Every four years, the mechanics community from around the world gathers at the Congresses organized under auspices of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM) to discuss science, strengthen relationships, and marvel at the ever-growing applications of this discipline. Following the 23rd IUTAM Congress in Beijing in 2012, Canada will have the pleasure of hosting the 24th Congress in Montréal from 21-26 August 2016. I invite you to reserve these dates in your calendars now, and plan to join us. We will work hard to make this Congress – ICTAM 2016 – one of the best yet.

The conference will be hosted by the School of Media and Communications of the University of Leeds and will take place 25-26 July as a pre-conference to the IAMCR 2016.

We are aiming to congregate a wide range of academics interested in the intersections between media, communications, governance and development in the region to examine questions such as the following:

* In which ways media actors and media technologies are changing relationship between the state, the private sector, civil society and the media?

* What is the role of the media in promoting democratic governance and sustainable development?

* What are the main changes in the formation, interaction and evolution of publics/audiences in the new media environment?

* What sort of relationships are emerging from the crossroads between traditional and non-traditional media actors?

* How are media reforms strengthening democratic governance across the region?

* To what extent do public and private media reproduce populist and polarizing discourses?

* To what extent are digital and community media challenging traditional hegemonic information flows?

* Are new power imbalances emerging as a result of the spread of new technologies in the region?

* What patterns of governance are shaping Latin American media systems?

* What patterns of change and resilience can we find in political communication practices in the region?

We are delighted to have confirmed the attendance of a superb line-up of guest speakers, including Sallie Hughes (University of Miami), Claudia Mellado (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso) and Carolina Matos (City University London).