RICCAP is the first Spanish Research network on Community, Alternative and Participatory Communication. Its main objective is to promote a critical and committed research regarding citizen participation in the media system and the right to communication. In addition to disseminating and raising awareness about the Third Sector of Communication, we support alternative media expressions and are open to exchange knowledge with other associations, networks and research groups, as well as people interested in the subject. We are a young research team, with members from different parts of the state whose purposes could be summarized in.
- The promotion of research on the Third Sector of Communication and on communication processes and practices that enhance citizen participation and pursue goals of social and ecological change and justice, among others: community and citizen media, educational / university media, cooperative media , mediactivism and cyberactivism, etc.
- Education and awareness about the Third Sector of Communication and its different manifestations in education, media literacy, culture and artistic expression.
- Mobilization for the generation of public policies that recognize and promote participatory and supportive practices in the field of communication.
- Support for communication initiatives with a participatory and transforming component, as well as critical citizen expressions with respect to conventional public-governmental or private-commercial media.
- The promotion and defense of human rights, democratic principles and social and ecological justice, with special emphasis on the Right to Communication and the Right to Participation of organized or unorganized citizenship.
- The exchange of knowledge at national and international levels with other associations, movements, networks and related research groups.
- The promotion of actions and processes of cooperation and development in order to promote research, action and policies in the field of participatory and citizen communication.
- Promotion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for the empowerment of citizens.
The non-profit organization RICCAP is the first Spanish research group integrally focused on the history and present of the so-called “third media sector”, which includes community, free, educative and cooperative media, as well as citizen communication forms such as media/cyber-activism and participatory video. The network promotes critical/committed research on citizen media participation as well as does consulting, dissemination and lobby around citizen media in Europe and Latin America, coordinated along with other State and international research organizations (https://www.riccap.org/grupos-aliados/). Our main goals are: (1) Critical research on the third media sector and on the intersections between citizen communication and socio-ecological justice. (2) Dissemination of public awareness about the potential of citizen media and ICTs for media literacy, social integration, and cultural-artistic expressions. (3) Advocacy actions towards the promotion of community media policies and regulation.