florida, Orlando).
Kathrin Schleicher and Johanna Radechovsky present findings from the representative survey.