Community radio and community broadcasting featured prominently in the recently concluded OURMedia 6 (OM6) conference held in Sydney, Australia from April 9 to 13, 2007. More than 18 community radio activists and AMARC members from Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Colombia, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, and Uruguay made presentations, and organised panel discussions in the conference.

The topics of presentations and discussion ranged from the role of community radio to enable an inclusive and just peace to participatory research for community radio program series for social change; from community broadcasting in Australia to rural communication media in Papua New Guinea; from best practices for regulatory frameworks in community broadcasting to community broadcasting-new technologies & social action; and from community radio in the forefront of the national movement for Freedom to community radio in Asia and Pacific-Challenges and Best Practices.

All community radio related presentations are available at:

http://amarcwiki.amarc.org/wiliki.cgi?OURMedia.

The theme of the OM6 conference was "Sustainable Futures: Roles and challenges for community, alternative and citizens' media". It was hosted by the School of Communication Arts of the University of Western Sydney with support from the Centre for Cultural Research (UWS) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney. The time the conference focused on how research into "citizens' media" can assist in understanding the cultural changes currently taking place with regards to open public participation and social inclusion.

-ENDS-

About OURMedia: OURMedia is an international network and forum founded in 2001 by a group of academics interested in advancing the democratic potential of community, or "citizens' media." It is now a network of over 500 people from 50 countries and has generated an extensive body of practical and theoretical knowledge, primarily in English and Spanish. The OM6 Conference will bring together international and national experts, researchers, policy makers, and community development practitioners to discuss ways to ensure a sustainable future for community and citizen's media.

About AMARC : AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters is an international non-governmental organization serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighbourhood levels. AMARC has an International Secretariat in Montreal. It has regional sections in Africa , Latin America and Asia Pacific and offices in Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and Kathmandu.

For further information, please contact:

Suman Basnet, Regional Coordinator, AMARC Asia Pacific, [log in to unmask]