TACKLING MIS/DISINFORMATION – Experts perspective. 

Viorica ROȘCA

Viorica is President of the Romanian Association of Public Relations. With over 20 years of experience in the field of communication and Public Relations, Viorica has held consulting roles in corporations, PR agencies or public institutions. Minister’s advisor in 2007 and 2010.

Since 2015, she has been a Public Affairs Consultant, with an interest in legislative amendments, SHs engagement, representing clients/companies’ interests in business associations, crisis communication, corporate communication.

Andrea Čović Vidović
Deputy Head of Representation and Head of Media, European Commission in Croatia

Andrea Čović Vidović has over 15 years of professional experience in EU affairs, diplomacy, communication, management and mentoring.

Since July 2022 she has been Head of Media at the European Commission in Croatia and Deputy Head of Commission Representation since February 2023.

She was in charge of public relations for the European Parliament in Croatia since its inauguration in February 2013 until July 2022.

She worked at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs as a diplomat on Croatia’s EU membership negotiations and as EU policies lecturer.

Georgi Auad

Georgi Auad is an expert in analysis, measurement, and evaluation of reputation, working for more than a decade in the field. Georgi is among the few experts in Bulgaria certified by AMEC (the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication). He is also part of the team that developed the “Guide to Fact-Checking in a Digital Environment”. Currently, Georgi serves as the Head of Operations in the Social Intelligence Center of Excellence at Publicis Bulgaria.

Maja Kočiš

Maja Kočiš holds the position of Executive Director at the Croatian Public Relations Association, bringing significant experience in the operational implementation of specific project activities, as well as in managing overall organizational challenges. She possesses considerable work experience in the field, notably including experience gained in administration and public relations within both the public and non-governmental sectors.

Alina Dolea

Alina Dolea is Associate Professor in Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy, Bournemouth University, UK. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and her research is situated at the intersection of public diplomacy, nation branding, migration, media and communication studies, with a focus on discourse. She is particularly interested in the role non-state actors have come to play in public diplomacy, reproducing, but also contesting and disrupting the state’s strategic communication. She is currently focusing on diasporas and emotions, exploring the opportunities as well as the consequences of their transnational existence for public diplomacy as 2022-2024 Research Fellow of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Anca Anton

Anca Anton is Associate professor and vice-dean of research and internationalisation at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences, University of Bucharest, with previous PR industry and environmental civil society experience. She is a Board member and Director of Public Relations and Administration of EUPRERA, the European Public Relations Education and Research Association, where she also co-leads the PR Education Network. In 2024 she initiated, through EUPRERA and with the support of ICCO, the FuturePR international student competition, a public relations global competition focusing on responsible communication. She is a member of the ICCO working group related to the Media Information and Education Pledge and she was a speaker at the World Public Relations Forum organised in 2024 in Indonesia by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management.

Raluca Silvia Ciochină

Raluca Silvia Ciochină is a PhD lecturer at the Faculty of Communication and Public Relations, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (NUPSPA). Raluca is a member of the Organizational Learning Laboratory within the Research Center in Communication Sciences in the faculty. Her research interests and expertise are interdisciplinary, focusing on strategic communication, digital transformation, organizational behaviours, sustainability and AI integration and ethics. In the past 11 years, she has been teaching courses such as Organizational Communication, Digital Marketing, Multimedia Production and Editing, Online Public Relations, E-business Promotion Strategies.  She has been involved in multiple research projects, including projects funded by The National Council for Higher Education Funding, AI Ethics (2024) and AI EDU (2023) exploring ethical dimensions of integrating AI-based technologies in teaching and assessment, as well as the role of AI in academia.