Communication, maintenance and sustainability: a European dialogue in Airolo

On 4 and 5 December 2024 , the workshop on "Maintenance and Sustainability Two Keywords for Past and Future of Communication Studies?" was held in Airolo at the House of Sustainability. The event was organised by the Institute of Media and Journalism (IMeG) and the Laboratory of Alpine History (LabiSAlp) of Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), and was funded by the Anne Keller Foundation.

For two study days, Airolo hosted eight scholars from various European universities, including the Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Milan Polytechnic, and the Universities of Luxembourg, Salzburg, and Siegen, along with representatives from Università della Svizzera italiana.

The House of Sustainability in Airolo offered a privileged venue to draw a link between research in the field of communication and the topic of sustainability, questioning the social, economic and above all environmental impact of the practices that make communication possible in its various forms. During the meeting, participants presented and discussed their most recent studies on how maintenance practices and policies affect the history, present and future of communication.