EBU Head of Radio Graham Dixon has addressed participants at the biggest gathering of radio professionals in Europe.

In his welcome at Radiodays Europe in Paris Graham Dixon referred to last year’s terrorist attacks in Paris, saying how impressed he had been by radio’s quick and accurate response, providing information and serving the public at a difficult time in the nation’s life.

“Moments of tragedy underline the real importance of radio,” he added. “Where people are, where people have needs, radio is there. It is local, it is live, and it is flexible and can meet their needs.”

Dixon went on to point to two of the EBU’s values, universality and diversity, as absolutely essential for the future of radio broadcasting in Europe. He concluded, “We need to make sure that our radio services remain places where views are exchanged, and diversity of opinion respected.”

Radiodays Europe on March 14 and 15 is focussing on the changes and challenges for the radio industry in coming years, while celebrating and sharing best practices, new ideas and innovations by broadcasters.

The programme will include presentations on such topics as radio coverage of breaking news, audio’s impact on the brain, rebranding of radio stations and content in a multiplatform world, storytelling via podcasts and the next generation of mobile apps.

The complete programme for Radiodays Europe 2016 can be found here.