Public communication in educational institutions is a strategic element for consolidating institutional trust, strengthening democracy, and training professionals committed to the public interest. In a contemporary context marked by growing distrust in institutions and profound transformations in the educational field, communication ceases to be merely an operational instrument and takes on a central position in mediating between the State, public educational institutions, and society.
Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate that, in 2023, only 39% of the population in member countries declared trust in their national governments, revealing a structural challenge that directly affects public institutions, including educational ones. In Brazil, although there are signs of recovery between 2022 and 2025, with an increase in trust in the Federal Government from 26% to 38% — above the average for Latin America and the Caribbean (35%) — and growth in trust in public services from 24% to 41%, and in education, jumping from 30% to 45%, the scenario still requires communication policies and practices capable of sustaining institutional relations based on transparency, ethics, and social participation.
In this context, public communication in educational institutions must be understood in light of the constitutional principles governing Brazilian public administration. The 1988 Federal Constitution establishes, in its article 37, the principles of legality, impartiality, morality, publicity, and efficiency, which guide all actions of public power. Publicity, in this sense, is not limited to the formal dissemination of administrative acts, but implies the duty to communicate in a clear, accessible, and understandable way, guaranteeing society the right to information and participation. Complementarily, Law No. 12.527/2011, known as the Access to Information Law (LAI), regulates the constitutional right of access to public information and imposes on federal institutions the duty of active transparency, that is, the spontaneous dissemination of information of collective interest, without the need for prior request. In the educational field, this legislation grounds institutional communication as a permanent practice of accountability, dissemination of decisions, academic results, and use of public resources.
Ethics in public communication emerges as a structuring axis of these practices. Communicating ethically implies a commitment to the veracity of information, respect for the public interest, combating misinformation, and rejecting propagandistic or personalistic practices. In the Brazilian legal system, ethics in public administration is reinforced by instruments such as Decree No. 1.171/1994, which establishes the Code of Professional Ethics for Civil Servants of the Federal Executive Branch, and Decree No. 9.203/2017, which provides for the governance policy of the direct, autonomous, and foundational federal public administration, emphasizing integrity, transparency, and accountability. For federal and state educational institutions, these normative frameworks reinforce the need for public communication guided by democratic values, which recognizes society as the legitimate recipient of information and not merely as a target audience.
Institutional transparency, in turn, is one of the main factors associated with building social trust. International research on institutional trust indicates that transparency and clarity in communication are determining factors for public trust. The international study of perceptions and trends, the Edelman Trust Barometer (2024), for example, points out that more than two-thirds of respondents globally expect governments and institutions to clearly explain their decisions and act transparently in order to be considered trustworthy. In Brazil, in addition to the Access to Information Law (LAI), Law No. 13.460/2017, which provides for the participation, protection and defense of the rights of users of public services, reinforces the duty of federal institutions to inform, listen to and respond to citizens. For educational institutions, this translates into the need for accessible communication channels, clear language, dissemination of academic and administrative criteria, and encouragement of participation from the academic community and civil society.
Contemporary transformations in the education sector intensify the complexity of this communication landscape. Trends such as blended learning, personalized learning, the use of artificial intelligence, microlearning , digital credentials, the expansion of corporate training, immersive education, the formation of learning communities, recurring revenue models, and the increased value placed on soft skills – behavioral and socio-emotional skills related to how a person communicates, interacts, makes decisions, and deals with challenges – in the job market demand new communication strategies from educational institutions.
UNESCO reports and guidelines (2025) indicate that the rapid digitization and incorporation of artificial intelligence in education are transforming pedagogical practices and require political and ethical approaches to ensure that these technologies broaden access, promote inclusion, and respect human rights in the educational context. Most experts consulted in these documents believe that artificial intelligence will have a significant impact on curricula and pedagogy, which demands institutional communication capable of explaining these transformations, promoting debates and reflections on their ethical limits and their socio-environmental and cultural impacts, for example.
In this digitally and informationally saturated environment, the protection of personal data becomes a central dimension of public communication. The General Data Protection Law (Law No. 13.709/2018), known as LGPD, establishes guidelines for the processing of data by public bodies, imposing ethical and legal limits on the collection, use, and disclosure of information. For federal educational institutions, compliance with the LGPD is inseparable from responsible communication that ensures fundamental rights, preserves user trust, and respects the public purpose of data processing. Complementarily, the Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights (Law No. 12.965/2014) establishes principles for internet use in Brazil, such as the protection of privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information, providing a normative basis for the digital communication practices of educational institutions.
The discussions held at the III Southeast Public Communication Congress (COMUNICA), under the theme "Public Communication in Strengthening Democracy," which took place on February 5th and 6th, 2026, at the Praia Grande City Hall, highlighted the centrality of these themes for the consolidation of democracy. Promoted by ABCPública, with the support of legislative and public communication institutions, the congress brought together communicators, journalists, public managers, and researchers to address topics such as ethics, transparency, combating disinformation, professional training, and democratizing access to information. The presentations reinforced the urgency of public communication that goes beyond institutional dissemination and is configured as a permanent practice of dialogue, listening, and social mediation, as well as promoting debates on the subject.
In this sense, the training of communicators who will work in educational institutions assumes a strategic role. The speakers on the panel “Public Communication and the University — Who Will Train the Professionals Who Will Work in the Advisory Offices of Public Bodies?”, Professor Dr. Robson Bastos from Unisanta and Professor Dr. Cilene Victor from Umesp and FGV LAW, reiterated what was observed during the congress: these professionals need to master technical skills, but also deeply understand their social and democratic role. Providing rigorous information, contextualizing data, constructing educational narratives, stimulating social participation, respecting diversity, and acting as agents in the fight against misinformation are central responsibilities of public educational communication. Federal and state higher education institutions, such as the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), play a fundamental role in this training process, by articulating teaching, research, and outreach, and by positioning themselves as a reference in communication practices aligned with the principles of the Democratic Rule of Law.
The challenges faced by public communication in educational institutions include institutional complexity, a multiplicity of audiences, information overload, the incorporation of emerging technologies, and insufficient specialized training. In response, strategies such as integrated communication, the systematic use of data and evidence, active transparency, ongoing training for communicators, and the creation of effective mechanisms for social participation are fundamental. These strategies find support in federal public governance policies and the legal frameworks that guide the actions of the Brazilian State.
The Experience of the Faculty of Education at Unicamp
At the Faculty of Education of Unicamp, with an Institutional Communication team made up of public servants, scholarship holders, and interns, efforts have been made to promote effective public communication practices, highlighting actions such as:
- Creation of a communication policy for the Unit aimed at understanding its internal and external audiences.
- Guidance for updating your communication tools;
- Applied research on communication effectiveness;
- Dialogue with society through open channels;
- Participation in academic and professional events;
- Promoting the publication of research on public communication in the field of education.
These initiatives reflect the institutional commitment, especially from the leadership, which ensures this promotion aimed at building trust and implementing democratic practices in the institution's internal and external communication.
Thus, it can be concluded that public communication in educational institutions transcends the simple transmission of information. It is configured as a structuring practice of democracy, an instrument for building institutional trust, and a space for civic education. By adopting ethical, transparent, participatory practices grounded in federal legislation, educational institutions strengthen their social legitimacy, contribute to educational development, and reaffirm their commitment to the public interest. Quality public communication, anchored in constitutional and legal principles, is therefore an indispensable condition for the consolidation of democratic and socially responsible educational institutions.
References
ABCPÚBLICA. Proceedings of the III Southeast Public Communication Congress (COMUNICA) . Praia Grande, 2026.
ALLIED MARKET RESEARCH. Corporate training Market by Training Program (Technical Training, Soft Skills, Quality Training, Compliance, Others Training Program) and Industries: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2035 . Wilmington, DE: Allied Market Research, 2025. Available at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/press-release/corporate-training-market.html . Accessed on: 02/10/2026.
BRAZIL. Constitution (1988). Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Brasília, DF: Federal Senate, 1988.
BRAZIL. Law No. 12.527, of November 18, 2011. Regulates access to information. Official Gazette of the Union, Brasília, DF, November 18, 2011.
BRAZIL. Law No. 12.965, of April 23, 2014. Civil Framework for the Internet. Official Gazette of the Union, Brasília, DF, April 24, 2014.
BRAZIL. Law No. 13.460, of June 26, 2017. Provides for the participation, protection and defense of the rights of users of public services. Official Gazette of the Union, Brasília, DF, June 27, 2017.
BRAZIL. Law No. 13.709, of August 14, 2018. General Law on the Protection of Personal Data. Official Gazette of the Union, Brasília, DF, August 15, 2018.
BRAZIL. Decree No. 9.203, of November 22, 2017. Provides for the governance policy of the federal public administration. Official Gazette of the Union, Brasília, DF, November 23, 2017.
World Economic Forum. Future of Jobs Report . 2025.
MORDOR INTELLIGENCE. Virtual Reality in Education Market . 2024–2029.
OECD. Trust in Government . Paris: OECD Publishing, 2023.
SYNESIS. The effectiveness of microvideo content to improve learning outcomes . 2025. Synesis — Journal of the Center for Theology and Humanities of the Catholic University of Petrópolis . Petrópolis, UCP, 2009–. ISSN 1984-6754 (online). Available at: https://seer.ucp.br/seer/index.php/synesis . Accessed on: February 09, 2026. UNESCO. AI and Education: Protecting the Rights of Learners . Paris: UNESCO, 2025. Available at: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/ai-and-education-protecting-rights-new-digital-reality . Accessed on: February 09, 2026.
