Communication Dynamics for Social Sustainability: A Review of the 2nd HCIAS International Symposium on Ibero-American Studies
Marking a new milestone in academic cooperation between Heidelberg University and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the 2nd HCIAS International Symposium on Ibero-American Studies: Social Sustainability and Communication Dynamics took place at the Internationales Wissenschaftsforum Heidelberg (IWH) in Heidelberg, Germany between December 3 to 5, 2025. This interdisciplinary event was organized by the Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies (HCIAS) in collaboration with the Facultad de Ciencias Sociales of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC), and with the support of the Heidelberg Center Latin America (HCLA). It focused on theories, methods, and practices that expand our understanding of social sustainability and its communication dynamics in Ibero-America and Europe by incorporating insights from both the social sciences and the humanities.
The symposium’s success was rooted in its departure from the traditional environmental focus in regard to sustainability. It parted from the premise that economic and environmental transformations alone do not ensure sustainable societal development. Instead, participants explored how social sustainability plays a key role in societies’ ability to organize and develop in ways that promote security, equity, adaptability, inclusion, social cohesion, and quality of life. Being communicative practices central elements in those areas, the symposium program was structured around three main pillars: communication dynamics for the protection of social sustainability, for the promotion of social sustainability, and the correction of past failures of social sustainability.
The symposium featured a rich and diverse program, including three keynote presentations tackling the overarching topic from different, yet complementary angles. The first one was delivered by political scientist Dr. Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser (UC) and titled “The Far Right in Latin America and Beyond”. In it, he examined how the ongoing rise of far-right politicians and parties in Latin America represents a reactionary response to the partial success of democratic regimes in incorporating historically marginalized groups while arguing that the weakening of Latin American elites through democratization has caused a backlash against political, social, and cultural change and highlighting the importance of moderate right-wing parties in the region. The second one was titled “Intersectional Mobility, Communication Dynamics, and Political Choices. Far-Right Voting in Brazil and Germany” and was delivered by sociologist Dr. Sérgio Costa (FU Berlin). The presentation challenged the limitations of monodisciplinary explanations for the rise of far-right voting in Brazil and Germany and proposed a theoretical framework that links transformations in intersectional situations to political choices by examining the de- and re-ordering of social hierarchies in both countries and demonstrating how intersectional mobility shapes political decisions. The third keynote was presented by psychologist Dr. Svenja Taubner (Heidelberg University Hospital). Titled “Epistemic Crisis and Mental Health”, the talk highlighted how epistemic trust can change processes in mentalization-based therapy while examining how psychotherapy changes people because it generates trust in new knowledge.
On the second day of the symposium, the event featured a roundtable on “Communicating for Societal Cohesion, Inclusion and Resilience” at the Völkerkundemuseum vPST. Under the moderation of Dr. Héctor Álvarez Mella (Instituto Cervantes, Spain), the three speakers Dr. Matias Bargsted (Sociology, UC), Dr. Rosa Lehmann (Political Ecology, HCIAS), and Dr. Dominique Scherer (Statistical Genetics, Heidelberg University Hospital) discussed narratives that should be transformed to strengthen social cohesion, inclusion, and resilience in Ibero-America as well as the challenges and opportunities to transform those narratives to contribute to more cohesive and resilient societies.
The panel sessions showcased the international academic collaboration that allowed the symposium to take place. Under the moderation of colleagues from the HCIAS and the UC, scholars with diverse disciplinary backgrounds from the two collaborating universities as well as from many other research institutions in Germany, Europe and Latin America discussed the most varied issues ranging from wealth, income inequality, and legitimacy from the perspective of Chile’s popular classes, the role of communication dynamics on mental health recovery, the sustainability of silence, and the case of young vegans in Chile as an example of digital activism for sustainability. Researchers presented findings of their work on environmental journalists in Brazil perceiving and experiencing risk, on conflicts over communication and nature conservancy in relation with Quilombola labour, on the institutions governing economy and environment in rural and indigenous communities in Argentina, on women’s economies and the promotion of social sustainability in rural border regions, and on the breakdown of social sustainability and the democratic system in Peru.
The participation of early-career scholars from diverse backgrounds and institutions in the symposium deserves special mention. They expanded the interdisciplinary nature of the symposium addressing a variety of topics in Ibero-America including violence against journalists in Mexico, debates and negotiations surrounding energy transition in Chile, the communicative dynamics of Chilean right-wing elites in the face of the Estallido Social uprising, the environmental justice standards stemming from the Aarhus and Escazu conventions, the politics of lithium nationalization in Mexico, and the historical origins of pesticide dependence in Brazil.
The symposium also included a poster session chaired by Dr. Rosa Lehmann (HCIAS) and Dr. Alex Behn (UC) that gave young scholars the opportunity to illustrate their research and receive feedback from senior scholars. Among the projects that were presented were those of doctoral researchers from the HCIAS, from the Department of Romance Studies and from Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies and, last but not least, students of the HCIAS MA program “Communication and Society in Ibero-America” took the opportunity to experience a scientific conference first-hand and attended the presentations and discussions on all three days of the symposium.
Ultimately, the 2nd HCIAS International Symposium was much more than an academic program. It was a testament to the results of international academic collaboration between Heidelberg University and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The event provided young researchers with a unique opportunity to engage in a high-level academic exchange with seasoned scholars and that ideas continue evolving beyond the event’s closing remarks. The success of the event was not only based on the quality of its academic discussions, but also on bridging the gap between Europe and Latin America with a focus on promoting and protecting social sustainability while correcting past failures in terms of communication dynamics for it.
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Luis Pesce is a doctoral researcher in political science and member of the research group “Communication and Society in Ibero-America” at the HCIAS, where he researches topics of violence against journalists and communicators in Mexico.
Jana Weckesser is a doctoral researcher in sociolinguistics as well as member of the research group “Communication and Society in Ibero-America” and the Observatory of Spanish in Europe at the HCIAS, where she researches the perception of German, Romanian, Spanish, and Catalan languages among German and Romanian immigrant communities as well as the Spanish host community.
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Luis Pesce, Jana Weckesser (February 27, 2026). Communication Dynamics for Social Sustainability: A Review of the 2nd HCIAS International Symposium on Ibero-American Studies. HCIAS Blog. Retrieved April 21, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/15s1g
