The Observatory of Social Trends (OTS)

The Observatory of Social Trends (OTS) was established in 2024 as an interdisciplinary group tasked with identifying, analysing, and interpreting trends and phenomena in today’s world. It has several objectives:

• Analyse and report rigorously on trends across different fields.
• Enhance dialogue between research and teaching within our university communityand the challenges of the present and future world (thus facilitating the transfer of knowledge).
• Contribute to public and academic debate with excellent input and proposals.
• Interpret and guide contemporary phenomena and structural movements within the framework of the founding values and mission of the university.
• Show and publicise successful experiences in various sectors, based on verifiable data.
• Become a meeting space for joint interdisciplinary research and consideration of contemporary phenomena, avoiding the risk of fragmented research.

• The Observatory aims to facilitate dialogue and exchange of ideas, information and experience with society within the business, political, social, technological and cultural worlds. With this resource, the university wants to reach more people in more sectors and have a better knowledge of their demands and needs.
• We will address contemporary phenomena with a positive and constructive look, while using the necessary critical thinking to distinguish the strengths, opportunities,risks and weaknesses in each trend.
• We are interested in highlighting mainstream trends, but also emerging patterns, successful experiences and the most intense debates.
• We use an interdisciplinary basis for interpreting world transformation. We must always keep in mind the wide range of conclusions that can be drawn from them.

The Observatory of Social Trends is led by Fernando Sánchez Costa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Humanities and Journalism and a PhD in Contemporary History. He is a lecturer in the UIC Barcelona Faculty of Communications.

The Social Trends Observatory was introduced in autumn 2024 and proposes carrying out a series of activities to meet its analysis and dissemination objectives: 

• An index and annual reports of different sector topics.
• Notes, dossiers and papers analysing and providing concise and rigorous interpretations of social, cultural or economic trends.
• A platform that provides access to news, articles, reports or surveys published worldwide that serve to navigate current issues.
• Making and producing audiovisual materials, such as podcasts and YouTube videos.
• Organisation of forums, seminars, and conferences to address current issues in depth, within a framework of calm constructive dialogue.
• Promotion of research, from final year projects or thesis work, to multidisciplinary research projects and groups, with external funding and publications with high impact.
   

You can contact the observatory through the following email: oiant@uic.es.