DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: May 10, 2004, 22:00/10pm GMT (17:00/5pm EDT)

OURMedia/NuestrosMedios is an international network of more than 270
academics and activists --
researchers, practitioners and advocates working in more than forty
countries to strengthen media and information/communication technologies
(ICTs) that support social justice, human rights, community autonomy and
grassroots empowerment. Our work spans many fields: community media,
independent media, radical media, citizens media ... grassroots
networking, telecommunications policy, indymedia activism, cultural
arts, communications theory, social-movement research, sociology,
anthropology, cultural studies, development communication and
communication for social change.

Our annual meeting is a time to learn from each other and to strengthen
our analyses, strategies, collaborations and campaigns. We invite you to
join us.

WE ARE SEEKING PROPOSALS FOR:
? PRESENTATIONS: panels, papers, multimedia, small roundtable
debates/discussions, performances
? PARTICIPATORY SESSIONS: facilitated discussions, workshops, strategic
working groups, action-planning

Please see the list of Program Topic Areas on the other side of this page.

Situated as a pre-conference to the IAMCR, the International Association
of Media and Communications Research, OURMedia IV: "Building
Communication Societies" will also include FIELD TRIPS to local
Brazilian grassroots media and ICT projects, advocacy campaigns and
popular education centers as well as an active POLYMEDIA LAB -- a
multimedia space for experimentation, creation, collaboration and
skill-sharing. Polymedia workshops, projects and exhibits will explore
autonomous and community uses of video, audio, Internet and other
traditional and new media technologies. The Polymedia Lab is
collectively organized by participants and open to all. Anyone
interested in participating in Polymedia Lab planning should visit:
 http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/OurPolymediaLab

To receive the complete Call for Proposals, including selection criteria
and information on how to apply, or for a Registration Form to attend
the conference, please visit www.ourmedianet.org/om2004 or email

CONFERENCE COSTS:
The Conference full registration fee is $150 USD for the two days of
conference sessions and $150 USD for the two days of field trips, for a
total of $300 USD. If you are not receiving funding from an academic
organization, large NGO, grantmaking foundation or other institution,
and not otherwise able to raise the funds to pay the full amount, a
sliding fee scale will be available. However, please note that
registration fees will contribute towards essential conference costs
such as space, translators, technology and documentation as well as
supplement our budget for the field trips. We have a very tight budget
for a very ambitious agenda and we need your support.
OURMedia/Nuestros Medios IV: Program Topic Areas

1. Connecting Research and Advocacy for Citizens' Media
* data and research findings, advocacy strategies and
research/evaluation methods that can help demonstrate to policymakers,
funders and civil society leaders the vital importance of grassroots,
community-based, autonomous, participatory media and ICT policies,
systems and projects
* the research needs of advocates, practitioners and policymakers
* overcoming barriers to advocacy-oriented or participatory research in
academia
* opportunities and methods for research that can support advocacy as
well as practitioner self-evaluation
* the nexus between academic research and community aspirations
* pragmatic projects for equity, social inclusion and policy realignment
* ICT and media policy and advocacy campaigns as empowering tools for
future initiatives
* tactical, practice-based, or other 'non-traditional' research methods
and models
* interactive media and how it links to collaborative and participatory
research and practice

2. "Best Practices" and "Notable Failures"
* stories and lessons from survivors, successes and disasters;
transformed, extinct or emerging citizens' media and grassroots
networking projects, media/ICT advocacy and policy campaigns,
researcher-practitioner collaborations What specifically we can learn
from them to incorporate into our practice as researchers, advocates and
media practitioners?
* praxis for engaging ICTs and media and grassroots activities,
community participation or mobilization
* lessons from other social movements, past campaigns or local examples
that relate to current advocacy efforts for "communication rights,"
"media democracy," "free speech," "media diversity" and other goals

3. Current Policy Issues and Implications:
* discussions on current media/ICT policy issues and institutions such
as WSIS, WTO, FTAA, WIPO, Convention on Cultural Diversity and
local/regional policy and regulatory issues
* current/emerging political/military/commercial threats to free,
diverse, autonomous and participatory media
* current or emerging opportunities to advance communication rights,
information rights, freedom of speech

* considerations of current media/ICT policy campaigns in local,
regional or global contexts
* evaluations of existing policy models at local, regional or world
levels
* the politics of media production and distribution processes

4. The Evolution of OURMedia and Project Working Sessions
* opportunities for OM to advance academic/advocacy/practitioner
collaborations
* specific ways that network members can help each other
* research, workshops, strategies and campaigns to further develop OM
as a network and political force
* workshops or discussions to address future goals, organizational
structures, processes and activities for the network, next steps and
short & long term future of OURMedia
* working sessions designed to initiate collaborative projects with
the goal of producing actual tools such as booklets, maps, curricula,
,articles, posters, multimedia (etc) about citizens media/ICT and policy
issues
* action plans, working groups and groundwork for participation in a
regional/global policy forum such as WSIS II or WTO, Social Forums and
other movement processes or activist campaigns

To receive the complete Call for Proposals, including selection criteria
and information on how to apply,
or for a Registration Form to attend the conference,
please visit  http://www.ourmedianet.org/om2004 or email
om2004 at ourmedianet.org .