The ECREA conference gets support from almost 100 volunteers over the four days it runs. Our volunteers are mainly students from Aarhus University, the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX), and a group of citizens called ReThinkers. This initiative started when Aarhus was the European Capital of Culture back in 2017, and today there is a pool of over 1500 ReThinkers who help with large events in the city. During the conference, the ReThinkers’ primary task will be introducing visitors to Aarhus, helping you with orientation and local advice on what you can experience here.

 
Engaging students  

The student volunteers will help carry out the conference’s academic and social programme as programme and event assistants. They are located in all main areas of the conference, and will help with orientation during lunch breaks, help with the running of the sessions, the registration desk, and the upload center. In addition, event assistants create exciting and inspiring events for delegates – from impact tours to the conference party and the children’s corners in Campus East and West. To make the conference accessible to the broader public, we are happy to welcome over 15 students from the international Erasmus Mundus Master’s programme in Journalism. They will mainly volunteer as room assistants in Southe Lake auditoriums and operate the podcast van outside the South Lake auditorium. The podcast van is available to delegates, and you can approach students to make an appointment to speak about your research, project, or publication. 
 
The ECREA conference invites student volunteers into the academic conference environment and allows first-hand experiences in various volunteer roles. By integrating the students and ReThinkers in central roles to shape the conference, the organisers seek to create a positive legacy from the conference, creating an impact in the city and university beyond the event itself.