Prof. Annegret Hannawa receives the ICA's Applied Research Award

At its 75th World Congress, held recently in Denver, the International Communication Association (ICA) presented Prof. Annegret Hannawa, Full Professor at USI Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society, with the prestigious Applied Research Award. The leading professional association for communication sciences honoured Hannawa, Honorary President of the European Institute for Secure Communication (IECS), for a discovery that redefines communication as a central safety competence.

Professor Hannawa has highlighted communication as an often underestimated yet crucial safety factor – initially in the healthcare sector and later in other high-risk contexts, such as aviation, rescue operations, and during global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

"Communication involves more than a mere exchange of information. It is an interpersonal process that can harm or heal," says Hannawa. "We have to learn to shape this process competently – as a safety competence."

At the centre of the research carried out by the USI professor is the scientifically based SACCIA competency model, which identifies five key skills that make interpersonal communication in critical situations resilient to failure. SACCIA is much more than a communication model. It is the code for competence that casts interpersonal bridges and strengthens human connections – in high-risk situations but also in times of divided societies. "Societies around the world are increasingly suffering from communication being used as a divisive weapon," says Hannawa. "SACCIA protects us from harm, strengthens cohesion and enables collective action."

The SACCIA competencies were initially derived from her scientific analysis of thousands of real-life cases of harm, for example, in emergency rooms, operating theatres, or during rescue operations, and have been systematically described in numerous scientific publications. The concept is now in demand internationally: Prof. Hannawa has been consulted by leading players such as the WHO, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, national health ministries, and even personalities such as Joe Kiani and Bill Clinton.

In 2024, Prof. Hannawa also founded the European Institute for Safe Communication (EISC), based in Altdorf/Uri, together with Prof. Thierry Girard, Head of Anaesthesiology at the University Hospital of Basel. The EISC is the first institute in the world dedicated to systematically addressing the question of how communication can be used as an interpersonal safety mechanism in high-risk domains, such as healthcare, aviation, emergency response, energy sectors, and global crisis management, on a scientific basis. The non-profit institute organises conferences, leads research groups, advises decision-makers and brings the concept to the public.