CONFERENCEOn 29 June 2026, WICE affiliated researcher Anastasija Tetarenko-Supe gave a presentation on the analysis of the securitisation of security discourse in Latvia’s hybrid media environment following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The presentation’s central argument was that, in a hybrid media environment, securitisation should be studied not only as the articulation of threats but also as a mediated communication process. This approach makes it possible to examine how security discourse gains visibility, how it is amplified, how platforms transform it, and what happens when security discourse intersects with democratic media policy. Read more.
On 1 May 2026, WICE researcher Maria Eva Lombe held a seminar on the study of digital controversies and disinformation on online platforms. During the seminar, the researcher introduced the Controversy Mapping approach - a methodological framework for analysing how controversial and publicly debated issues circulate across digital platforms. Drawing on Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory, the approach views controversies as distinctive moments in democratic societies that provide an opportunity to observe how knowledge is produced and consensus is formed. The presentation traced the evolution of the web from Web 1.0 to the contemporary era of platformisation, in which closed information ecosystems and platform-specific logics pose new challenges for research. Particular attention was paid to URLs as key digital objects in cross-platform analysis, as they can help identify political orientations, assess source credibility, and map community boundaries. More information.
At the guest lecture “Multiple Statuses, One System: Legal Recognition of Forced Displacement and Reception in Italy,” held on 6 May 2026, Italian migration and integration professional Laura Zagarella explained how different international protection statuses operate within Italy’s unified reception system. The lecture provided an overview of the main international protection statuses applied in Italy and examined how they function within a single reception system, which accommodated more than 136,000 people as of March 2025. Particular attention was paid to the differences between various legal categories and how these affect the protection and support available to individuals. More information.
On 23 April 2026, WICE Project Leader Inta Mieriņa participated in an event organised as part of the European Research Council (ERC) initiative in her capacity as one of the representatives of the “Ambassadors for the ERC” network. The European Research Council (ERC), in cooperation with the Association of ERC Grantees (AERG), has established the “Ambassadors for the ERC” network, bringing together distinguished researchers from across Europe. The initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of frontier research, foster dialogue with policymakers and the wider public, and promote the funding opportunities offered by the ERC. At the event, which took place following the plenary meeting of the ERC Scientific Council, the ambassadors met with representatives of the ERC and AERG to discuss future opportunities for cooperation and activities aimed at strengthening the visibility and impact of research across Europe. Inta Mieriņa is one of the network’s ambassadors, representing Latvia and actively contributing to science communication and research policy discussions at the European level.
At the seminar held on 25 February 2026, WICE researcher Réka Tamási explored Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) as a theoretical and methodological approach that examines how linguistic and non-linguistic semiotic resources (such as gestures, still and moving images, music, colours, and others) contribute to the construction, enactment, and legitimisation of social control and social inequality in discourse. The seminar began with a general introduction to discourse analysis, outlining its key concepts and their application to the analysis of texts in the broadest sense. It also examined how these concepts are understood within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, with particular attention to the role of multimodality in discourse analysis. Following an overview of different approaches to the practical application of MCDA, a previous study on LGBTQ representation in Hungarian and Irish media, which partly employed Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, was presented. Through the analysis of specific examples from the study, the seminar demonstrated how MCDA was applied in practice and discussed the findings it produced. The seminar concluded with a discussion of the potential applications of MCDA to the analysis of a wide range of cultural products across different fields of research—from television news reports and political posters to films, music videos, and even monuments.
On 13 November 2025, Tenured Professor Inta Mieriņa of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences (FESS), University of Latvia, participated in the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant Information Day for Baltic States webinar, where she presented her ERC-2024-CoG project “WICE” and its research objectives. Tenured professor shared her experience in preparing a successful proposal, the challenges of the evaluation process, and the key criteria required to achieve excellence, as well as provided insights into the specifics of project implementation. I. Mieriņa’s contribution enriched the discussion and enhanced understanding of the importance of ERC grants for the development of scientific research in the Baltic States.
On 14 October, the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Latvia hosted an international seminar marking the launch of the HORIZON ERC project “Reception of migrants in Europe: Lessions from Russia's invasion of Ukraine” (WICE). The event brought together the project leader Inta Mieriņa, the project team, and guest researchers from several European countries to discuss challenges in migration governance, the representation of minority groups in the media, and current digital research methods. The seminar outlined the main directions of the WICE project and highlighted opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation to strengthen research capacity in the region.