UNESCO and the Federación Latinoamericana de Facultades de Comunicación Social (FELAFACS) presented their mapping of training institutions in the area of communication in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Organized by FELAFACS and the Havana University, under the auspices of UNESCO, the conference was attended by more than 1300 delegates, who discussed the following topics: communication in contemporary thought; learning processes and teaching practices; and knowledge societies and the labour market.

In addition, more than a dozen special events took place. As a side event, FELAFACS and UNESCO organized the official presentation of the mapping of communication and journalism training institutions and programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This work, which started in 2008, aimed to map educational institutions in the field of communication and journalism, as well as their training programmes (academic, technical, post-graduate or hands-on) in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to produce a quantitative and qualitative report on the programmes. The study also identified existing quality models for communication and journalism programmes in the region.

The work was divided into six regions: Brazil, Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay), Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela), Central America, Caribbean and Mexico, and was conducted by six researchers. The information collection process relied on the assistance of ministries of education, universities, schools, communication faculties and non-university training centres in each country.

The study, jointly financed by UNESCO’s Offices in Quito, Montevideo, Havana and San José, will serve as the basis for the implementation of next biennium’s programme in the field of communication training.

The event also included a meeting of Latin American UNESCO Chairs in Communication where Chairholders made important commitments in order to strengthen their networking and improve work flow.

The study in Spanish can be consulted online in PDF format: click here The mapping is also available in an interactive form on the FELEFACS website