“We celebrate 200 InfoCLACSO programs, a milestone in communication”
Transcript of Karina Batthyány's column
in InfoCLACSO – August 21, 2024
Today we celebrate the 200th episode of InfoCLACSO, now in its fifth season. This also marks 200 columns in this CLACSO communication tool, which began on July 8, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than four years ago.
First of all, we celebrate and recognize the CLACSO Communication and Information Directorate, which, week after week, with absolutely dedicated, professional and excellent work, makes it possible for it to become a communication tool for our entire network.
Furthermore, I thank the rest of the CLACSO Executive Secretariat who participate in various ways: as columnists in some cases, as well as in the production of information that we disseminate through InfoCLACSO. And to the entire #RedCLACSO network, to everyone who has participated in these 200 editions, the vast majority of whom are members of our network: researchers, students, activists from social movements and organizations with which we work, members of the organizations with which CLACSO collaborates and works closely, and who have been present in these 200 programs.
InfoCLACSO is a milestone that allows us to celebrate this communication trajectory. I emphasize the importance of reaching these 200 editions, because this demonstrates the work, dedication, excellence, and commitment required to have this communication tool and network strengthening tool available week after week.
The weekly items we publish in InfoCLACSO are now a benchmark for our dissemination and communication, without diminishing the importance of other tools such as our social networks and website (https://www.clacso.org/).
We must acknowledge the impact of the InfoCLACSO program on disseminating knowledge, activities, and training that we at CLACSO offer across all social sciences, humanities, and arts. InfoCLACSO has become a key platform for debate and reflection on the social, political, cultural, and economic challenges we face in our region.
Furthermore, I share the importance of communication within CLACSO, but also in the social sciences in general. Everything we do daily at our Latin American Council of Social Sciences is just as important as making it known: disseminating knowledge, sharing our activities, and our ongoing commitment to broadening our reach to other audiences, not necessarily the academic communities with whom we engage in daily dialogue.
InfoCLACSO has been fundamental in making the knowledge that CLACSO produces daily accessible, reaching a wider audience beyond academic circles or those within our network. Effective communication is essential for democratizing knowledge, which is one of our institutional objectives: to effectively transform knowledge into a public good and strengthen the impact of the social sciences, humanities, and arts on society.
Third, we must consider how these types of instruments allow us to promote dialogue and critical reflection within the framework of our current project, the Platforms for Social Dialogue (PDS), in a broader sense. That is, to build an effective space for debate with critical dialogue on the most urgent issues we face in the Latin American and Caribbean region, but also in the world, placing the main social science themes that CLACSO addresses in its daily work at the heart of our communication.
It also fosters a pluralistic, critical, and inclusive debate, allowing for diverse perspectives to be heard, while remaining mindful of a key element characteristic of CLACSO and the InfoCLACSO initiative: the connection, collaboration, and ongoing work to build bridges between academia, social movements and organizations, and public policy. The InfoCLACSO platform has played, continues to play, and will continue to play a vital role in energizing and enriching this critical debate.
A fourth point I would like to highlight is the strengthening of our #CLACSONetwork. The InfoCLACSO tool has become a central component in the densification, qualification, and strengthening of our CLACSO Network, among other reasons, because it has allowed us to hear the many and diverse voices, making visible the various activities in the academic, training, advocacy, and social mobilization fields.
On the other hand, the InfoCLACSO tool has allowed us to innovate in communication, adapting to new contexts so we could maintain a presence even during the physical distancing measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to innovate and adapt to these new contexts, leveraging the full potential of digital platforms and various communication tools to broaden our reach, connect with new audiences, and improve interaction with everyone who follows CLACSO's activities worldwide through diverse formats and content.
And finally, we were able to establish a commitment for the future. We reached 200 programs, but this doesn't stop here. We want to publicly reaffirm CLACSO's commitment to public communication of the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Furthermore, through InfoCLACSO, we will continue to deepen, transform, and innovate in the programs to come.
We want to continue expanding its impact; we believe that communication is central to being able to know everything that CLACSO does, as well as the relevance of the social sciences for understanding and transforming social reality in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and beyond regional borders.
– I'm thinking of a very recent program on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the importance of being able to open up spaces and explore different levels of depth through Platforms for Social Dialogue (PSDs). We had more than 900 interviews, 440 hours of live programming, and 24.000 minutes of conversations just within the framework of InfoCLACSO…
– The figures you present are truly impressive in terms of the diversity of the critical and pluralistic perspective we cultivate at InfoCLACSO, focusing attention on the critical issues facing the social sciences, humanities, and arts in our region. InfoCLACSO, of course, is integrated with CLACSO's other communication tools, which are organized, directed, and coordinated by the Communication and Information Department. At InfoCLACSO, we have given a voice to members of our CLACSO Network, allowing them to share their perspectives and academic activities, thereby empowering everyone within the framework of our Latin American Council of Social Sciences.
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