Comunicazioni Sociali

Deadline: January 10, 2022

Edited by Marco Cucco, Massimo Scaglioni, Anna Sfardini, Gertjan Willems

Website: https://comunicazionisociali.vitaepensiero.it/news-call-for-papers-cfp-sustainable-screenings-economic-touristic-and-cultural-impact-of-audiovisual-productions-on-the-host-locations-in-the-post-lockdown-era-5717.html

In the last twenty years, the relationship between media production and places has been a key topic in the field of media studies. Despite that, in the post-lockdown world this relationship still needs to be properly investigated since nowadays it embodies new meanings that invite media scholars to redefine their understanding of how media may serve and/or impact places and vice versa.

It is widely known that film and audiovisual shoots can have a positive impact on the host location economy: more tax revenues, new employment and facilities, etc. Sometimes, film and audiovisual products stimulate tourism too, which implies once again economic benefits. In both cases, they feed local pride and contribute to re-define the image and status of the host places. In the framework of the post-pandemic recovery, these two capabilities are receiving even more attention than in the past: tourism, for instance, was one of the sectors that suffered most due to the health emergency, and its relaunch is at the top of the agenda of many public institutions. Thus, the current scenario moves film and audiovisual production at the center of the action plans for the post-pandemic economy and society. However, all the current recovery policies base themselves on the concept of sustainability, and this raises the question how film and audiovisual production meet the concept of sustainability.

In the (post-)pandemic world, the capability of film and audiovisual production to serve places needs to be reconsidered through the lens of sustainability and its three pillars: economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability. This reconceptualization challenges the widely accepted idea of a win-win relationship between audiovisual production and places. In doing that, it invites to distinguish between good and bad practices, to investigate complex networks of stakeholders that pursue different goals, to adopt new research perspectives and research tools that allow media scholars to fruitfully address the most urgent issues on the political agenda.

Starting from these considerations, this special issue of Comunicazioni Sociali invites international scholars to discuss the economic, touristic, and cultural impact of audiovisual productions (films, documentaries, scripted and unscripted TV products) on the host places considering both the contemporary unprecedented scenario and the concept of sustainability. Case studies able to enrich or contest the achieved understanding of the relationship between media and places are particularly encouraged. We invite abstracts from different research perspectives (a.o. Film and Television Studies; Media Industry Studies; Sociology) that address the following topics:

• Good and bad practices in the relationship between different stakeholders: production companies, local institutions, population
• Green protocols in the audiovisual production
• Sustainable screen-induced tourism practices and apps
• Local people’s reactions to audiovisual shoots and screen-induced tourism
• The impact of audiovisual products in defining local reputation and in promoting/branding places
• Circulation of national media products and national brand image
• Media induced tourism and media pilgrimages
• Audiovisual place and local tourism: national or local data, trends, opportunities, good or bad case studies
• European and national green policies for the audiovisual industry
• Methodologies for investigating sustainable screen-induced tourism

Submission details

Please send your abstract and a short biographical note by January 10, 2022 to:

• redazione.cs@unicatt.it
• m.cucco@unibo.it
• massimo.scaglioni@unicatt.it
• anna.sfardini@unicatt.it
• gertjan.willems@uantwerpen.be

Abstracts should be from 300 to 400 words of length (in English). All submissions should include: 5 keywords, name of author(s), institutional affiliation, contacts details and a short bio for each author. Authors will be notified of proposal acceptance by January 28, 2022.

If the proposal is accepted, the author(s) will be asked to submit the full article, in English, by April 3, 2022.

Submission of a paper will be taken to imply that it is unpublished and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

The articles must not exceed 5,000/6,000-words.

Contributions will be submitted to a double blind peer review process.

The issue number 2/2022 of Comunicazioni Sociali will be published in September 2022.

“Comunicazioni Sociali” is indexed in Scopus and it is an A-class rated journal by ANVUR in: Cinema, photography and television (L-ART/06), Performing arts (L-ART/05), and Sociology of culture and communication (SPS/08)